- South Dakota Highway 240
South Dakota State Highway 240, the "Badlands Loop", is located in southeast Pennington and northwest Jackson Counties of southwestern
South Dakota . It runs through the eastern portion of theBadlands National Park .South Dakota 240 begins in Wall at Exit 108 of
Interstate 90 . It follows the Interstate 90 business loop along Airport Rd. and South Blvd. in Wall, and crosses Interstate 90 again at exit 109. From this point, it travels south to Badlands National Park, where it turns southeast. At the Badlands Headquarters at Cedar Pass, South Dakota 240 turns northeast, ending at Interstate 90 Exit 131 (Cactus Flat).The total length of South Dakota 240 is 40 miles (65 km).
Because South Dakota 240 enters a national park, there is an entrance fee at either side of the park. The fee is $10 per passenger vehicle, good for 7 days.
History
Eastern portions of the route that are currently South Dakota 240 (generally from the park headquarters to Cactus Flat) were originally part of the original alignment of
South Dakota State Highway 40 . Construction began in the early 1930's. By 1944, a gravel surface was on Badlands Loop alignment, and by the late 1940's, the Badlands Loop was signed as U.S. Highway 16 Alternate (as well as South Dakota 40 along the eastern portion of the Loop). These two numbers were used until the early 1970's, when the South Dakota 40 number was replaced by an extension ofSouth Dakota State Highway 44 (which entered the park from the southeast rather than the northeast).Around 1980, U.S. Highway 16 (which ran concurrently with Interstate 90) was truncated at its eastern end to Rapid City. Since the "Alternate" U.S. 16 no longer met the parent route, the route number was changed to South Dakota 240.
External sources
* [http://www.nps.gov/badl/ Badlands National Park Homepage (U.S. National Park Service)]
* [http://www.byways.org/browse/byways/16436/ Badlands Loop Scenic Byway]
* [http://www.northernplainshighways.org/sdakota/sd200up.html South Dakota Highways Page, highways 200 through 1806]
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