Iron Mountain Road

Across the canyon from Mount Rushmore is the Iron Mountain Road. If you're just interested in seeing the famous faces, you'd probably miss this one. It's a great little drive with 3 tunnels and some pigtail bridges. I'm not quite sure why the road was built, but it does show of some civil engineering inginuity.

Each of the tunnels is cut to frame Mount Rushmore through the opening.

The pigtail bridges are where the road has to cross over itself to make it up the side of the mountain and stay within certain grades and not have too tight of a turning radius.

My favorite was where a bridge and tunnel were combined.

We liked the drive, but our daughter didn't. She was wailing the whole time, so sorry the pics aren't better!

Nearest City:Keystone, SD

GPS Coordinates:

Time Needed: 30-45 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Kid Friendly: Only if they don't get carsick.

Additional Info: Turn South on the first main road between Keystone and Mount Rushmore. It is well signed. Not for large vehicles.