# U.S. Route 16 in South Dakota

U.S. Highway 16 (US 16) is a 69-mile-long (111 km) east–west United States Numbered Highway in the western part of the state of South Dakota. It travels between Yellowstone National Park near Newcastle, Wyoming and Interstate 90 (I-90) in Rapid City.

## Route description

US 16 is also known as Mount Rushmore Road in western South Dakota. The highway enters South Dakota east of Newcastle, Wyoming. It travels near Jewel Cave, the fourth-longest cave in the world. The highway goes through the city of Custer and shares alignment with US 385. East of Hill City, US 16 splits off US 385. It then becomes a four-lane divided highway, with the two roadways separated by up to 0.5 miles (0.80 km) in some places, including the old gold-mining town of Rockerville, South Dakota, which is contained entirely in the median of US 16. In Rapid City, US 16 follows Mount Rushmore Road to a concurrency with South Dakota Highway 44 (SD 44; Omaha Street) to the southern terminus of I-190. US 16 stays concurrent with I-190 until both highways end at I-90.
This section of US 16 is defined at South Dakota Codified Laws § 31-4-138.

## History

US 16 formerly ran all the way across the state, to the Minnesota state line east of Sioux Falls. It entered the state on the current routing of US 14/I-90 (the current routing is former US 216) and followed the US 14 routing to Rapid City. It joined US 216 in Rapid City and continued east into Box Elder. "Highway 14-16", as it was known, was a divided highway through most of Box Elder before returning to a two-lane road. (This road is still in use today, and still referred to as "14-16".) US 16 traveled east to New Underwood, then continued through the foothills to Wasta. The highway ran north of Wasta, across the Cheyenne River, then ran southeast to Wall. In Wall, an alternate route of US 16 (present day SD 240) split from the highway and headed south, through the Badlands National Monument (now Badlands National Park). US 14 and US 16 split south of Philip, with US 14 traveling due east and US 16 continuing south (following present-day SD 73 to its intersection with the eastern end of US 16 Alternate. From there, US 16 traveled due east, on the present-day routing of South Dakota Highway 248 (SD 248). The highway followed this routing through Kadoka, Murdo, and Vivian, where it intersected US 83. The highway continued east to Reliance, where present-day SD 248 ends. US 16 then returned to the current routing of I-90 and followed this routing to Oacoma, where it followed the current I-90 Business to a bridge over the Missouri River into Chamberlain. East of Chamberlain, US 16 followed present day Old Airport Road to East King Street, then turned onto 249th Street just north of where I-90 now lies. It followed 249th Street to Pukwana, present-day 350th Avenue to an intersection with SD 47 (now SD 50), 251st Street to Kimball, and 252nd Street to White Lake. US 16 then followed present-day County Road 34 (also named Old Highway 16) to Mount Vernon and present-day 254th Street to Mitchell. It then followed what is now SD 38 east to 421st Avenue, 421st Avenue to Alexandria, SD 262 to Bridgewater, and SD 42 to Sioux Falls. The highway followed Minnesota Avenue (SD 115), 6th Street, Sycamore Avenue, Madison Street, and Splitrock Boulevard (SD 11) to Brandon. It then followed present-day Aspen Boulevard (formerly South Dakota Highway 264, or SD 264) from Brandon east to the Minnesota state line north of Valley Springs.

## Major intersections

| County | Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes |
| Custer | West Custer Township | 0.00 | 0.00 | US 16 west – Newcastle | Continuation into Wyoming |
| Custer | Custer | 26.46 | 42.58 | US 385 south / SD 89 south – Wind Cave National Park, Hot Springs | Western end of US 385 and SD 89 concurrencies |
| Custer | Custer | 26.96 | 43.39 | US 16A east / SD 89 north – Custer State Park | Eastern end of SD 89 concurrency |
| Pennington | West Pennington | 37.49 | 60.33 | SD 87 south (Needles Highway) / Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway – Sylvan Lake, Custer | |
| Pennington | West Pennington | 37.69 | 60.66 | SD 244 east / Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway – Mount Rushmore | |
| Pennington | Hill City | 40.51 | 65.19 | US 16 Truck east / US 385 Truck north | |
| Pennington | Hill City | 41.06 | 66.08 | US 16 Truck west / US 385 Truck south | |
| Pennington | West Pennington | 45.00 | 72.42 | US 385 north – Deadwood, Lead | Eastern end of US 385 concurrency, also known as Three Forks |
| Pennington | Unorganized Territory of Mount Rushmore | 50.60 | 81.43 | US 16A west – Keystone, Mount Rushmore | Directional-T interchange, also known as the Keystone Wye |
| Pennington | Unorganized Territory of Mount Rushmore | | | Rockerville | Interchange; left exits and entrances |
| Pennington | Rapid City | 64.19 | 103.30 | US 16 Truck – I-90 | Future single-point urban interchange (SPUI) |
| Pennington | Rapid City | | | I-90 BL east (St. Joseph Street) | One way eastbound only |
| Pennington | Rapid City | | | I-90 BL west (Main Street) | One way westbound only |
| Pennington | Rapid City | | | SD 44 east (Omaha Street) | Western end of SD 44 concurrency |
| Pennington | Rapid City | | | I-190 north / SD 44 east (Omaha Street) | Eastern end of SD 44 concurrency; western end of I-190 concurrency; southern terminus of I-190 |
| Pennington | Rapid City | 69.00 | 111.04 | I-90 / I-190 ends | Eastern terminus; eastern end of I-190 concurrency; northern terminus of I-190; trumpet interchange |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus ||||||

## Related routes

Special routes of US 16 in South Dakota consist of an alternate route that runs from Custer to near Keystone as well as truck routes in Hill City and Rapid City and formerly included a business route in Rapid City and an alternate route between Wall and Kadoka.

