Day 9 - Mt. Rushmore National Park and Deadwood, SD

Got started 7:43 by heading South on Highway 16 toward Mt. Rushmore. The drive took us into the Black Hills National Forest. I’m not sure what we expected, but the scenery was great and by starting early there wasn’t much traffic. Turns out Mt. Rushmore does not charge an admission fee, however there is a parking fee paid to the parking manager. Bottom line is that the Golden Age (get in free to any National Park for those over 62) Pass isn’t accepted. So we paid the $10 parking fee and climbed the steps up to the entrance. Very impressive. Long walk through the Avenue of the Flags to the Grand View Terrace.

Barb finally convinced me to take the Presidential Trail, which runs down to and in front of the mountain. There is a sign stating the trail is strenuous and has (as I remember) over 325 steps. I went anyway. The sign is wrong, there are at least 17,428 steps. But it was worth the walk, as there were some great photo spots. After climbing up I don’t know how many steps we headed directly to the café for two bottles of water. A few more photos and we were off to the Crazy Horse Monument.

I can’t say much about this Crazy Horse thing as we only got about 100 feet past the entrance booth. Remember the $10 parking fee to get into Mt. Rushmore? That’s the Mt. Rushmore that has four, yes four, completed sculptures. The Crazy Horse Monument charges $10 per person to get in (a carload could be pretty expensive.) And the sculpture isn’t anywhere near finished. When the attendant said “that will be $20” I said “I don’t think so” and he then quickly pointed out the turnaround spot about 100 feet down the road. I’m not sure I should call this place a rip off, but I will.

We quickly found our way to Highway 385 for an hour plus drive to Deadwood, South Dakota. Another very scenic road passing through Hill City and skirting Pactola Reservoir. Deadwood is an old, old town. Among the town’s many claims to fame is that Wild Bill Hickok was killed there in 1837. Among my many claims to fame is that I stood near the stop where he was killed.

There was a nice park at the South end of town, which served as our picnic spot. After lunch we spent about an hour and a half walking the downtown area. Ok, we really didn’t walk the entire time. They have casinos in Deadwood. Lots of casinos. I lost a few bucks. Barb on the other hand turned the $4 dollars I gave her (I’m very generous) into $16. Unfortunately she didn’t have her purse with her and I had to pocket her winnings.

Back in Rapid City we made a quick stop to look around Cabela’s and then dinner at Olive Garden. Tomorrow we will be off to the Badlands National Park, Wounded Knee and Buffalo Gap National Grassland. 143 miles today.

Mt. Rushmore South Dakota