Hi there!

 

Mount Rushmore is one of the most iconic places of the Black Hills of South Dakota.

And, one of the unique ways you can see the Mount Rushmore is by driving Iron Mountain Road!

By driving Iron Mountain Road, you can get the famous tunnel view of Mount Rushmore!

 

Where does Iron Mountain Road start and end?

In order to drive Iron Mountain Road, you can start from the southern side of Custer State Park. (This is the best state park in South Dakota!)

But, Custer State Park is a rather big state park, so it’s best to know where in Custer State Park you want to go.

For easy reference on a map, you can consider that the start of your drive to Iron Mountain Road is at the intersection east of State Game Lodge near the Game Lodge campground that has camping cabins (where buffalo are often seen early in the morning).

 

 

This will show you more easily on a map the road that leads to Iron Mountain Road.

The “good” part of Iron Mountain Road doesn’t start until further north until after you pass the sign saying you’ve entered Black Hills National Forest, but this is where you can start.

Starting from the south means that the Iron Mountain Road ends near Mount Rushmore!

Driving from Custer State Park to Mount Rushmore on Iron Mountain Road means that you are driving from south to north.

You can also drive it in the opposite direction, in which case the start of Iron Mountain Road will be near Mount Rushmore, and then you can end your drive after you drive through all of the tunnels. (This means you don’t have to drive that far south.)

 

Is Iron Mountain Road one way?

The most famous part of Iron Mountain Road are the Iron Mountain Road tunnels, which are a one-lane tunnels.

This means that cars can only drive through in one direction at a time, making it one-way when you are driving through it!

Otherwise, Iron Mountain Road is not a one-way road, so you can choose to drive it in either direction.

 

Which direction should you drive Iron Mountain Road?

It is possible to drive Iron Mountain Road in either direction.

But, if you do have flexibility, I do think the better direction to drive the Iron Mountain Road is from south to north!

I think driving Iron Mountain Road from south to north is the best direction because it feels like the views of Mount Rushmore continue to get bigger and bigger as you get closer and closer to the “grand finale” of arriving at Mount Rushmore National Memorial!

It can make your approach to Mount Rushmore feel more dramatic! 

Driving it up from the south, you’ll start off by seeing distant grand views of the Black Hills.

Once you get close enough, your first views of Mount Rushmore will be wayyy off in the distance.

And as you keep driving, Mount Rushmore continues to get closer and closer!

 

iron mountain road. best direction to drive iron mountain road

 

And then once you driving through the last of the Iron Mountain Road tunnels heading north, you will continue driving to Mount Rushmore.

Then, you will start driving on the road that goes through Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

You can once again see Mount Rushmore from the road as you’re driving, and it continues to look bigger because you’re getting closer.

And then you arrive at the Mount Rushmore parking, and then you can start the walk the Avenue of Flags to continue getting closer and closer to Mount Rushmore!

 

 

 

And so, if you are driving in the opposite direction, starting at Mount Rushmore and driving south, you will be starting with the best part.

But if you drive from south to north, then you will be ending with the best part!

That said, depending on where you’re coming from, it can be a major detour to start from the south side.

In which case, it is really not that big of a big deal to start from the north.

You can start from Mount Rushmore and then drive south through all of the tunnels, and then keep driving until you find a spot where you can safely turn around to head back north if you want to get the closest tunnel view of Mount Rushmore the “proper” way!

 

 

👆 Watch the video of driving Iron Mountain Road to Mount Rushmore from south to north! If you don’t see a video above, you can watch the Iron Mountain Road video on youtube!

 

HAPPY DRIVING IRON MOUNTAIN ROAD IN THE BLACK HILLS OF SOUTH DAKOTA!

 

More of the Black Hills:

 

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