Custer State Park is a state park and wildlife reserve in the Black Hills of southwestern South Dakota, USA. The park is South Dakota's largest and first state park, named after Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer. It is also the second largest state park in America, and encompasses 71,000 acres of spectacular terrain and an abundance of wildlife. Custer State Park Resort is privately operated under agreement with the Division of Parks and Recreation.

Below: Custer State Park has many one lane roads, narrow tunnels, and lots of sharp, curvy roads.

Below: Views coming out of the tunnel

Below: When the two RV Gypsies drove around a curve, they came to a traffic jam. Not knowing what was going on, Karen Duquette got out of the car to investigate. First, she took a photo of a nearby sign.

Below: Then Karen Duquette saw about 3 rows of people, ten people to a row. Karen worked her way to the front of the crowd to see a tour bus very slowly working its way through The Needles Eye Tunnel. So like everyone else, Karen took a few photos.

Below; Since the bus was moving very slowly, Karen Duquette decided to investigate the rocks to the right of the tunnel, so she worked her way past a lady to see where a young boy was climbing to. Since it was just a dead-end, Karen returned to check on the status of the bus in the tunnel.

Below: Just as Karen Duquette emerged from the rocks, the bus emerged from the tunnel and the driver signaled to Karen to come closer. Then he held up a bottle of Maalox and a sign that said "Caution, student driver". The bus driver said something to Karen but she did not understand what he said, so she just laughed and turned her attention elsewhere.

Below: Then a pickup truck and a motorcycle came through the Needles Eye Tunnel. Bet they were not too thrilled about being behind the tour bus, because they were worried about the bus getting stuck.

Below: As Karen Duquette turned her attention away from the tunnel, she saw the tour bus trying to get past Lee Duquette in their truck. Lee was unable to move the truck and a lot of cars were waiting to go through the tunnel.

Below: As the tour bus made its way around Lee Duquette, his truck and the other cars, people hurried to get into their cars. Karen Duquette quickly joined Lee in the truck and they managed to get through the tunnel without any hesitation. Lee constantly blew the truck's horn while getting through the short tunnel, so that another car would not enter the tunnel from the other side.

Below; After exiting the tunnel, the two RV Gypsies pulled off the road at a lookout and Karen Duquette zoomed in on the cars on this side of the tunnel wanting their turn in the tunnel.

Below; Now that all of that entertainment was behind them, the two RV Gypsies enjoyed the beauty of Custer State Park as they drove along in their truck.

Below; Rounding a corner, the two RV Gypsies saw a rock formation so tall that Karen Duquette could not get all of it in a photograph. The road was too narrow to pull over to take a picture, so Karen had to settle on snapping a photo as they passed it and one photo after they passed it.

Slender granite formations called "Needles" dominated the skyline.

Below; As the two RV Gypsies drove around another corner, they saw a pullout area with a lot of cars parked. Lee Duquette stopped the truck and Karen Duquette got out to ask someone standing next to his parked car with the door open to close his car door so Lee could park in the only available parking space. Karen held up traffic, enabling Lee to park. They checked out the sign at the start of the trail in this majestic area and Lee decided that the trail was too long for them to hike, so they decided to just go a short way up the trail to take some amazing photos of the needles.

Below; The sign on the rock said that this is
a registered natural landmark.

Below: Lee Duquette enjoyed the scenery
from the trail.

Below; After exploring that trail for a short distance, the two RV Gypsies went back to their truck and prepared to tackle another one-way tunnel, a short tunnel this time.

Below; As Karen Duquette investigated the area, it was easy to see how the picnic area got its name. The hole in the wall was just a dead end, and not very deep.

As the two RV Gypsies drove out of the Cathedral spires / needles area, they kept a watchful eye out for wildlife.

please continue on and join the two RV Gypsies
in their search for wildlife in Custer State Park