The Idea That Started as a Joke

Mount Rushmore almost didn’t happen. And the way it did happen is so strange that if you made it into a movie, nobody would believe it.

In 1923, a historian named Doane Robinson had a problem. South Dakota was beautiful, but nobody was visiting. He wanted a tourist attraction so big and so weird that people would drive across the country just to see it. He suggested carving giant statues of Wild West heroes into the granite peaks of the Black Hills.

His first choice for carver was a man named Gutzon Borglum. Borglum was already working on a massive Confederate memorial at Stone Mountain, Georgia. He was brilliant. He was also impossible to work with. He fired people constantly. He changed plans without telling anyone. He insulted everyone who disagreed with him.

But he agreed to come to South Dakota. He looked at the Black Hills. He decided that Robinson’s idea of Wild West heroes was too small. Borglum thought bigger. Four presidents. Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, Lincoln. A monument to American democracy carved into the side of a mountain.

The project started in 1927. It ended in 1941. Fourteen years. No deaths, which was a miracle given the working conditions. The total cost was just under one million dollars. That sounds cheap until you remember that a million dollars in 1930s money is about 20 million today.

And the faces are still there. Four presidents, each 60 feet tall. Noses 20 feet long. Mouths 18 feet wide. Eyes 11 feet across. You can fit the entire Statue of Liberty inside the head of any one of them.

The Faces – Who Made the Cut and Who Didn’t

People always ask why these four presidents. Borglum had his reasons.

George Washington – First president. Father of the country. The man who could have been king and said no. He represents the birth of the United States.

Thomas Jefferson – Author of the Declaration of Independence. The Louisiana Purchase guy. He doubled the size of the country. He represents the expansion of the United States.

Theodore Roosevelt – The conservation president. He protected millions of acres of public land. He built the Panama Canal. He won the Nobel Peace Prize. He represents the development of the United States.

Abraham Lincoln – Held the country together during the Civil War. Freed the slaves. Died for the country he saved. He represents the preservation of the United States.

Borglum wanted to include a fifth president. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was still alive when Borglum died in 1941, so that never happened. Other people have suggested adding John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, or Barack Obama. The National Park Service has always said no. The mountain is finished. The carving is done. Don’t mess with it.

The Black Hills – Sacred Land and Broken Treaties

Before I go any further, I need to tell you the rest of the story. The part that doesn’t show up in the postcards.

The Black Hills are sacred to the Lakota people. They call them Paha Sapa. According to their tradition, the hills are the heart of everything that is. Their creation story happened here. Their ceremonies still happen here.

In 1868, the United States signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie. The treaty promised that the Black Hills would belong to the Lakota forever. No white settlers. No mining. No carving.

Then gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1874. Thousands of miners rushed in. The government tried to buy the hills. The Lakota refused to sell. So the government took them anyway. The Great Sioux War of 1876 happened. Custer died at the Little Bighorn. But the Lakota lost in the end.

In 1980, the Supreme Court ruled that the Black Hills had been illegally seized. They ordered the government to pay the Lakota over 100 million dollars. The Lakota refused the money. They said the hills were never for sale. The money sits in a trust account today, accruing interest. Over a billion dollars now. Still unclaimed.

When you stand at Mount Rushmore, you’re standing on land that was stolen. The faces of four American presidents are carved into a mountain that was promised to the Lakota forever. That tension is real. It’s uncomfortable. It should be.

The Crazy Horse Memorial is nearby. A mountain carving of the Lakota leader on horseback. It started in 1948. It’s still not finished. It will probably never be finished. That’s not the point. The point is that the Lakota are carving their own monument on their own land. If you visit Mount Rushmore, you should visit Crazy Horse too.

The Sculptor’s Studio – Where the Magic Happened

Most people walk the Presidential Trail, take their photos, and leave. That’s fine. But you’re missing the best part.

The Sculptor’s Studio is a small building near the base of the mountain. Gutzon Borglum worked here. His models and tools are still inside. A giant plaster model of the mountain sits in the middle of the room, showing how Borglum planned the final carving.

The model is fascinating because the final mountain doesn’t match it. Borglum died before the project finished. His son Lincoln took over. Lincoln decided that the detail on Washington’s coat wasn’t necessary. He stopped the carving early. The presidents have no bodies. Just heads floating above the trees.

A park ranger gives talks at the studio every hour. They explain how the carving was done. Dynamite to remove the big chunks. Drills to smooth the surfaces. A process called honeycombing to get the fine details. Workers hanging from ropes, 500 feet in the air, with jackhammers.

