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  "description": "Is Mount Rushmore overrated? Our experience visiting Mount Rushmore in winter, what surprised us, and whether this iconic South Dakota stop is worth it.",
  "path": "/visiting-mount-rushmore-in-winter/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-13T00:55:04.000Z",
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  "tags": [
    "History",
    "Road Trips",
    "South Dakota",
    "United States",
    "Midwest"
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  "textContent": "When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. See our Affiliate Policy. Mount Rushmore is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the United States. You’ll see it in travel brochures, movies, referenced in books and seen in plenty of photos online (and now here on this blog). When we drove across the country for our first road trip in January 2021 from Alabama to Glacier National Park in Montana, stopping at Mount Rushmore National Memorial and checking out a U.S. monument felt like an obvious choice. Earlier that morning, we explored the incredible landscape of Badlands National Park, and Mount Rushmore was only about an hour and a half drive west. This would give us a place to stop, stretch our legs and check off one of America’s most famous landmarks. But visiting Mount Rushmore ended up being one of the most underwhelming stops on that entire road trip. It wasn’t bad, just disappointing. But I would still recommend visiting at least once. Stopping at Mount Rushmore on Our First Cross-Country Road Trip After leaving the Badlands, we started the drive towards the Black Hills. And the drive in was beautiful. The granite rocks rose around us as we started climbing into the hills, pine trees lined the road and small patches of snow sat along the shoulders. Even though it was early January, the weather wasn’t bad at all. Arriving around 1pm on January 3rd, the sky was bright blue with wispy clouds, and the roads were completely clear. Minerva, who is usually the first one to get cold, even felt comfortable in jeans, boots, and a sweatshirt. Thinking back on this trip years later, it’s the landscape and scenery around Mount Rushmore that stuck with me and impressed me more than the monument itself. Visiting Mount Rushmore in January (What It Was Like in Winter) As we drove along 16A, we came across the sign for Mount Rushmore National Monument and, of course, had to pull over for a couple quick photos. From there we turned onto Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway before eventually pulling into the memorial parking lot. Not too chilly for an early January visit There’s no entrance fee to visit Mount Rushmore, but parking costs $10 and is managed by a third party. After parking, we started our walk up to the Avenue of Flags and to the main viewing area. One thing that immediately surprised us was how empty the area felt. January is one of the quietest times of year to visit Mt Rushmore, and it felt like we had the place almost to ourselves. A little snow sat along the roadside and at the base of the hills, but the granite faces themselves were completely clear. It was also not particularly cold, though it was close to freezing. If you’re hoping to avoid crowds, visiting Mount Rushmore in January definitely has its advantages. Keystone Weather Construction at Mount Rushmore During Our Visit As we walked up to the viewing area, we weren’t expecting to see so much construction. Large parts of the memorial were being renovated at the time, with upgrades planned for the visitor center, amphitheater, and Avenue of Flags to improve accessibility and visitor flow. While it’s great that improvements were being made, it also meant navigating around construction during our visit. This is the amphitheater at the base of Mount Rushmore My First Impression of Mount Rushmore National Memorial After making our way through the Avenue of Flags and to the viewing area, we came face-to-face with the four presidents carved into the mountain. I think I expected the experience would feel more like the close-up images found online. But it felt small in person. Not necessarily physically small (the faces themselves are enormous), but the overall experience felt distant and a little underwhelming. Mount Rushmore by the Numbers: If you’re wondering how big Mount Rushmore is, the entire memorial spans 1,278 acres. It took 14 years (from 1927 to 1941) to carve the four presidents, and each individual face stands approximately 60 feet tall. The monument sits far across a wide valley, and from the viewing area the presidents’ faces felt farther away than I expected. I guess I was anticipating something more dramatic. It looks a lot smaller in person National Park Service acknowledgement plaque Why Mount Rushmore Felt Overrated to Me Don’t get me wrong, I’d still recommend visiting at least once. Just keep your expectations in check and plan to explore other places in the area afterwards. For us, this was a quick photo stop instead of