Mount Rushmore National Memorial
Mount Rushmore was created by Gutzon Borglum between 1927-1941 as a way to commemorate the four most influential presidents up until that point. The 60-foot busts were carved on the granite face of a mountain in the Black Hills, however, funding problems made the project take much longer than was originally expected. In order from right-to-left, the presidents carved into the mountainside are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.
Where is Mount Rushmore?
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is located in Keystone, South Dakota, which is in the southwest corner of the state. Rapid City, SD is the largest metro area to the memorial park.
Controversial History of Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore was built on sacred Native American land and sculpted by a man with ties to the Ku Klux Klan. These are the two primary reasons Mount Rushmore National Memorial was fraught with controversy even before it was completed in 1941.
Before this land became known as Mount Rushmore, the Lakota called this granite formation Tunkasila Sakpe Paha, or Six Grandfathers Mountain. By the time the 1800’s came around, Euro-American settlers began pushing into the area, igniting fights between the new settlers, and those that have used the land for hundreds of years. Unfortunately for the Lakota tribe, gold was eventually discovered on the land in 1877, which only hastened the eventual takeover by the US federal government. This land, that was stolen by the US, eventually became the site of Mount Rushmore a half-century later.
VISIT Mount Rushmore National Memorial:
Park Details
Mount Rushmore National Memorial was established in .
| Address | |
|---|---|
| Phone | 605 574-2523 |
| Hours | All year, 7 days a week, 5:00 am to 11:00 pm (except for Christmas) |
| Entrance Fee | $10 per vehicle, $5 for Seniors |
When to Visit: Weather vs. Peak Visitation
We crunched 30 years of historical weather and/or park service data to find the best months to visit Mount Rushmore National Memorial. We looked for the optimal temperatures, the least amount of snow and rain, and stayed away from peak visitation months if we could help it. All this data then helped us paint a picture as to what the absolute best time to visit Mount Rushmore National Memorial is.
Our data shows the best months to visit Mount Rushmore National Memorial are May, October, September & June.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Park Visits | 26,859 | 21,438 | 48,378 | 61,347 | 202,329 | 421,212 | 591,186 | 472,341 | 368,023 | 187,871 | 87,749 | 37,135 |
| Precipitation | 17 | 24 | 48 | 79 | 111 | 87 | 82 | 70 | 49 | 46 | 24 | 16 |
| Avg Temp | 35 | 36 | 45 | 54 | 65 | 76 | 84 | 83 | 73 | 58 | 44 | 35 |
| Max Temp | 52 | 53 | 63 | 73 | 83 | 91 | 95 | 93 | 88 | 76 | 63 | 51 |
| Avg Temp | 19 | 20 | 27 | 35 | 45 | 56 | 63 | 62 | 52 | 39 | 27 | 19 |
| Min Temp | -3 | 0 | 6 | 17 | 28 | 40 | 50 | 48 | 32 | 19 | 5 | -4 |
Mount Rushmore National Memorial Road Trips
Many family vacations consist of stringing one or more national parks together during a week-long trip. Creating these types of trips is our specialty! Here are the road trips we've created where Mount Rushmore National Memorial is visited.
| Trip Name | Trip Miles | Trip Days |
|---|---|---|
| Devils Tower, Wind Cave, Mt. Rushmore to Badlands | 444 | 7 |
Other Nearby National Park Sites
From national monuments, to historic sites to seashores and more, here are the other parks closest to Mount Rushmore National Memorial.