Mt Rushmore

I found it too bad they farmed out the parking etc to a private company - still think it should remain a govt run park!

Thom02099....Good info. Our dog should be fine! Thanks.

I don't believe they do it any more, but I spent a fair amount of time sitting on the patio outside the café one morning just before the 4th of July, and watched helicopters delivering fireworks to the heads for the celebration. Seeing a helicopter that looked like a firefly from that distance, really gave me a sense of the size of the monument.
Without a special event like that, an hour ought to do it. Unless you see one of the heads move. :)

Just to add to what others have said....Mt Rushmore is what you make of it. We just returned a few weeks ago from a trip to the Black Hills. Yes, there are four heads on a mountain! Major photo op, lots of folks taking pics and "selfies". But there's also a wonderful museum with great old photographs of the actual construction, the history of it, the politics of it (and if you think politics nowadays is bad...check out some of the political turmoil in getting this project completed!!) I thought that was fascinating. There's also a movie with narration about the whole project, and an expansion on some of the points of interest in the museum. There's also a hiking trail that one can hike, it's around the base of the memorial. There's also the sculptor's workshop that is interesting. And of course there's the obligatory gift shop for your shopping pleasure. Talk with some of the Rangers; they can give you some interesting perspectives as well, particularly the ones who've been there a while.

Regarding your doggie, when we were there, the outside temp was probably mid-80s, very comfortable. There's a multi-story parking garage, we parked on the lowest level and it was quite cool down there, and we were there mid-day. Other folks did the same thing, their fur family in their vehicles parked on the lowest level. If your pooch doesn't have separation anxiety, should do fine there.

Thanks Dick_B! We didn't know if it was a 3 hour deal or a 1 hour deal......I think we have a pretty good idea what we are in for now. We will be down in Douglas, WY and this was going to be a long "day trip" (about 6 hours driving up and back without the motorhome) and were hoping to bring our dog with us if possible. Otherwise we would board him in Douglas. If it is in fact a shady place to park your pet as the NPS website says and it only takes an hour to actually walk around and see what there is to be seen...well, we just may do it. Grayline would be fun but it won't work for us. But thanks for the suggestion.
Thanks to everyone for their input.

We were very disappointed in Mt. Rushmore. It took us less than an hour to decide it was not for us.
You may love it. We did not.

You can `do' Rushmore in about an hour. Better yet take the Grayline bus tour of Rushmore and Crazy Horse which includes a lunch.

We drove out truck camper to Mt Rushmore. Arrived in the morning. Left a few vented Windows. Checked on the two dogs once an hour. We parked near the RV seen in Google Maps.



RV parking

An hour.

Jim Shoe.......thanks for your reply. So it is a parking garage then. Ok, that makes more sense as it probably is not that hot underground. Since you sound like you have been there....one more question to you: How long should we plan to be there? We will be "day-tripping" up from Douglas, WY.