Mount Rushmore: Sixty-Foot Presidents in the Black Hills

The four presidential faces carved into the granite of the Black Hills, Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln, each stand around 18 metres tall. Gutzon Borglum began dynamiting the mountain in 1927 and the project ran until 1941, the year he died. His son Lincoln finished it. The carving used about 450,000 tons of blasted rock. The scale is harder to comprehend from photographs than from standing in front of it.

The site also carries complicated history. The Black Hills are sacred to the Lakota people, who call them Paha Sapa, and were guaranteed to them by the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 before that treaty was broken when gold was discovered. The Crazy Horse Memorial, being carved 27km away in the same hills, is the response: a separate project begun in 1948 to honour the Lakota warrior, funded entirely without federal money, still unfinished.

Visiting the Monument

The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is in Keystone, South Dakota, 38km southwest of Rapid City. There is no admission fee to the site, but vehicle parking costs $10 per vehicle (passes valid for one year). The parking structure fills by mid-morning in summer; arrive before 09:00 or expect a wait.

The Presidential Trail runs 0.8km through the viewing area and around to the base of the mountain. The views improve as you move along the trail; the composition of all four faces together is best from the central viewing terrace. The trail takes about 30-45 minutes.

The Lincoln Borglum Visitor Center has an exhibition on the carving process, including photographs and tools. The film shown in the information centre gives useful context, particularly on the technical challenges of carving at altitude.

Ranger-led programmes run throughout the day in summer, typically 45-minute talks at the amphitheatre. The evening lighting ceremony (nightly at 21:00 in summer, shorter season in spring/autumn) is worth staying for: the faces are floodlit against a dark sky and former military personnel who live in the area lower the American flag. The ceremony is patriotic in tone; it’s also genuinely well done.

The Crazy Horse Memorial

The Crazy Horse Memorial charges $15/adult and $13/child to enter. The memorial is still an active construction project after 75+ years. The face was completed in 1998; the full figure, which will dwarf the four presidents when complete, remains largely uncarved. The sculptor’s family runs the project and has consistently refused federal funding. The interpretation at the site covers the Lakota perspective on the project and the broader question of the Black Hills in some depth.

Visiting both sites makes more sense than skipping one of them.

Staying in the Area

Rapid City, 38km northeast, is the practical base. The Hotel Alex Johnson (downtown Rapid City, dates from 1928, doubles from around $160/night) is the most distinctive option. Budget travellers: Travelodge Rapid City and similar properties cluster on the main commercial strip at $70-100/night.

Keystone immediately below the monument has numerous hotels and motels at standard Black Hills rates ($100-200/night in summer). Staying in Keystone lets you arrive at the memorial before the day-trippers from Rapid City.

Getting There

There is no public transport to Mount Rushmore. A car is required. From Rapid City, take Highway 16 or Highway 16A through the Black Hills. The drive through Custer State Park on Highway 16A (also called Iron Mountain Road) passes through tunnels that frame the monument as you approach; this is the correct route if you have the time.

Bison roam Custer State Park; they routinely stop traffic and are genuinely large. Do not leave your vehicle near them.