Black Hills of South Dakota – Day Four

On By Mike and Kellye HefnerIn National Memorials, National Monuments, Picnicing on the Road, Places, State Parks

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→Note: this post is the fourth in a series as we cover a week long vacation itinerary. Our trip starts at Rapid City, South Dakota. 

Day Four

Destination: Mount Rushmore

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  • Website: Mount Rushmore National Memorial
  • Cost: Free, but there is a $10.00 parking fee per car. Park passes are not accepted for parking fees.
  • Restaurant in the park.
  • Hotels and camping available in Keystone, South Dakota.
  • Great photo ops here. Plan to spend several hours.

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⇒(Short route) Take US Highway 16 from Rapid City to US Highway 16A, and Keystone, South Dakota, then Highway 244 to Mount Rushmore. Look for Big Horn Sheep along this road. Drive time: 30 minutes.

⇒Recommended alternate route: (Long route) Take Highway 79 south from Rapid City to Highway 36 and Custer State Park. Just before entering the park, turn right (north) on to the Iron Mountain Road (Highway 16A). This is a scenic route full of twists, turns, and tunnels. Large vehicles and RVs will not be able to navigate this road. Drive time on Iron Mountain Road: 45 minutes to 1 hour. Drive time to Mount Rushmore from Rapid City via Iron Mountain Road: 1.5 to 2 hours.

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View from the final tunnel on Iron Mountain Road. (Our apologies for the camera lens smudge.)

The musuem at the visitor center is spectacular! Plan to spend an hour in the museum alone. Learn about the sculptors, the workers, and how the monument came to be. Find out why Gutzon Borglum chose to memorialize the four presidents who are depicted at Mount Rushmore. Also visit the Sculptor’s Studio (reopening after renovations are completed in May, 2019) where Borglum worked and designed the memorial. Walk/hike the presidential trail and the nature trail then go back to the visitor center for ice cream. Watch for mountain goats in the meadows surrounding Grandview Terrace and the amphitheater. Pay a visit to the gift shop for souvenirs. Finally, stay to see the sculpture illuminated at night (year-round). An evening lighting ceremony is held during the summer months. Check the website for seasonal hours.

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Avenue of Flags
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View from the parking lot
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Black Hills as seen from Mount Rushmore

⇒From Mount Rushmore, take Highway 16A via Keystone to Highway 16 to Rapid City. Drive time: 30 minutes.

Bonus stop: Keystone, South Dakota. Entertainment venues for the entire family from mini golf to museums to shopping to zip lines. Restaurants, hotels, and campgrounds available. Here’s a link: Keystone.

*Recommended hotel in Keystone: Holiday Inn Express.

We hope our overview of Mount Rushmore National Memorial has left you wanting to see it for yourself. While we can’t guarantee anything, we’re pretty sure you will love it as much as we did.

Visit our site next week for Day Five of our Black Hills of South Dakota vacation. Until then…

Travel safe, travel smart, and we will see you down the road.

Mike and Kellye

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As always, we strive to be as accurate with our information as possible. If we made a mistake, it was unintentional. (Hey, we’re only human!) We aren’t paid for our recommendations, and we only recommend our own tried and true vendors and venues. Our suggestions are for places that we’ve heard good things about but haven’t visited personally, and our opinions are our own.

©2018

 

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