Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Custer State Park Wildlife Loop Tour
Description
What makes this tour unique is the combination of three of Western South Dakota's most iconic destinations – Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, and Custer State Park Wildlife Loop – into a single, comprehensive, and fully narrated experience. Over 8-9 hours, you'll not just see these landmarks, but gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for their history, cultural significance, and natural beauty. We always give the guest time to buy their lunch during the tour.
Tour Options
Itinerary
If the weather is good we go to Mt. Rushmore first for 1½ hours. There is a 14 minute video about the carving, the sculptor Gutzon Borglum, and workers. The Lincoln Borglum Museum has some great displays about Borglum, his family and his works, the mountain and machinery and the workers. The Presidential Trail is a gradually inclining walk that goes under the faces in the rock rubble with great spots for pictures of the individual faces. If you go further there is a strenuous walk down to the Sculptor’s Studio (open only in the summer months) then back up to the viewing terrace. The Avenue of Flags represents all 50 states and the territories, and their respective dates of admission to the Union. There is also a new Youth Exploration area recently opened. The large gift shop has many items. The Carvers’ Café and an ice cream shop are available for refreshments. As we leave we stop for a picture at the side profile of George Washington.
From Mt. Rushmore we drive 30 minutes to Crazy Horse Memorial. We allow 1½ hours here, or more if we eat lunch in the Laughing Water Restaurant. This is a 3 sided sculpture which will be the largest in the world when completed. There is a 20 minute video about the carving and the sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski and his family that are doing the work. The North American Indian Museum has items from many different Indian tribes, with 90% of the items being donated. The gift shop has many Native made items for sale. Ziolkowski’s workshop and the log home he built, filled with antiques, are available to walk through. There is a Native American Cultural Center where you can watch Natives making items for sale, as well as display items to see and touch. There is a brass Nature Gate and a huge statue of Fighting Stallions.
After leaving Crazy Horse we drive through the city of Custer which is the oldest town in the Black Hills, and down into Custer State Park where we drive the 18 mile Wildlife Loop Road. In the spring there are around 1300 buffalo including newborn calves in the park. There are also antelope, deer, prairie dogs, begging burros and breath-taking scenery. We make a comfort stop by the State Game Lodge area at Coolidge Inn Store or Custer State Park Visitor Center, then we drive back to Rapid City.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(53)
The guide was with was with us all day and gave knowledgeable information about any topic we asked about during the trip, took us everywhere promised on the trip plus a few extra areas that he thought would be memorable (and were!) pulled over for extra photos! And was very helpful overall! Very friendly courteous and outgoing!
Scott our tour guide from Affordable Adventures was awesome! He wove together a very history and local facts as we made our way through Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse and the Custer State Park! For our lunch break he made sure we had great experience and delicious food to select from at the Blue Belle Lodge! Scott went out of his way to give a wonderful tour! Thank you!
Ellen was very professional, informative, and made the tour extremely interesting and fun. Her vast knowledge and attention to detail, made it very enjoyable for entire family. Ellen went above and beyond to ensure our family had a memorable experience. I highly recommend this tour. Thank you Ellen truly a great experience!!
You can’t control the weather but we got very lucky! Our guide Scott was excellent and kept everything interesting and on schedule.
Guides are knowledgeable, always trying to make your visit a great one. Willing to go the extra mile and very personable.
When booking the tour, we didn't realize it was a private tour. We were staying in Custer but when booking the tour the option of being picked up in Custer did not show up. It would have made tour much easier. The guide was terrific, knowledgeable and friendly. We completed one item on the bucket list in style.
Thank you for your review of your tour with our company. We wish you had contacted us about your location in Custer and we could have provided that pickup service to you with an added charge. We have no way of knowing otherwise since we are located in Rapid City. We are so glad that we could help you mark another item off your bucket list. We hope you had safe travels getting home.
We had an amazing time with Affordable Adventures. They were so easy to work with while planning our trip. Our tour guide, Susan, was so knowledgeable about the history of the area. We never felt rushed. She made a couple unplanned stops to point out interesting places not on the itinerary. She even had treats to feed the wild burros as we stopped in Custer's Park to look at the buffalo and other wildlife. We enjoyed the tour so much that we asked if it would be possible to arrange a trip the following day to the Reptile Gardens and the Air and Space Museum. Although, it was not a tour they normally offer, they accommodated our request. The Reptile Gardens was a must see, especially for our grandson. The price was extremely reasonable and our tour guide, Ann, was absolutely delightful and so knowledgeable, as well. We would highly recommend Affordable Adventures. They were very professional and it was evident they wanted us to have the best experience possible. The tour van was very clean and cold water and snacks were provided. Thank you Afforable Adventures for all the great memories.
We went on the Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and CSP Wildlife Loop tour with Nick as our tour guide. It was nice to sit back and let someone else do the driving so we could take in the views and the monuments. The tour was well worth the price. Our guide Nick was informative, funny, and a great guy! He told us so much information and old time lore we would have never known if we had gone on our own. He was also polite and respectful of our wants and needs. He is a great asset to the company. We wish we could use him for all our tours!
We had Nick as a tour guide and he was the best. Very patient with us and extremely knowledgeable. We were very blessed with Nick as our tour guide.
This was an amazing day. The tour guide, Nick, was the best, a great storyteller and tons of knowledge. Cost of tour is well worth it and hope Nick is your guide! Brenda
