South Dakota Highway Makes America's Scariest Roads List

When it comes to white-knuckling it behind the wheel, one South Dakota stretch of road is considered to be one of the most terrifying drives in the United States.

Rough Maps took to the nation's highways and byways and came up with 20 American Roads That Will Rightfully Scare You, featuring everything from treacherous mountain switchbacks to vanishing bridges.

At number 12 on the list is a 14-mile stretch of South Dakota Highway 87 in the Black Hills, better known as Needles Highway.

The scenic drive features towering granite spires, pine forests, and tight tunnels like the Needles Eye. The road also features a trio of tunnels, including the extremely narrow Needle's Eye Tunnel (8' wide by 9'9" high) and Iron Creek Tunnel (8'9" wide by 10'10" high).

The road, part of the 68-mile Peter Norbeck National Scenic Byway, which also includes the Iron Mountain Road and the Wildlife Loop Road, is open mid-April to mid-October and is included with the $20 entry fee to Custer Sate Park.

Rough Maps' description of the road:

'Needles Highway is one of the most picturesque drives in Custer State Park, but those falling rock formations make for some tight turns and passages. Known as the "pigtail" bridges and tunnels, you'll have to fold in your side mirrors to pass.'

AMERICAN ROADS THAT WILL RIGHTFULLY SCARE YOU

The Million Dollar Highway, Colorado
Tail of the Dragon, North Carolina
Dalton Highway, Alaska
Hana Highway, Hawaii
Mount Evans Scenic Byway, Colorado
Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, Louisiana
Moki Dugway, Utah
White Rim Road, Utah
Route 1, California
Going-to-the-Sun Road, Montana
The Seven Mile Bridge, Florida
Needles Highway, South Dakota
Pikes Peak Highway, Colorado
Atchafalaya Swamp Freeway, Louisiana
US Route 6, Pennsylvania
Highway 17, South Carolina
The Loneliest Road, Nevada
Independence Pass, Colorado
The Taconic State Parkway, New York
Clinton Road, New Jersey

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Source: South Dakota Highway Makes America’s Scariest Roads List