Plan to spend about two hours admiring one of America’s most impressive and iconic monuments. Younger children will love the museum’s pretend detonator that blows up rock on a screen while older kids can earn their Junior Ranger badge and appreciate why each of the four presidents was chosen. A nice half-mile boardwalk loops around the impressive amphitheater and below the monument before circling past the sculptor’s studio. The gift shop and cafe are good places to dine or grab souvenirs. If your kids can stay up for the 9 p.m. nightly program, it’s worth returning for the dramatic lighting and stirring patriotic program.
Mount Rushmore National Monument
Highway 244 & Highway 16A, Keystone, 57751-0268, SD
