Last Updated on: 11th July 2025, 08:29 am
Mount Rushmore was originally conceived of as a way to boost tourism to South Dakota’s Black Hills region. And with over two million people visiting Mount Rushmore National Memorial each year, the effort clearly paid off.
But aside from arriving and simply admiring the massive sculpture from below, what else does the site have to offer? In the following guide, we’ll be covering everything you can expect to see and do during your visit, including the beautiful Presidential Trail and the fascinating Sculptor’s Studio. You could easily spend a few hours at the site in total.
We’ll also be detailing the history of how the monument came to be, along with some of the controversy which surrounds it.
VISITING MOUNT RUSHMORE
Arriving at Mount Rushmore
While Mount Rushmore is only about half an hour outside the town of Custer (learn where to stay below), it’s well worth taking a detour to get there instead via Iron Mountain Road.
This will add an extra thirty minutes or so to the journey, but the scenic route allows you to see the carvings from a distance from various vantage points. You can even view the presidents through rock-cut tunnels!
Arriving at the site, the payment system for Mount Rushmore is a little confusing. Administered by the US National Park Service, the site is technically free, though everyone must pay $10 for parking.
That means that even if you have the America The Beautiful Annual Parks Pass, you’ll still have to pay.
The parking payment system itself is also a little tricky, as you’re supposed to pay at one of the on-site machines, with somebody only checking for proof when it’s finally time to leave.
Avenue of Flags
Upon entering the main site, you’ll pass by a gift shop and cafe, after which you’ll find yourself at one end of the Avenue of Flags.
Opened in 1976 (the US Bicentennial), the Avenue features flags of all fifty US states plus six additional ones representing US districts and territories.
The Grand View Terrace
At the end of the Avenue of Flags, you’ll reach the Grand View Terrace, a massive terrace from which visitors can enjoy the most direct views of the four presidents’ faces.
This is the view that everyone expects to see when visiting Mount Rushmore. But as we’ll cover below, the site also offers various alternative vantage points from lots of interesting angles.
Also note that when at the Grand View Terrace, you’re standing above the Lincoln Borglum Visitor Center which is accessible via a staircase at the far end. But we’ll be covering the Visitor Center further below.
Sculpted between 1927 to 1941, each presidents’ face is about 60 feet high. Mount Rushmore, itself, meanwhile rises up to 5,725 feet (1,745 m) above sea level.
Head sculptor Gutzon Borglum chose this particular mountain because it faces southeast, thus receiving ample sunlight throughout the day. Furthermore, the granite here was considered strong enough for a sculpture of this magnitude
450,000 tons of rock were removed from the mountain, about 90% of which was blasted off with dynamite. The finishing work was then done with jackhammers. Today, you can still see a massive mound of rubble beneath the faces.
Hundreds of people (many of them miners rather than trained sculptors) worked on the project and incredibly, nobody died.
In total, the project cost about $1 million to make, which is over $20 million in today’s money. As we’ll cover below, however, the finished sculpture was originally supposed to be even larger.
Also below, we’ll be covering Mount Rushmore from various aspects, including the history of the project, the reason for these particular presidents, and the controversy which continues to surround the project.
As an interesting side note, while not visible from the Grand View Terrace, there’s said to be a secret room inside Abe Lincoln’s face containing documents related to the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights!
The Presidential Trail
To make the most of your trip to Mount Rushmore, don’t miss the Presidential Trail. The full loop is 0.6 miles (0.9 km), while you can shorten it slightly by walking out and back to the Sculptor’s Studio (0.2 miles each way). Here we’ll be describing the full loop.
But first, be sure to check out a little side terrace at the start of the trail. And nearby, you can also enjoy some unique views of the sculpture as seen between rocks and trees.
The trail contains hundreds of steps in total, but you’ll start with a descent. And on your way to the Sculptor’s Studio, you’ll pass by the Borglum View Terrace, which features a small sculpture of Gutzon Borglum that was sculpted by his son, Lincoln.
Small informational placards provide an overview of Mount Rushmore’s history, but we’ll be taking a slightly deeper dive just below.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF MOUNT RUSHMORE: The concept for Mount Rushmore was devised in 1923 by Doane Robinson, the Secretary of the South Dakota State Historical Society. And if the original plan had been followed through, it would look a lot different than it does today.
