Day 5 - Needles Highway & Sylvan Lake

We didn't have anything exciting planned for the day but it turned out to be the best day of the trip so far. The weather finally cooperated and it was just a beautiful day. The scenery of Needles Highway and Sylvan Lake was just gorgeous. This alone made the stop in the Black Hills worthwhile.

We stopped after one of the famous tunnels on Needles Highway where one of the rocks actually looks like an eye of a needle. I took a bunch of pictures - here's just one sample.

We climbed around the rocks for a while which the kids really enjoyed. Good opportunity for lots of pictures!

We then headed down to Sylvan Lake. It's a beautiful lake nestled in the Black Hills. We had lunch (my first Bison Burger - it was excellent) and then set off for a small hike. The path led down into a gulch behind the lake - it was very pictoresque and C finally enoyed a hike - at least as long as it was downhill. On the way down he said: "This is the best hike ever!"

On the way back up it turned into the worst hike ever. This is what he looked like at the end of the hike.




We then all had a big ice-cream and then headed for the beach. C&A went for a swim, K tanned and I walked around took some more pictures and video. It was a great day. We headed back to our cabin tired & happy. We grilled one last time. Tonight is our last night in the Black Hills. Tomorrow, it will be all day driving to Jackson, WY. Looks like a 12 hr drive, including a brief excursion to Devil's Tower.

To close, here's a brief video from Sylvan Lake. I think we'll be back.