“This is the best day of my life!” shouted a ten-year-or-so old boy as the four icons started to appear, preparing us for another day of getting up close to that ever-fascinating American spirit ??.
Born in Europe, I’ve partially been raised and fed by and with the soft culture of the USA. Whether I like it or not. Perhaps because of that I really wanted to see the iconic monument that is Mt. Rushmore National Memorial, too. Just like that boy.
Though I’m usually disappointed to see something that is so famous in real life, I was absolutely fascinated by the monument. The presidents pictured – from left to right: Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln) seem so insanely detailed and lifelike, what a piece of work that must have been – especially considering the size of the memorial! No wonder the construction of took 14 years, from 1927 to 1941.
It’s all very well possible to see the president ensemble from the highway while driving up to it. Especially make a stop on the other side of the monument where there’s a parking lot and you can get a good glimpse of ‘President Washington’ en profil. ↓
Unfortunately – smartly enough, in order to make you visit the visitors center at the base of the monument (and thus buying a $10,- USD ticket for it) – it’s not allowed to stop at any of the other pullouts close to Mt. Rushmore.
Also, there are several awesome viewpoints as you drive through the black hills south of the memorial.↓
Those pullouts are also worth a pullover during the darker hours of the day as you’ll see at the end of this article.
Nevertheless I would say it’s totally worth your time and money to enter the visitor center that’s located at the base of the monument. We were doubting to do this ourselves, but I’m so glad we did.
We spend our entire morning at Mt. Rushmore and not just because of the monument itself, but because it was also super interesting to read the stories of how Mt. Rushmore came. But the best was perhaps to see what a sense of pride grew among all of the other visitors once they saw this landmark. Mt. Rushmore to them is as American as their flag. That might sound weird, but there’s this entire circus built around Mt. Rushmore and as a European it’s just so fascinating to experience. We were eager to hop along this ultimate all-American trip.
The grand entrance is a path “the avenue of flags” along a display of state flags that leads to the first lookout. ↑
Seeing the icons from up here is already quite something, but you can even get closer. The Presidential Trail on the left side leads all the way to the base of the hill. You can just stare into their noses. ↓
If you have the time, make sure to join a tour with a park ranger. We silently joined a group that had already started and it was really cool to hear some stories about the creation of Mt. Rushmore.
The ranger will particularly point out some funny details. Have you for example ever noticed that Roosevelt has its glasses carved into the mountain as well? Take a look at the second picture… ↓ Pretty cool right?!
As you can see the colour of the mountain changes in my pictures. That partially has to do with the effects of my camera, but is also to blame to the weather. It makes a huge difference whether you see Mt. Rushmore during sunny or cloudy hours.
We experienced both those moments and at the end of the morning it even started to rain. As the ranger had pointed out before to us, that actually makes the ‘presidents’ ‘cry’, as streams of rain darken the cheeks below the granite eyes.
The Presidential Trail is the best thing one can enjoy up here. But apart from that, the visitor center shows some interesting films about the creation of the monument too and has a neat exhibition with tools that were used throughout the carving procedure, newspaper articles from the time being and stories of the workers behind the monument. All very much worth an extra hour of your time.
I learned some fun facts too. Did you knew this one for example? ↓
Independence and ice cream. What a hero.
The entrance ticket is valid for the rest of the year by the way, so make sure you come back for the light show in the evening. The illumination ceremony starts at 8pm and is a great way to end your all-American day. I hope that ten-year-old boy saw it as well 🙂
