Needles Highway
After splitting from US 16A, the route is known as the Needles Highway. The highway is named after the high
granite "
needles" it winds among. Along this stretch lies the
Black Hills Playhouse. The highway passes through two tunnels blasted through sheer granite walls—Iron Creek Tunnel at mile 25 (40 km), and Needles Eye Tunnel at mile 31 (50 km).
[1] Owing to the narrow roadway, sharp turns, and low tunnels, the road has very little traffic. The vehicles that do travel this road are almost exclusively sightseers.
Just after Needles Eye Tunnel, Highway 87 serves as the northern terminus of
SD 89. After this junction, SD 87 has one more tunnel, Hood Tunnel, at milepost 33 (53 km).
[1] It then provides access to the
Sylvan Lake Resort. The route finally ends at
US 16/385 south of
Hill City.