Mt rushmore, devils tower wy, needles hwy,....?

suprz wrote:
I am amazed at all there is to see and.do! I know that may is the rainiest month, and I dont think we want to go during peak tourist season either... So which would be better? Early june our early august?

I have been there both months and recommend June as there are less tourists and bikers.

I am amazed at all there is to see and.do! I know that may is the rainiest month, and I dont think we want to go during peak tourist season either... So which would be better? Early june our early august?

Just FYI, here is the information from the official website:

Tunnels: Tunnel 5 (Near Needle's Eye), 8' 4" wide by 12' 0" high;
Tunnel 6, 9' 0" wide by 12' 3" high.

And, for more descriptive reference:

IMHO it would be silly to take an RV through the tunnels on the Needles Highway. Heck, I folded in the mirrors on my Ram to drive through them. I did see tour busses on the road, but no way would I be driving them.

The Needles highway is a scenic byway drive with a tunnel that is single lane wide.
The Peter Norbeck road is another scenic drive with three tunnels, all very narrow single lane.
Yes, you can drive up to the Devil's Tower as a day trip from most anywhere in the Black Hills. You can do the same for the Badlands.

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

I had no problems with a 28'5" rv on that route.

Did you take your RV thru the tunnels?

.

Thanks for the responses, if we have the rv, we will rent a car for all the day trips, we are planning on meeting up with family while we are there so we might just have to wait to see the badlands until we are all together. If we don't meet up with the family then we will see the badlands NP on our way to mt rushmore.

I've heard that driving the Needles Highway is quite difficult with most any RV due to its narrowness and tight curves; probably OK with a truck camper or a Class B. As agesilaus pointed out above, the visit at Crazy Horse is about 3 hours, and maybe a little longer at Mt. Rushmore (especially if you are parked a long way out). The drive over to Devils Tower is pretty nice and you've got it figured just right. You may want to include a trip to Badlands NP, but possibly you could include that on your way to the Black Hills from back east.

Rushmore and Crazy Horse are both a 2 hour visit IMO. At Devils Tower you'll want to take a leisurely walk around the Tower, probably 2 hours or less.