### South Dakota Highway 248

South Dakota Highway 248 (SD 248) is a state highway in the U.S. state of South Dakota. The highway travels parallel to I-90 less than one mile (1.6 km) away from it. It travels through Lyman, Jones, and Jackson counties starting near the entrance to Badlands National Park at an intersection with SD 240 (just south of exit 131 on I-90) and terminating at exit 248 of I-90 east of Reliance. SD 248 is a former routing of US 16.
Major intersections
| County | Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes |
| Jackson | Northwest Jackson | 0.0 | 0.0 | SD 240 (Badlands Loop) to I-90 – Interior, Badlands National Park | Western terminus |
| Jackson | Northwest Jackson | 11.9 | 19.2 | To I-90 / SD 73 – Philip, Wall, Badlands, Kadoka | I-90 exit 143 |
| Jackson | Kadoka | 18.9 | 30.4 | I-90 BL west to SD 73 / I-90 – Martin | Western end of BL 90 concurrency |
| Jackson | Northeast Jackson | 21.1 | 34.0 | I-90 BL east to CR 4 north / I-90 – Wall, Badlands, Belvidere | I-90 exit 152; eastern end of BL 90 concurrency |
| Jackson | Belvidere | 31.8 | 51.2 | SD 63 (Main Street) to I-90 – Belvidere, Norris | |
| Jackson | Northeast Jackson | 39.2 | 63.1 | To I-90 / SD 63 – Murdo, Belvidere, Midland | I-90 exit 170 |
| Jackson | Stamford | 41.2 | 66.3 | Stamford Road to I-90 – Murdo, Belvidere | I-90 exit 172 |
| Jones | Grandview Township | 46.4 | 74.7 | To I-90 – Murdo, Belvidere | Unnamed gravel road; leads to I-90 exit 177 |
| Jones | Okaton | 52.2 | 84.0 | 262nd Avenue to I-90 – Murdo, Belvidere | I-90 exit 183 |
| Jones | Central Jones | 60.1– 60.3 | 96.7– 97.0 | I-90 – Belvidere, Draper I-90 BL begins | I-90 exit 191; western end of BL 90 concurrency |
| Jones | Murdo | 61.7 | 99.3 | I-90 BL east to I-90 / US 83 – White River | Eastern end of BL 90 concurrency |
| Jones | Draper | 70.2 | 113.0 | To I-90 (CR N13) | |
| Jones | Mussman Township | 77.3 | 124.4 | To I-90 (CR S10) | |
| Lyman | Vivian | 81.8 | 131.6 | US 83 – Fort Pierre, Pierre | |
| Lyman | Vivian | 83.4 | 134.2 | 293rd Avenue to I-90 | Former BL 90 |
| Lyman | Northwest Lyman | 89.7– 90.0 | 144.4– 144.8 | 300th Avenue to I-90 – Presho, Draper | I-90 exit 220 |
| Lyman | Presho | 94.8 | 152.6 | I-90 BL west (305th Avenue) to I-90 | Western end of BL 90 concurrency |
| Lyman | South Lyman | 95.8 | 154.2 | I-90 BL east (Willow Street) to I-90 / US 183 south – Winner, Vivian, Kennebec | Eastern end of BL 90 concurrency; I-90 exit 226 |
| Lyman | Kennebec | 104.8 | 168.7 | SD 273 / I-90 to SD 1806 – Kennebec | Serves as a southern continuation of SD 1806 |
| Lyman | Lyman | 111.3 | 179.1 | 321st Avenue to I-90 | |
| Lyman | Reliance | 116.5 | 187.5 | SD 47 / Lewis and Clark Trail – Highmore, Fort Thompson, Gregory, Winner | SD 248 runs along former US 16 until this point |
| Lyman | Reliance | 117.1 | 188.5 | I-90 – Chamberlain, Kennebec | Eastern terminus; I-90 exit 248 |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus ||||||
Browse numbered routes :
| ← SD 247 | SD 248 | → SD 249 |

### South Dakota Highway 264

South Dakota Highway 264 (SD 264) was a state highway located on a former alignment of US 16 in eastern Minnehaha County. It was created c. 1976, when the South Dakota Department of Transportation and the Minnesota Department of Transportation moved US 16 from surface streets to I-90 in the area. The route was decommissioned in 1999.
Major intersections The entire route was in Minnehaha County.
| Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes |
| Brandon | 0.0 | 0.0 | SD 11 | Western terminus; US 16 continued south on SD 11 |
| Valley Springs | 6.0 | 9.7 | CSAH 4 – Beaver Creek, Luverne | Eastern terminus at state line; US 16 continued on CSAH 4 |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi |||||
Browse numbered routes :
| ← SD 262 | SD 264 | → SD 271 |