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Mount Rushmore - is it worth it?

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Yes, worth it. But as others have suggested, consider it to be part of an overall experience in the Black Hills. Most people go to Mt Rushmore, spend a couple of hours, & move on. That's okay. You'll take in a lot of history in those 2 hours. And sometimes you'll get an unexpected bonus. A few years ago, I was there when about 100 folks were receiving their US citizenship. That's a moving experience in itself. But in this case, each person was allowed about 10 seconds to state where they were from, and give a very quick personal statement. To a person, they were so excited & proud to receive their citizenship.

But as others have mentioned, the Crazy Horse monument is quite possibly even more interesting. Its history, and the fact that it's still under construction.

The Needles are a beautiful and impressive drive. Also, driving through Custer State Park is a great way to spend a few hours. They have possibly the largest bison herd in the US living there; it's pretty impressive to see 200 or 300 of them grazing together alongside the road. And there are lots of other wildlife in the park that are easily spotted.

Speaking of roads, I've only been there on 4 wheels. But I would love to have made it there when I was still riding. There's a wealth of scenic, curvy roads running throughout the area.

If you're a camper, there are some very nice national forest campgrounds in the area.

And after you've seen the Black Hills, make the trek westward to enjoy Devil's Tower National Monument. There simply isn't anything else like it anywhere. It's unique, and it's worth the drive, if you're in the general area anyway.
 
TNC said:
"Close Encounters of the Third Kind" is one of my favorite movies, so there was no way I wasn't going to check that out. It's easy to see why Spielberg picked that feature for his movie.
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I was upset to find out there is no secret base on the other side. The KOA campground is where the Army camp was where they escaped from before they climbed up the tower.
 
If you were not impressed by the Grand Canyon and surrounding area, I would just stay at home (my personal opinion, obviously you are wanting a trip). All the places mentioned by other people (Devil's Tower, Rushmore, Painted Dessert, Crazy Horse (I saw the rock before work begun), Custer State Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, Wind Cave National Park, Deadwood, Badlands, ...). I don't think it is the actual place that make all of the memories, I think what makes this a great trip is getting there. I hope you have a great trip. If you are in the area of these places, just the roads and scenery will be spectacular.

Free piece of advice. At Joshua Tree National Park, the Joshua trees are in the northern part of the park. The southern part of the park along I-10 has amazing deserts, but no Joshua trees. I learned this the hard way. End of the day, we were tired, and did not make the effort to drive through the park to see them. Still regret that decision. :-)
 
Tuco said:
Planning a big loop road trip to include Mount Rushmore and an over night stay at Sturgis (before the rally). As someone that has a touch of ochlophobia, is Rushmore worth the effort? I remember my two wheeled visit to the Grand Canyon and frankly it was not worth the effort. Just a very big hole in the ground with a lot of annoying tourists everywhere.

I think Rushmore would be cool, and I'd like to see it before Lincoln is replaced with Trumpo. Opinions please.
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Most of my trips are about the routes and not the destinations. My case of ochlophobia pertains to traffic. I avoid going through major cities at all costs. I avoid interstates as much as possible.

As for Rushmore yeah it would’ve been nice to see when I swung down thru Deadwood from Canada a couple of summers ago but the lasting moment was to unknowingly come upon Crazy Horse after an early morning beat the crowds departure.
 
FitzPA said:
If you're just going to see Mt Rushmore then I'd say "no", I found it underwhelming because
you can see it from miles away - and it only gets bigger as you approach, so it was it was kind
of "Meh"
However there are lots of other interesting things to do in the same area - Needles Highway,
Custer State park (lots of Bison), Badlands, Missile Sites, Spearfish canyon?, Wall.....

Hill City was a nice place for lunch - eating on an outdoor patio.

Have fun
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You can take a walk around it and get a little closer.
It's kind of a bucket list thing. You gotta do it at least once. When you learn about what that Borglum guy did, and how he did it, pretty amazing.
 
If you're in the area, I'd say definitely go see it once. It's not something I'd make any effort to go back to a second time though. My impression was that it's kind of underwhelming. In all of the pictures you ever see, the sculpture fills the frame and is pretty impressive. But when you stand on the viewing platform it is a small part of a distant mountain and not nearly as impressive as the pictures.
 
Read my 2003 trip report of a two week ride
around the western half of the United States on a V-Max
avoiding crowds all the way.
The Long Ride Home
avenue-of-the-giants-l.jpg
 
I've been and I was impressed. I have a pic some where that I took while riding the Iron mountain road?, I was taking a pic of the valley below and didn't realize that Mount Rushmore was miles away across the valley and showed up on the pic after I blew it up. Devils Tower is mind blowing. I was a lso impressed by both the South and North rim of the Grand Canyon. Made a loop through souther Utah took in Bryce, Zion and the North rim. Was impressed by all. Guess I'm easily impressed.
 
Tuco said:
Planning a big loop road trip to include Mount Rushmore and an over night stay at Sturgis (before the rally). As someone that has a touch of ochlophobia, is Rushmore worth the effort? I remember my two wheeled visit to the Grand Canyon and frankly it was not worth the effort. Just a very big hole in the ground with a lot of annoying tourists everywhere.

I think Rushmore would be cool, and I'd like to see it before Lincoln is replaced with Trumpo. Opinions please.
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Could be viewed as industrio/state-driven vandalism. Think of Banksy with a rattle can the size of the Hindenburg. But in 10,000 years or so, it will give anthropologists something with which to justify their existence. That is if AI allows it…
 
Tuco said:
Planning a big loop road trip to include Mount Rushmore and an over night stay at Sturgis (before the rally). As someone that has a touch of ochlophobia, is Rushmore worth the effort? I remember my two wheeled visit to the Grand Canyon and frankly it was not worth the effort. Just a very big hole in the ground with a lot of annoying tourists everywhere.

I think Rushmore would be cool, and I'd like to see it before Lincoln is replaced with Trumpo. Opinions please.
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Nah! It sucks. You may as well stay away as it portrays some of America's finest.you need to go to Detroit or New York.
 
It's my opinion that if you go to Rushmore, park in the parking lot, walk into the monument, buy a t-shirt and take some pictures, you'll be just as disappointed as you were at the Grand Canyon
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Been by there a few times. Never went inside. Found a few turn outs close by and snapped a few photos. We didn't think it was worth the coin or crowds to go on the property, but the ride and scenery in the area are most excellent.
 
Mad Mac said:
Read my 2003 trip report of a two week ride
around the western half of the United States on a V-Max
avoiding crowds all the way.
The Long Ride Home
avenue-of-the-giants-l.jpg
Click to expand...
Great write up, thanks for posting.

“I was convinced I had spent the night with a claustrophobic, paranoid, former CIA-assassin.”- good stuff lol.
 
I flew through the Vegas end of the canyon twice in a 4-seat Cessna. Blown away each time.

I flew over Palo Duro canyon at 1000' AGL in a B-17 and was blown away. No one can take that away from me.

I'll probably never see Devil's Tower, but then again, seeing Enchanted Rock from an '82 Sportster did not suck.
 
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13K views · 11K reactions | THE BLACK HILLS SECRET? IT’S ALL ABOUT THE DRIVE. 🛣️ The Black Hills are a masterclass in road engineering, designed to show you the landscape, not just get you through it. 1️⃣ Needles Highway 2️⃣ Iron Mountain Road 3️⃣

THE BLACK HILLS SECRET? IT’S ALL ABOUT THE DRIVE. 🛣️ The Black Hills are a masterclass in road engineering, designed to show you the landscape, not just get you through it. 1️⃣ Needles Highway 2️⃣...
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