Mount Rushmore is the most iconic tourist attraction in South Dakota, and a must for every family. I thought, what could be a better way to get our kid patriotically motivated then to visit Mount Rushmore (aka The Shrine of Democracy) then to make a visit on Independence Day. To my surprise, not the best day to bring kids.
I will start this post by explaining the Activity 99 at Rushmore, I will then describe our experience being their for Independence Day.
Activity 99
1) Hike the Presidential Trail. Despite my many trips to Mount Rushmore, I had never actually taken the time to hike the Presidential Trail before. This is a moderately strenuous hike, but well worth the effort and something your kids will remember. You probably want to allow at least an hour because you will want to take lots of pictures. It is important to note that there are no bathrooms along the trail, so make sure to do a potty break before you leave.
2) Find the picture of what Mount Rushmore looked like before the carving. I was actually expecting to find a large photo on the wall somewhere, but all we could find was a small picture on the desk in the Lincoln Borglum visitors center. Ask a ranger to direct you to the picture otherwise you will miss it as it is just a small picture of a boring mountain. Amazing how an ordinary mountain can become something so powerful. 
3) Take a selfie with the sculpture.
This is a no brainer and you were going to do it anyways.
4) Find a picture of Borglum in the historic studio. It actually took us a bit of time to find the studio since it is down the hill from the rest of the site. You will pass it as you go on the Presidential Trail so just take the time to peak inside. This is also where you will find a large model of what the memorial would have looked like had funding been available to finish it. I thought this area was really cool, but the kids not so much.
5) Attend the evening lighting ceremony. I have heard so many good things about the evening lighting ceremony that I encourage you to plan your trip in the evening so that you can attend. Our experience wasn't the greatest, but this is largely due to our decision to go on Independence Day and the fact that we arrived at the Memorial about 6 hours before they finally turned on the lights. More details to follow.
July 4th
Mount Rushmore had a large number of events scheduled for July 4th, including presentations by actors dressed as the presidents, a band, a special “Junior Ranger” initiation, and the lighting ceremony. With all of this going on it seemed like an obvious fit for our kids. The Junior Ranger initiation was scheduled for 6:30pm, at the start of the evening presentation. Since it typically takes the kids about 3 hours to complete a junior ranger program we setup our campsite (HorseThief camping area) and arrived at the monument just after 3pm. This gave the kids just enough time to visit the museum, walk the president’s trail, get some expensive but really good ice cream, and allow the kids to finish their junior ranger books. We should have packed some snacks, but everything else was going fine.
Shortly after 6:30pm the program began. The Junior ranger initiation was a lot of fun, and the kids were excited. They had already received their pins when they go the books checked inside, so this was actually just a formality. <Note: Unlike other parks the junior ranger patches had to be purchased separately.> The evening then progressed with a mix of talks by actors dressed as the presidents, two sets by the band (a cappella group), and information provided by the park rangers. The idea for the format was excellent, unfortunately the overall program was way too long causing many families to leave before it was over.
The quality of the presidential talks was mixed. The actor portraying George Washington spent 30 minutes of his "10 minute talk” explaining why Martha Washington not George Washington was responsible for the founding of country and winning the revolutionary war (argh!). Jefferson gave a good talk about slavery but had microphone issues making it hard to understand. Lincoln stuck largely to quotes from the real Lincoln, gave a passionate performance, and easily earned a standing ovation. Roosevelt was the last president to speak, and did a good job selling everyone on the importance of the National Parks. Aside from Washington all of the information was good and prompted great conversation with our kids, the speakers just went over their allotted time in an already blotted program.
The band was excellent, but not accustom to headlining for this type of crowd. The songs were targeted toward an older audience (40-50s) so not really my thing. For some reason they also stuck to traditional rock, and since it was the 4th of July I was hoping for something more patriotic. Overall their permanence was great, but not the get up and dance excitement that keeps kids entertained.
The evening concluded with the national anthem and lighting ceremony. This was a bit of a let down. The lighting ceremony is usually a hugely patriotic event (bringing in participation from veterans etc), but this night they just took down the flag and turned on the lights. My 9 year old son turned to me and asked “when do they light it on fire”, to which my 7 year old replied “it’s just a laser show”. It was difficult to explain that all they did was turned on the lights. We went back to the campsite exhausted after a long 6.5 hours at the memorial.
Our Suggestion: You should definitely take your kids to Mount Rushmore, but not on the 4th of July. The park puts a lot of work into the extra programs for the day, but it isn’t worth fighting the larger than average crowds. Spend the 4th someplace where your kids can enjoy fireworks and then go to Rushmore later in the week.
Bonus Information:
Just as we rolled back into our campsite after the lighting ceremony it began to rain. We quickly put the rain fly on the tent so everything wouldn't get wet. I went to get the now sleeping kids out of the car but the back door was locked. I quickly opened the front door, hit the door lock button, and shut the front door. Obviously now when I went to get the kids the back door was still locked, the front doors were now locked, and all of the car keys were inside with the sleeping kids. After banging on the doors for twenty minutes the babies finally woke up and started crying, but none of the bigger kids would flinch. Daven finally sat up, looked directly at the flashlight shining in his face and went back to bed. Paul looked up at us, turned to the crying baby, and pulled a blanket over his head. Finally, after about half an hour I realized that Paul's sleeping head was directly on the wheel well. I banged on the inside of the wheel well with such force that... lets just say he woke up suddenly and was able to unlock the doors.
