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Colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills featuring the 60-foot (18 m) heads of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln
General Information
5am to 9pm
March 14 to September 30, 2021
5am to 11pm
October 1, 2021 to March 12, 2022
5am to 9pm
Cars, Motorcycles and RVs
$10 per vehicle
$5 for Seniors (62 and older)
America the Beautiful Pass does not cover parking fee
From Rapid City (23mi) Head south on US-16 W/Mt Rushmore Rd toward Kansas City St. Continue to follow US-16 W. Use the left lane to take the US-16A ramp to Mt. Rushmore. Continue onto US-16A E. Continue straight onto SD-244 W.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills in Keystone, South Dakota. - Gutzon Borglum created the sculpture's design and oversaw the project's execution from 1927 to 1941 with the help of his son, Lincoln Borglum. The sculpture features the 60-foot (18 m) heads of Presidents George Washington (1732-1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), and Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), as recommended by Borglum. The four presidents were chosen to represent the nation's birth, growth, development, and preservation, respectively. The memorial park covers 1,278 acres and the actual mountain has an elevation of 5,725 feet.
After Gutzon Borglum died in March 1941, his son Lincoln took over as leader of the construction project. Each president was originally to be depicted from head to waist, but lack of funding forced construction to end on October 31, 1941. Mount Rushmore attracts more than two million visitors annually.
Beginning with a prospecting expedition in 1885 with David Swanzey (husband of Carrie Ingalls), and Bill Challis, wealthy investor Charles E. Rushmore began visiting the area regularly on prospecting and hunting trips. He repeatedly joked with colleagues about naming the mountain after himself. The United States Board of Geographic Names officially recognized the name "Mount Rushmore" in June 1930.
Historian Doane Robinson conceived the idea for Mount Rushmore in 1923 to promote tourism in South Dakota. In 1924, Robinson persuaded sculptor Gutzon Borglum to travel to the Black Hills region to ensure the carving could be accomplished. He chose Mount Rushmore, a grander location, partly because it faced southeast and enjoyed maximum exposure to the sun. Borglum said upon seeing Mount Rushmore, "America will march along that skyline."
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mount Rushmore", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
