Mount Rushmore is one of the most famous landmarks in the United States, and it’s well worth a quick visit if you’re traveling through the Black Hills of South Dakota.
This national memorial features the colossal faces of four U.S. presidents carved into the rock. Aside from being visually impressive, it also has some neat history behind it.
Here are 11 tips for your first visit to Mount Rushmore!
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1. Morning Is A Great Time To Visit
The best time to visit Mount Rushmore is in the morning. It’s less crowded, less hot (in the summer), and the lighting is great for photos.
This is the ideal time to take pictures of the monument. In the middle of the day, the lighting is more flat, and at sunset, the faces are covered in shadow.
We got there at 8 AM and this was perfect. We had plenty of time to wander the grounds almost alone, and take pictures without people in them. By 10 AM, the monument was already getting pretty crowded.
Avenue of the Flags
2. The Entrance Fee Is A Bit Confusing
Even though Mount Rushmore is administered by the U.S. National Park Service, the way it works is slightly different from the rest of the national parks and monuments.
There’s not an entrance fee at Mount Rushmore, but there is a parking fee. This fee is not covered by the annual or lifetime U.S. park passes, which seems a bit unusual.
You can check the current parking fee on the NPS website here. It’s well worth the cost, and you only need one ticket per vehicle. You can pay for it with cash or credit card at the gate.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
3. There’s A Night Lighting Ceremony
If you want to see a unique view of Mount Rushmore, the faces are lit up after dark every night of the year.
During the summer months, there’s also a lighting ceremony that includes a ranger talk about the presidents and the history of the United States.
You can check the seasonal hours for this on the NPS website here.
Note: Your parking fee at Mount Rushmore is valid for one year from the date you buy it, so remember to hold onto it if you plan to come back again later.
Night lighting ceremony (© Wikimedia / Public Domain)
4. It’s An Impressive Feat Of Engineering
The sculpture at Mount Rushmore is a huge and impressive feat of engineering.
Each of the heads are 6 stories tall. The noses are about 20 feet tall, and the eyes are about 10 feet wide.
Sculpting the monument in granite took 14 years, from 1927 to 1941. It involved almost 400 workers, and 90% of the mountain was carved using dynamite.
Even though the work was often dangerous, they managed to complete it without any of the men dying in the process.