Robinson was inspired by Georgia’s Stone Mountain, a carved monument to Confederate generals that was beginning to attract many tourists to that state. In order to boost tourism to the Black Hills, he wanted something similar in South Dakota, which had just become a state in 1889.
Robinson’s original vision for the monument, which was yet to have a name, would’ve included more than just four figures – none of them presidents. He was said to have wanted Lewis & Clark, Sacagawea, Buffalo Bill, and significant Oglala Lakota figures like Red Cloud and Crazy Horse. All of these figures were either associated with South Dakota itself or the American West in general.
South Dakota Senator Peter Norbeck agreed to fund the project, and Robinson would invite Gutzon Borglum, Stone Mountain’s original sculptor, to come work on it.
While the original proposed location for the project was the Needles, the granite there was determined to be too brittle. Furthermore, the Needles formations were particularly sacred to the Lakota.
As mentioned above, Borglum decided on Mount Rushmore for its strong granite and its southeast-facing direction. He also rejected Robinson’s original idea, instead deciding to sculpt four major presidents, as he believed they’d have a broader appeal.
Work lasted on the project from 1927 until 1941, the year of Gutzon Borglum’s passing. While his son Lincoln did briefly take over the project, the US government declared the project officially finished on October 31, 1941.
Today, Mount Rushmore is said to attract around two million visitors to the region each year – over double the amount of residents in the state of South Dakota.
The Sculptor's Studio
The Sculptor’s Studio, which is open daily from 8:00-16:00, is one of the most fascinating parts of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial.
While relatively small, the studio offers a whole new perspective on Mount Rushmore – or at least what it was originally planned to look like.
On display in the museum is the final plaster model of the sculpture that was created at a scale of 1:12. In other words, 1 inch of the model was equivalent to one foot on the real thing.
As you can immediately tell, the original plan was much more ambitious, with the full torsos of the presidents planned to be carved into the mountain as well.
So why did the sculptors stop after just the faces?
Throughout its duration, the project saw numerous setbacks. For example, Thomas Jefferson was originally caved to the left of George Washington, though the rock’s instability prompted the workers to make a change.
Jefferson’s face was then completely destroyed and recarved to Washington’s right instead.
The massive project experienced financial difficulties from its onset, though President Calvin Coolidge initially pledged that the government would fund it. Borglum had also been hoping to match the amount through private donations.
But by the late 1930s, work on Mount Rushmore was still ongoing, with Borglum using some of the funds to create a Hall of Records behind the monument. Congress even threatened to cut off all funding unless the money was solely used on the main sculptures.
Work was repeatedly delayed, and Borglum often traveled around the country to secure additional funding. And finally in 1941, upon Borglum’s death and with the US on the brink of World War II, Mount Rushmore was officially declared complete.
Mount Rushmore has nevertheless become one of the country’s most iconic monuments, and the original model with its torsos intact will likely appear more strange to modern visitors than the ‘incomplete’ memorial we see today.
The museum also contains numerous old photographs, such as Mount Rushmore prior to the carving. Also note that short ranger talks take place here every hour.
HOW DID MOUNT RUSHMORE GET ITS NAME?: Charles E. Rushmore was a lawyer from New York who came to the Black Hills in 1885 to work on mining claims.
According to local legend, he came across the mountain and asked two local prospectors what its name was. One guide responded that it had no official name, while the other (perhaps jokingly) declared that from then on, it would be known as Mount Rushmore. The name stuck, and even eventually became official.
But as we’ll cover below, the mountain did indeed have a special Lakota name.
Notably, Rushmore himself would later donate money to help fund the project.
The Presidential Trail, Contd.
Past the Sculptor’s Studio, it’s now time to complete the loop of the Presidential Trail. But this half has you ascending the entire way.
Fortunately, there are plenty of places to rest and take in the views. This section, in fact, is arguably the most interesting section of Mount Rushmore, as it allows you to take in many unique views of the sculpture that don’t often appear in photographs.
WHY THESE PRESIDENTS?: The four American presidents that adorn Mount Rushmore were chosen by sculptor Gutzon Borglum to represent to history of the country up to that point. But the US had already had 30 presidents by then, so why these four in particular?
George Washington is a rather obvious choice, both for his role in gaining independence from Britain and because he served as the country’s very first president (1789-1797). As such, he’s associated with the creation of the country
Thomas Jefferson, the US’s third president (1801-1809), is associated with expansion. For example, he made the Louisiana Purchase from France, thus doubling the size of the United States. And he arranged for the Lewis & Clark Expedition to explore this vast new territory.
