Tuesday, June 27, 2017

MT. RUSHMORE

First road trip of summer 2017 was to Mt. Rushmore!  This is one of those destinations that's always on the bucket list but rarely gets checked off because it is on the way to no where.  Or at least that was always my impression.  I always thought it would be cool to see, but I never thought I would see it.  And I will say straight off the bat, I'M SO GLAD WE TOOK THIS TRIP!
Mt. Rushmore is about an 11 hour drive from where we are in Provo, Utah, so it never could be a spontaneous trip.  After loving our camping trip to Bryce Canyon last Memorial Day and deciding we wanted to make Memorial Day camping a tradition, Mt. Rushmore became our pick for this year's camping trip.
We camped at the Mt. Rushmore Resort KOA at Palmer Gulch.  Camp resorts like this are the way to go for camping with young kids!  There was a pool, splash pad, mini golf, playground, ice cream parlor, horseback riding, bikes to rent, fishing, and great rocks to climb and short trails to explore.  In the afternoons there were blowup slides and bouncy houses.  At night there were activities like an outdoor movie, dance party, and rodeo.  We were not expecting to spend so much time at our camp site but our kids loved it!
We reserved our spot ahead of time and requested a site close to water and trees.  We got both!  We were right by the small fishing pond on the edge of the forest.  There were large rocks close by for my kids to climb and perfect hammock-worthy trees.  
 There was on-and-off rain showers and strong wind the whole time we were there.  This was our makeshift canopy that kept our eating/cooking area dry.
There was a family of Canada geese in the pond right by us!  It was fun to feed them - though we kept our distance.  They can be aggressive buggers!  But boy are those goslings cute.

As far as sightseeing, there is PLENTY to do in the Mt. Rushmore area.  

Here's what we saw:
1. Mt. Rushmore Memorial - this clearly was the main attraction and the reason for our trip.  I was told by a few people that they were underwhelmed when visiting Mt. Rushmore.  This was NOT my experience.  The moment we turned the corner and saw the mountain of faces (as my four year old calls it) I couldn't stop staring!  The national park has a museum with lots of great information about the artist, the presidents, and the process of carving the mountain.  There is a short hike that is family friendly - boardwalk style with stairs and railings - that takes you through the beautiful surrounding forest, allow you to visit a few of the artist's studios, and give you various views of the mountain.  This hike was perfect for our young family.  There also is a great gift shop, hall of flags (my kids loved hunting for our state's flag), and an ice cream shop.  

2. Crazy Horse Memorial - this is another carving in a mountain and tribute to the Native American leader and hero Crazy Horse about 30 minutes from Mt. Rushmore. The carving is not complete and the admission fees/donations all go towards completing the project.  There is a Native American museum, laser show, Native American dancing shows, and a gift shop.  This entire project is inspiring and a must see if you're visiting Mt. Rushmore.  My kids loved seeing all the Native American artifacts in the museum.
3. Presidential Wax Museum - this is located in Keystone, just down the street from Mt. Rushmore.  Admission is free with a reservation at the Mt. Rushmore KOA.  This was a great stop for the kids and very informative!  It opened discussion about many historic events such as the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, 911, presidential assassinations, and our current situation with President Trump.  And the wax sculptures are so realistic!  


And here are the things we didn't see/do but wish we had:
4. Evans Plunge - about 45 miles from our camp site, in Hot Springs, SD.  This place looks awesome!  Natural hot springs turned into a water park?  Sign me up!

5. Jewel Cave and Wind Cave - who doesn't love a guided tour through a super cool cave?  We would have loved to do either of these, but we simply didn't have enough time.

6. Rushmore Tramway Adventures - while we were in Keystone at the Presidential Wax Museum, we saw this awesome alpine slide and ropes course across the street.  Had we known it was there we definitely would've planned to go!  Again, we didn't plan enough time for this trip!

7. Custer State Park - apparently my American history doesn't line up well with my geography because I had no idea that Custer's last stand happened in South Dakota.  In fact, I had no idea that South Dakota played such a huge part in our country's migration west.  Now I know!  We kept seeing signs for Custer State Park but never got a chance to go.  It looks like a great place to see bison, go fishing, and grab some yummy chuckwagon food.

8. Badlands National Park - another gorgeous national park within driving distance of Mt. Rushmore.

9. Devil's Tower - is not super close to Mt. Rushmore (2 hours away), but from Utah it only adds about 1 hour to the drive.  If we go back to Mt. Rushmore we definitely will be adding this to our trip.

10. Martin's Cove - this Mormon pioneer historic landmark is literally 1/2 mile off the road on the way to Mt. Rushmore from Utah.  In fact it's pretty close to the halfway mark.  It would have been a perfect pit stop.

As you can see, we easily could have spent a week there.  When it was time to leave Monday morning, we were all wishing we had more time.  Not wanting to leave is always a sign of a good vacation destination.  I hope we get a chance to visit Mt. Rushmore again and do all of the things we didn't get to do this time around.


MT. RUSHMORE

First road trip of summer 2017 was to Mt. Rushmore!  This is one of those destinations that's always on the bucket list but rarely gets...