Discover 7 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Custer (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Crazy Horse Memorial, Needles, and Iron Mountain. Also, be sure to include Custer County Courthouse in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Custer (South Dakota).
Table of Contents
Crazy Horse Memorial
Mountain carving in progress since 1948. The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument under construction on privately held land in the Black Hills, in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. It will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior, Crazy Horse, riding a horse and pointing to his tribal land. The memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, to be sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski. It is operated by the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit organization.
The memorial master plan includes the mountain carving monument, an Indian Museum of North America, and a Native American Cultural Center. The monument is being carved out of Thunderhead Mountain, on land considered sacred by some Oglala Lakota, between Custer and Hill City, roughly 17 miles (27 km) from Mount Rushmore. The sculpture's final dimensions are planned to be 641 feet (195 m) long and 563 feet (172 m) high. The arm of Crazy Horse will be 263 feet (80 m) long and the head 87 feet (27 m) high; by comparison, the heads of the four U.S. Presidents at Mount Rushmore are each 60 feet (18 m) high.
The monument has been in progress since 1948 and is far from completion. If completed as designed, it will become the world's second tallest statue, after the Statue of Unity in India.[1]
Address: 12151 Avenue of the Chiefs, Custer
Needles
The Needles of the Black Hills of South Dakota are a region of eroded granite pillars, towers, and spires within Custer State Park. Popular with rock climbers and tourists alike, the Needles are accessed from the Needles Highway, which is a part of Sylvan Lake Road. The Cathedral Spires and Limber Pine Natural Area, a 637-acre portion of the Needles containing six ridges of pillars as well as a disjunct stand of limber pine, was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1976.
The Needles were the original site proposed for the Mount Rushmore carvings. The location was rejected by the sculptor Gutzon Borglum owing to the poor quality of the granite and the fact that they were too thin to support the sculptures. The Needles attract approximately 300,000 people annually.[2]
Iron Mountain
Peak in South Dakota. Iron Mountain is a peak in the Black Hills of South Dakota, notable for the fact that U.S. Route 16A was purposely built directly over its summit to provide scenic views of Mount Rushmore National Memorial.[3]
Address: Custer State Park, Custer
Custer County Courthouse
The Custer County Courthouse in Custer, South Dakota is a courthouse built in 1881. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
It is a three-story red brick building "reflecting a plains adaptation of the Italian style.
A new courthouse was scheduled to be completed in 1993.[4]
Black Hills Playhouse
Theater in Custer County, South Dakota. The Black Hills Playhouse is an American theater located just off the Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road in Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The playhouse is managed by Black Hills Playhouse Inc. It is one of the oldest continuously operated non-profit, non-equity professional summer stock theaters in America.[5]
Address: Custer, 24834 S. Playhouse Road
Art Expressions Gallery - Custer
Gift shop, Art gallery, Shopping, Museum
Address: 36 S 6th St, 57730-2016 Custer
Garlock Building
The Garlock Building, at 522 Mount Rushmore Rd. in Custer, South Dakota, was built in 1890 It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
It is Early Commercial in style.
It was built by Thomas Van Der Vort Garlock, who came to Custer in 1884. He had the two-story brick building constructed to replace a building burnt in a fire in 1890. It first housed a grocery store and a bank on the first floor, and a lodgehall/ballroom on the second. In 1909 the second floor was converted to apartments.[6]