One of the neat things to see walking in is the pillars surrounded by state flags. Each pillar holds one flag on each of it's four sides. Right beneath each flag is the state name and date it joined the union. The kids found it fun to find Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas flags as we walked in!
At any point walking up toward Rushmore itself you can get great views of the Presidential faces. Up near the base though, you can opt to walk the "Presidential Trail"...a slightly strenuous (250 steps in all) boardwalk of sorts, that has various stops along the way for each president as well as information about the mountain itself. Toward the end, you arrive at the "sculptor's studio", one of the original buildings that stood when Rushmore was first being carved. Inside, you find various images of workers, the mountain pre-carving, the final "draft" of what the mountain was supposed to look like, as well as artifacts and an informative 15 minute presentation.
The "final sculpture" that never saw completion due to the death of the sculptor and beginning of the war.
Mt. Rushmore before the carving.
I must say, upon arrival to Mt Rushmore, I was slightly less than impressed simply because I always imagined it much bigger than it actually is. Don't get me wrong, it's still 4 large faces carved into the side of a mountain...but what I'd pictured in my minds eye from all the images and movies I'd seen, had made me think it would be humongous. That being said, I found it quite interesting to learn all the history behind how it came to be as well as how the carving was actually accomplished...and why it was never completed to match the final draft.
A little family fun with my 4 men imitating the sculpture. LOL
After Mt. Rushmore, we headed off to Hippie Hole. This was only a few miles further to drive, but because it was on winding roads, it took another 20 min or so to get there. We've come to realize that "drive time" isn't equal to miles when driving in the mountains! LOL. The last part of the trek to Hippie Hole is a long winding, one lane dirt road filled with pot holes, that ends in a "parking lot" that's more of a 5 car circle of dirt! Once you park, you begin the hike down to the river, the out to the "hole". It took us about 40 min to hike down.
A view of the hike down!
When you arrive, there are two "pools" in which you can hang out and cool off. The first is the upper pool and isn't for much more than wading. There is one part that is deep enough for an adult to sit in water up to your chest, but it only holds a handful of people so unless you're there at the right time, you end up cooling off in a section that only covers your legs!
The lower part is accessed best by jumping off a waterfall...so in other words, only the boys and Sean did that! It is a much deeper pool and you can fully swim in it. The girls and I would've joined in, but the only way out after jumping in (no thank you!!) would be to climb over some rock ledges leading back up to the top, OR brave a vertical rope climb where one wrong move leaves you dead on the rocks below... Needless to say, we made do with the upper pool while the boys jumped off the waterfall a couple of times and came back up the rock ledge. To be clear, this nervous mama did NOT choose to watch any of the jumping or climbing. I left that to the crazy male side of our family. LOL
"Hippie Hole": the upper pool in the forefront with the waterfall ledge before the larger pool in the center of the pic...that's a 20ft drop.
All in all it was a beautiful, exhausting day and we had an absolute BLAST! Next up, Needles Highway, more hiking, and Tramway Adventure Park!
