After
Badlands,
Wall Drug and the Corn Palace we finally moved on to one to one of the more anticipated stops of our trip,
Mount Rushmore and 2 whole nights in the same hotel.
We headed out early in the morning for Mount Rushmore, only a 10 minute drive from our hotel in Keystone. The setting is absolutely gorgeous, and we had a great day. Sadly, we only had about an hour and a half at Mt. Rushmore, which wasn't quite enough time.
We started out in the visitors center, which gives nice views of the mountain from the inside (handy if you're visiting in bad weather). Inside the visitors center they show a short film about the making of Mount Rushmore, it's a great little movie and will make you appreciate the lengths they went to in creating this. it was all done with dynamite! There is also a series of displays about the making of Rushmore and a small shop. There is a much larger shop at the entrance to the park.
There is a lovely trail at the site that goes around the amphitheatre and gives some different views of the Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and Roosevelt. It also has some museum like stops where you can see some of the models used in the design of Mount Rushmore. The trail takes about a half an hour and if you start on the left the end of the trail involves walking up a lot of stairs. Not fun when you have to meet the bus! But the walk is worth it on a nice day to get a little closer and see the presidents heads from a different angle.
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| Amphitheater |
Mount Rushmore was a great stop, one I was quite excited about on this trip. It has a beautiful setting, and was where my tour did our group photo. I also got the opportunity to kill someone in our assasins game on the tour. Of course I was assasinated shortly after, but it was fun while it lasted.