a full experience. We stayed about 40 minutes, which we felt was enough time to walk to the viewing area, take a few pictures, take it all in and then leave for the next adventure. Compared to the landscapes we had just seen at Badlands National Park, Mt Rushmore didn’t have the same sense of scale or immersion. From an engineering perspective, the monument itself is impressive. Nearly 450,000 tons of granite were removed during construction between 1927 and 1941 to carve the 60-foot-tall faces of four U.S. Presidents: PresidentTerm of OfficeHistorical SymbolismGeorge Washington1789–1797The Birth of the NationThomas Jefferson1801–1809The Growth and Expansion of the NationAbraham Lincoln1861–1865The Preservation of the UnionTheodore Roosevelt1901–1909The Development of Global Stature Even learning that, the monument still felt more like a landmark you check off a list than a place you spend much time exploring. You can see some construction equipment at the bottom of this picture The History of Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills The idea for Mount Rushmore came from South Dakota historian Doane Robinson who, in 1920, wanted to attract more tourists to the area. The sculptor Gutzon Borglum was brought in to turn this idea into a national monument honoring four presidents who represented key phases of American history. Borglum had previously worked on the Confederate memorial at Stone Mountain before leaving that project and moving to South Dakota. The side profile view of Mount Rushmore However, Mount Rushmore also exists within a much more complex historical context. The Black Hills are sacred to the Lakota people, who know the mountain as the Six Grandfathers. The land was guaranteed to the Lakota under the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868), but was later seized after gold was discovered in the region. Because of this history, many Indigenous groups view Mount Rushmore as a symbol of broken treaties and the loss of their ancestral lands. And we completely agree. Just a short drive away, the Crazy Horse Memorial is being carved to honor the Lakota leader, Crazy Horse and offers visitors another perspective on the history of the Black Hills. But this also is not without its own controversy. Historical Inception TimelineKey Milestone1923Doane Robinson proposes a Black Hills carving project to draw tourists1924Gutzon Borglum visits the Black Hills and rejects the Needles for Mount RushmoreMarch 3, 1925The Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission is established by CongressAugust 10, 1927President Calvin Coolidge formally dedicates the projectOctober 4, 1927Actual construction and drilling begin on the mountain Frequently Asked Questions What city is Mount Rushmore in?+ Mount Rushmore is located in Keystone, South Dakota. It is tucked into the Black Hills region, about 30 minutes southwest of Rapid City. Which presidents are on Mount Rushmore?+ The four presidents on the mountain are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. They were chosen by sculptor Gutzon Borglum to represent the birth, growth, development, and preservation of the United States. How long does it take to see Mount Rushmore?+ It typically takes 45 to 90 minutes to see Mount Rushmore. During our January visit, we found that 40 minutes was the perfect amount of time to walk the Avenue of Flags, and take photos at the main viewing area. Is there a hiking trail at Mount Rushmore?+ Yes, the most popular trail is the Presidential Trail Loop, a 0.9-mile loop (with 422 stairs) that gets you closer to the base of the mountain for a better view of the carvings. This AllTrails map needs analytics cookies to load. These cookies cover both our site and the embedded content. Or View on AllTrails How far is Badlands National Park from Mount Rushmore?+ Badlands National Park is 85 miles (about a 90-minute drive) east of Mount Rushmore along I-90. How far is Mount Rushmore from Yellowstone?+ Mount Rushmore is approximately 440 miles from Yellowstone National Park. Depending on your route through Wyoming, the drive takes about 7 to 8 hours via I-90. We’re still glad we made the short visit Is Mount Rushmore Worth Visiting? Even though we didn’t love our visit, I still think Mount Rushmore is worth seeing once. It feels like it’s just part of the classic American road trip experience. If you’re already exploring the Black Hills, it’s easy to stop for a quick visit and decide for yourself what you think. Just go in with the expectation that it might be more of a short stop. What I especially loved about the visit was driving through the Black Hills in winter, blue skies above the snowy hills, continuing north toward Glacier National Park and exploring parts of the country I had never experienced before. After visiting Mt Rushmore, we headed just a few minutes down the road to Horse Thief Lake to stretch our legs and enjoy the quiet side of the Black Hills.",
  "title": "I Was Disappointed With Mount Rushmore",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-13T00:55:13.000Z"
}