Mount Rushmore Through Iron Mountain Road Tunnel, South Dakota

Stone tunnel framing Mount Rushmore monument through forested landscape.
Stone tunnel framing Mount Rushmore monument through forested landscape.

Iron Mountain Road winds through the Black Hills of South Dakota, connecting Custer State Park to Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Built in the 1930s under Governor Peter Norbeck's direction, the route includes three granite tunnels deliberately aligned to frame the carved presidential faces in the distance. Mount Rushmore itself, completed in 1941 under sculptor Gutzon Borglum, depicts Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln at roughly 60 feet tall.

Photo taken in July 2019.

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Custer State Park
Bison along Wildlife Loop Road, granite spires on the Needles Highway, and trails to Black Elk Peak in the Black Hills
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