Custer State Park is the reason many travellers choose Custer as a base. The park covers a huge sweep of southern Black Hills country, with ponderosa forest, open grassland, narrow tunnels, granite needles, and lakes tucked below rock walls.
The Wildlife Loop Road is the classic drive, especially early or late in the day when bison, pronghorn, deer, and wild burros are active. Needles Highway and Sylvan Lake are slower, more dramatic, and better if you want the rock-spire side of the Black Hills rather than broad prairie views.