Motorcycle trip

United States

The Black Hills pack an incredible variety of riding into a few hundred miles. Needles Highway threads between granite spires and narrow tunnels, Iron Mountain Road winds through pigtail bridges with tunnels framing Mount Rushmore, and Custer State Park is home to roaming herds of bison. To the east, Badlands National Park stretches out in a lunar landscape of eroded buttes; to the north, Spearfish Canyon, the old gold rush town of Deadwood and Sturgis, home of the famous motorcycle rally, are all within reach. Paved scenic byways and gravel forest roads make it a playground for road and adventure riders alike.

Some of America’s great motorcycle roads, all within a day’s ride of Rapid City:

• Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway: the loop that links Needles Highway, Iron Mountain Road and Sylvan Lake, one of the most famous rides in the Midwest.
• Wildlife Loop Road: a slow, open ride through the prairie of Custer State Park, where bison, pronghorn and wild burros cross the road.
• Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway: a winding road between limestone cliffs and waterfalls in the northern hills.
• Badlands Loop Road: a ride through the striped buttes and canyons of Badlands National Park, best at sunrise or sunset.

Add the Wild West history of Deadwood, the faces of Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial, and you have everything that makes a great motorcycle tour in the USA, without the long highway miles.