Abraham Lincoln, who was president from 1861-1865, was associated with preservation for his role in winning the Civil War and ultimately reuniting the country. And of course, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation which freed the slaves.
Today, Theodore Roosevelt is widely associated with conservation, though during his presidency (1901-1909), he was recognized for the country’s economic development and expanding global influence. For example, he was the first president to travel outside of the United States, while he initiated construction on the Panama Canal.
It’s also worth noting that Borglum had been a personal friend of Teddy Roosevelt, while Roosevelt had also frequently stayed in the Dakota Territory where he even had a ranch (current North Dakota).
Lakota, Nakota, And Dakota Heritage Village
Moving on, you’ll arrive at the Lakota, Nakota, & Dakota Heritage Village, which pays homage to South Dakota’s prominent indigenous tribes. But aside from a few replica teepees and some informational signage, there’s not much to see.
The area is especially tiny when compared with the Indian Museum of North America at the Crazy Horse Memorial.
THE CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING MOUNT RUSHMORE: The Black Hills are the ancestral homeland of the Sioux (of which the Dakota and Lakota tribes are part). And Mount Rushmore was originally named by Medicine Man Black Elk as the Six Grandfathers, in honor of the four cardinal directions along with up and down.
According to the treaty signed at Fort Laramie in 1868, the US government promised the entirety of the Black Hills to the Sioux. In return, they asked for the Sioux to ensure the safety of white Americans journeying through the region in addition to ending hostilities against other tribes.
The treaty also would’ve established a Sioux Reservation on which whites were never supposed to settle. But when gold was discovered in the Black Hills, the United States broke the treaty, with prospectors coming to the region en masse.
General Custer would soon arrive with numerous soldiers, upon which bloody battles would ensue. Though Custer would be defeated, the US government would ultimately emerge victorious and has maintained control of the Black Hills ever since.
Understandably, many modern Sioux are unhappy with the existence of Mount Rushmore. Not only was the monument built on their ancestral lands, but the US also had to break the Treaty of Fort Laramie (among others) to build it.
What often gets overlooked in the discussion, however, are the frequent and bloody intertribal wars taking place in the region throughout the 19th century. Just as the US government was expanding westward, the Sioux were also expanding their territory by conquering neighboring tribes.
In any case, construction on the nearby Crazy Horse Memorial was commenced in the 1940s, largely in response to Mount Rushmore. And those visiting the Black Hills should be sure to see both memorials to broaden their perspective.
The Amphitheater & Museum
The Presidential Trail will ultimately loop back around, taking you to a terrace that’s one level below the Grand View Terrace mentioned above. Here you’ll be overlooking the amphitheater.
It’s here that visitors gather to watch the nightly Evening Lighting Ceremony which begins at 20:00. Unfortunately, since I visited Mount Rushmore early in the morning, I wouldn’t be able to see it.
Just behind you will be the Lincoln Borgum Visitor Center, home to the memorial’s main museum. While a bit cluttered, throughout the museum you’ll find various documentaries and informational signs detailing the monument’s history and construction techniques.
Thomas Jefferson Ice Cream
If you’re visiting Mount Rushmore in summer, you might be pleased to know that the cafe near the entrance also features an ice cream shop. While many of the varieties on sale are your typical flavors, one type in particular is said to follow the exact recipe concocted by none other than Thomas Jefferson himself.
Admittedly, I wasn’t very impressed with the taste, which could best be described as a rather bland vanilla. Nevertheless, if it does indeed follow Jefferson’s exact recipe, it’s interesting to know what ice cream tasted like back then.
The Washington Profile View
While, as mentioned above, the Presidential Trail offers plenty of unique views of the sculpture, a short drive west from the entrance is the Washington Profile View.
You’ll find a parking lot nearby so you can safely get out and snap some photos of both Washington and the natural beauty of the surrounding area.
Additional Info
While Custer may be a small town with under 2000 residents, its proximity to Custer State Park, Wind Cave National Park, the Crazy Horse Monument, and Mount Rushmore make it a popular place for long stays.
There are plenty of hotels to choose from, but I ended up staying at the Super 8 and have no complaints about it. I found it to be a quiet hotel and I slept well each night.
Other popular options in the area, meanwhile, include the Comfort Inn & Suites, the Holiday Inn, and the Rocket Motel.