Mount Rushmore is a national memorial centered on a massive sculpture carved into Mount Rushmore’s granite face. The Memorial is located near Keystone in South Dakota’s Black Hills, about 30 miles from Rapid City. Around three million tourists from all over the world visit Mount Rushmore each year to experience this patriotic site.
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The majestic figures of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, surrounded by the beauty of South Dakota’s Black Hills, tell the story of this country’s birth, growth, development, and preservation. The mountain’s majesty strikes every visitor.
The president’s four “great faces” tower 5,725 feet above sea level and are scaled to men standing 465 feet tall.
The month of June, July, and August are the busiest months.
May, September, and October are also less crowded and popular months to visit.
If you want to avoid the crowds, you may consider visiting before or after 9:00 a.m.
If you are one of the approximately 3 million people who visit Mount Rushmore National Memorial from all over the world. Make sure to include some of these top things to see and do on your itinerary.
There are numerous other ways to visit this site and immerse yourself in the human history and natural surroundings of South Dakota’s Black Hills.
The tools and models used in the construction are on display in this historic building, which was built in 1939 as Gutzon Borglum’s second on-site studio. Exhibits demonstrate the carving techniques.
In the Information Center, you can learn about the park’s history.
At the Borglum View Terrace, you can learn about the Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota cultures.
Visit the Presidential Trail, a half-mile loop (422 stairs) that offers spectacular views of the iconic Mount Rushmore National Memorial.
This easy trail winds through the pines and passes near the blasting rubble left by workers who carved the mountain decades ago. Each president is highlighted along the trail, with the history provided by plaques found along the way.
Please keep in mind that some parts of the trail are not wheelchair accessible.
You may consider visiting the Lincoln Borglum Visitor Center, where exhibits and a 14-minute film about the reasons for and methods used in carving Mount Rushmore. It is located beneath the Grand View Terrace.
Join a park ranger in the park’s outdoor amphitheater for an inspiring program about the presidents, patriotism, and the history of the country. This program begins with a ranger talk, continues with the film “Freedom: America’s Lasting Legacy,” and concludes with the lighting of the memorial. From late May to the end of September, the program is held every night.
View the flags of the United States of America’s 50 states, one district, three territories, and two commonwealths.
Take a seat and watch the flags flutter in the breeze, or photograph yourself with your flag.
The Self-Guided Tour offers an audio (Rental fee @ 6$) and multimedia tour (Rental fee @ 8$).
You will be given a device that works similarly to your iPhone or Android, allowing you to quickly select the information you want to learn more about.
There is a GPS-enabled map that will notify you when you are getting close to each tour stop. You can either go to each tour stop around the park or find a comfortable place to sit and enjoy the tour. There are 29 tour stops in total.
The tour is available in English, Spanish, German, French, and Lakota. For the visually impaired, an audio-described tour is also available in English. This is a brand-new feature that will allow visitors of all abilities to enjoy the park.
Gutzon Borglum chose these four presidents because they represented the most significant events in US history, in his opinion. Would another artist at the time, or perhaps a modern artist, have made a different decision?
Mount Rushmore does not have a hidden fifth face. For over 20 years, however, visitors were greeted by Ben Black Elk, unofficially known as Mount Rushmore’s fifth face.
No one is allowed to enter Mount Rushmore’s secret room. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum designed the chamber behind Abraham Lincoln’s facade to hold information for visitors about the monument as well as information about America’s history from 1776 to 1906.
Mount Rushmore’s granite is eroding at a rate of 1 inch (2.54 cm) every 10,000 years. Each nose is about 240 inches (609 cm) long, so eroding them would take 2.4 million years, unless an ice age sent glaciers down to scrub them away.
The national memorial cannot be scaled, and there are no tours to the summit. A well-traveled trail, however, will take you right to the base of this magnificently sculpted mountain.
Yes, it is. History buffs can read through all of the exhibits and learn about Mount Rushmore and its four presidents. You’ll have the opportunity to see an American landmark and cross it off your travel bucket list.
A little-known chamber hidden behind Abraham Lincoln’s head was intended to house a shrine to America. The carving of Mount Rushmore began with a conceptual drawing of Borglum’s idea for a never-built entablature inserted.
Almost 400 men and women worked on the memorial from 1927 to 1941, fourteen years of carving. The work was difficult, the hours were long, the pay was low, and the duration of employment was uncertain. Despite the harsh and dangerous conditions, no one was killed while carving.
This hall’s recesses would house bronze and glass cabinets containing important historical documents such as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. The hall would also include busts of famous Americans and a list of the United States contributions to the world in science, industry, and the arts.
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