cheyenne to custer SD

In S&T, you can select Route, Route Options, Segments, Preferred Roads, Preferred Road Types, and then select your preferrences by moving the needles between "Like" and "Dislike".
If you don't do that, it defaults to "shortest", and sometimes that isn't a good choice for RVs.
Then I check my "Mountain Directory West" which gives details on severe turns, steep climbs and descents.

Taking US 85 all the way N from Lusk to Newcastle would be an easier route for a Big Rig, I would believe also. US 16 E from Newcastle wouldn't be as curving (if I am remembering correctly, drove it once) as doing SD 89 to US 385. Still some hills to be climbed from Newcastle.

But SD 89 to US 385 isn't a hard route, IMHO.

SD79 is divided highway (not limited access) out in the flat lands east of the Hills. US16 to Hill City is the main access route to the Faces.

My old copy of S&T takes me up I25, US18, SD89 (US385). That's with 'quickest' set. With 'shortest' most of the WY part is US85.

I'd suggest reviewing the routing options, including the speed estimates.

These mapping programs seldom have special knowledge about routes. They just have the road map from which they can calculate distances. They estimate speed based on broad categories of highways (e.g. freeway v mainline v secondary etc). S&T also has construction info, though whether that affects speed choices, I don't know.

At least on my copy, the only way to alter a route in S&T is to add intermediate destinations. In this case, adding 'Edgemont' should send the route through US18. With Google Maps it easy to drag the route around, adding points. GM also gives up to 3 choices, with distance and time estimates.

take 85 up to 18 over to Hot Springs and up to Custer..
or
take 85 up to 16 then over to Custer.

I finally found 89. It may not be good for big rigs.

Not sure why?

Here's an older post asking about Routes Cheyenne to Custer.

We would normally take I-25 N to Exit 126, US 20 E to Lusk & US 85, then the US 18, the SD 89, and then the US 385 into Custer from the south...255 mi, 4 hours 6 mins.

Haven't been up that way since 2009 & didn't go by Custer on that trip to ND. But in 2008, we stayed at Bismarck Lake CG a Black Hills Nat'l Forest CG just off US 16A east of Custer & used the above route to reach Custer.

Might try using Google Maps....seems it plotted the route I just gave as well.

:h Doing a quick search, I could not find a "79 to 16T" routes (US 16 yes, but no 79)?

One can do a NE-71 N and US-385 N to get up to Custer.....279 mi, 4 hours 51 mins.

Take I-25 Exit 17 to merge onto US-85 N.....WY-151 E Continue onto NE-88 E....NE-71 N/NE-92 W/US-26 W/US-26 Scenic W.....US-385 N.

Ah ha! Found a SD 79, part of I-90 at times, but tuns off I-90 by Blackhawk near Rapid City & crosses US 16 in Rapid City. US 16 S goes to Hill City. Can't see why anyone would want to go that far out of the way to get from Cheyenne to Custer. I've never used MS Streets, so no experience with it.

Also so found SD 79 South of Hot Springs at a junction of US 18/385 which loop far to the East & leads North to Rapid City to cross US 16 to head South to Hill City....very out of the way. Would be much better to Keep on US 18/385 to Custer via the south.

Never found a 16T, but there is a US 16A. Runs East from Custer & then hookes North to Keystone & on up to join US 16 North & East of Hill City. Wouldn't want to take a large RV up 16A toward Keystone. There are some crazy curves & narrow tunnels up that way.

Photos: Iron Mountain Road - a section of US 16A. Labeled wrong as Needles Highway by me in the post.

Have a GPS, use Google Maps, DeLorme Steet Atlas, but want a paper map to be able to check things on my own.

In March on the way to Newport Beach, CA, we didn't have a paper map. Just following the GPS.

The Voice told us to turn, we turned & had to pay a few toll fees. If we had a California map with us. We would have know not to turn & keep going.

Need to know just where the Voice is telling one to go. Actually, we had the voice on low & were just reading the print out.

Some of the roads they have wanted us to take, no one would want to be on.

On one trip up to the Custer area, DeLorme Steet Atlas routed us on a forest road. Route seemed farfetched, so ignored it. Checked a paper map as well.

Give me a paper map as back up. I like the "Freeway" Maps from AAA, but didn't get one I had in our car into my daughter's SUV. But never use Atlases much at all (magazine like things). One would have been handy then however.

My daughter had a map on her iPad, but it takes time to get it up & going. Didn't have it ready at the time we needed it.

OOOPPPPsss double post somehow.

This is one of the reasons,among many, I do not use trip planning software. I open a map and go. Been doing it that way since '67.