Go to the ranger talk. Ask questions. Kids love this part. Adults do too.

The Evening Ceremony – Don’t Skip This

During the summer, every night at 9 PM, there’s a lighting ceremony at the amphitheater. It starts with a film about the presidents. Then a park ranger tells the story of the mountain. Then they ask all the veterans in the audience to stand. Then they ask all the active duty military to stand. Then they lower the flag while Taps plays.

Then the lights come up on the mountain. Not slowly. All at once. The faces appear in the darkness. The crowd applauds. Every night. Without fail.

The ceremony is corny. It’s patriotic in a way that feels straight out of 1950s America. Some people roll their eyes. But watch the veterans. Watch them stand a little straighter. Watch them wipe their eyes. Watch them put their hands over their hearts.

That ceremony is not for tourists. It’s for them. The rest of us are just guests.

Arrive at the amphitheater by 8 PM to get a good seat. Bring a jacket. Even in August, the Black Hills get cold after sunset.

The Iron Mountain Road – The Best Drive in the Black Hills

The road to Mount Rushmore is as good as the mountain itself.

Iron Mountain Road was designed by a man named Peter Norbeck. He was the governor of South Dakota and later a US senator. He personally walked the hills and planned the route. He wanted the road to be as beautiful as possible, even if that meant making it strange.

The road has three pigtail bridges. Spiral loops that look like something out of a cartoon. It has tunnels carved through solid rock. It has switchbacks so tight that RVs are not allowed. It has views of Mount Rushmore framed by the tunnels, perfectly aligned so that each president appears in the tunnel opening as you approach.

Drive slowly. Stop at the pullouts. Take photos. Let faster cars pass. This road is not for getting somewhere. It’s for being somewhere.

The Presidents Trail – Up Close With the Faces

The Presidential Trail is a half mile loop that takes you to the base of the mountain. The first part is easy. A wide path with stairs. Information plaques about each president. Good views of the faces from below.

The second part gets harder. More stairs. Steeper stairs. 422 stairs total if you do the whole loop. People with bad knees should skip the second half. There are benches along the way. Use them.

From the top of the trail, you can see the details you miss from below. The pupils of Jefferson’s eyes. The mole on Roosevelt’s cheek. The part in Lincoln’s hair. These details are impossible to see from the viewing area. You have to get close.

The trail is open sunrise to sunset. Go at sunrise. The light hits the faces directly. The crowds are nonexistent. The only sounds are birds and your own breathing.

The Parking and Crowds – The Honest Truth

Mount Rushmore is busy. From late May through early September, the parking garage fills up by 10 AM. On summer weekends, it fills up by 9 AM.

The parking fee is $10 per car. Not per person. Per car. That’s cheap for a national memorial. But the parking garage is a mess. Tight spaces. Angry drivers circling for spots. Give yourself extra time.

The best strategy is to go before 8 AM or after 3 PM. The light is better for photos at those times anyway. The crowds are smaller. The temperature is cooler.

Winter is empty. The roads are plowed. The memorial is open. The temperature is often below freezing. But you’ll have the place almost to yourself. No crowds. No lines. Just the presidents watching over a frozen landscape.

Keystone – The Gateway Town

The town of Keystone is three miles from Mount Rushmore. It’s a tourist trap in the best possible way.

Main Street is lined with fudge shops, t-shirt stores, and restaurants serving buffalo burgers and fried pickles. The Big Thunder Gold Mine offers tours of an old mine shaft. The Rushmore Tramway Adventures has an alpine slide and a zip line. It’s loud and crowded and exactly what you need after a quiet day at the memorial.

The best restaurant in town is the Powder House Lodge. Walleye. Prime rib. Indian tacos on fry bread. The building is a former blacksmith shop from the 1920s. The food is better than it needs to be.

The Honest Bottom Line

Mount Rushmore is not subtle. Four giant white faces carved into a mountain. What could be subtle about that?

Some people call it a desecration. Some people call it a masterpiece. Some people look at it and feel proud. Some people look at it and feel angry. Most people just look at it and feel something. That’s the point.

The mountain was never supposed to be just a tourist attraction. Borglum wanted it to be a shrine to democracy. A place where Americans could come and remember what their country was supposed to be. The good parts and the bad parts.

A shrine doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to make you think.

Go to Mount Rushmore. Take your photo. Eat a buffalo burger. Drive the Iron Mountain Road. Then go to Crazy Horse. Then drive through the Black Hills and think about what you’ve seen.

That’s the whole trip. That’s the whole point.