It took 400 workers 14 years to carve the faces of presidents Washington, Jefferson, (Theodore) Roosevelt, and Lincoln on Mount Rushmore. It was designed as a way to bring tourists to the Black Hills of South Dakota, and we are glad it brought us here as part of a trip that included Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Glacier and Badlands national parks.
You don't need much time to visit Mount Rushmore, maybe 2 hours. We were surprised by how many people seemed to stop at the first viewing platform (at the auditorium) and not even bother to walk around the Presidential Trail, which gives you some much closer views.
The Presidential Trail is a 0.6-mile trail with markers that show you where to get the best look at each of the four presidents. There's even a cave you can look through for a unique view of the monument.
I recommend stopping at the Sculptor's Studio, where park rangers give a 15-minute talk about Gutzon Borglum and the men who built Rushmore. It really makes you appreciate what they accomplished as they balanced themselves at high altitudes and used dynamite to blow apart the stone of the mountain. The studio has a 1:12 scaled model of the sculpture, which originally was supposed to include the heads and torsos of all four presidents. And on display are some of the tools used to create Mount Rushmore.
Fun fact: Thomas Jefferson was to be sculpted on George Washington's right side. But the rock there was too soft and collapsed. When you hike the Presidential Trail, you can see some of the rocks that were originally part of Jefferson's first face at Rushmore.
Here's another fun fact we learned while buying lemonade from a vendor who was wearing a T-shirt that said: Thomas Jefferson = Ice Cream. Jefferson is credited with bringing the recipe for ice cream to America from France. That was something my Hamilton-musical-loving boys loved hearing and still share with anyone who will listen to them.
So why were these four presidents chosen to be on Mount Rushmore? I won't tell you. Instead, I'll recommend that you visit this icon of American culture and history and learn for yourself.
Give yourself a few hours at Rushmore, and then go explore Needles Highway and Custer State Park.
L says: I think it's cool how there used to be a head on the left side of Washington, but they had to move it because the rock was too soft.
G says: I really loved to look at the mountain and to learn about how the presidents' faces were carved there.
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