Mount Rushmore National Memorial

Welcome to the heart of the Black Hills in Pennington County, South Dakota. You are standing before one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world, the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. As you gaze up at those enormous granite faces, you are looking at what sculptor Gutzon Borglum called his 'Shrine of Democracy'. This massive carving features the heads of four iconic United States presidents, each standing sixty feet tall, which is roughly the height of a six-story building. But before this mountain ever bore these faces, it was known to the Lakota Sioux people as Tunkasila Sakpe or the 'Six Grandfathers'. It was a place of prayer and deep spiritual significance for the Indigenous people of the Great Plains long before any chisel touched the rock. Today, this site attracts more than two million visitors every year who come to witness a blend of artistic ambition, incredible engineering, and the complex layers of history that define the American experience. Take a moment to breathe in the crisp mountain air and prepare yourself for the story of how a single mountain became a canvas for a nation's identity.