The Black Hills and Mount Rushmore

9/30
The drive from The Sturgis area to the Mount Rushmore area was relatively short.  We were heading for Creekside Mountain RV Park  just outside Hill City, SD.  There was no problem finding a site, they were closing for the season in two days and all but one site was open.

Our main draw to the area was Mount Rushmore but there's plenty to do in the Black Hills.  After setting up we started driving around to get familiar with the area. The campground owner told us the entrance fee for Custer State Park was free for the "roundup".  We didn't know what the roundup was but we did understand free!.  We found our way to the Custer State Park visitors center and learned about the Annual Buffalo Roundup.  By this time it was late in the day but we went ahead and drove out to the roundup site along the Wild Life Loop Scenic Byway.

The buffalo were in the corrals and there was evidence of a big event, temporary parking areas and even a few  bleachers,  but all the activity was over.  We'd missed it by a couple hours.

We saw the occasional Antelope and some wild donkeys
ready for a handout but not much else.

One that got away.

After the Wild Life drive we headed up the Needles Highway, so named for the pointy spires.  It could also be for the narrow tunnels along the windy two lane road, like threading a needle with the truck. The weather was mostly overcast so the pictures are sorta bland.

Here's a short video of the Needled Highway on a much nicer day than we had.

10/1
Today we'd do Mount Rushmore. The Plan was to go past the attraction and drive another scenic highway the Iron Mountain Road, find a nice spot for lunch, then stop at Rushmore on the way back in the afternoon.  Here's some pictures from Iron Mountain Road.

See Mount Rushmore in the distance.

The road was laid out to maximize the viewing opportunity for the monument, then the engineers were given the task of making it happen.

Mount Rushmore is a spectacular site.  Once you walk out to the the amphitheater and take a few pictures...

...there's basically 4 other things to do during the day.

- Walk the 1/2 mile Presidential loop trail. Here's a 24 min. YouTube video made by a fellow who walked the trail...backwards. "YOU ARE THERE...!"
- Join a park ranger for a 30 minute interpretive talk or guided walk
- Visit the Lincoln Borglum Visitor Center with lots of good information on the sculptor, the workers and history of the USA.  There's also a 14 minute film "Mount Rushmore: The shrine".
- Visit the Sculptor's Studio at the end of the Presidential Trail. There you'll see actual models used, examples of the tools and the view of the mountain the sculptors saw during the 14 year construction. There's also a very interesting Ranger talk about the sculpting of the monument. Here's a YouTube video from inside the Sculptors's Studio.

View from Sculptors Studio.

One of the highlights of a visit to Mount Rushmore is the Evening Lighting Ceremony .  We'd go back to the camper for dinner then return for the ceremony.

• Here's a tip. The only cost to get into the monument is an $11 annual pass parking fee paid to a concessionaire, so the senior pass doesn't get you a discount.  When we returned about 7:30pm there was no one collecting parking fees. Not sure what time they stop taking the parking fees.

The ceremony started with a ranger presentation followed by a film.

After after the film, the ranger called for any veterans in the audience to come down to the stage.  Each veteran introduced themselves and their branch of service.  There was even a WWII Army air-core veteran.

The veterans then participated in a flag lowering ceremony.

As we headed back to our campground, we stopped at the parking area where you can see the monument from the side, showing a Washington profile hanging in the black sky.

Here's an excellent  video about the area by RVgeeks, a great source for RV tips and travel info.

To end our visit to Mound Rushmore, here's a side of the sculpture you won't find in the guide books....

The next morning we were the last to leave the campground for the season.

Coming next, Badlands National Park.