Imagine trying to capture the spirit of an entire nation in one sculpture. That is the challenge Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941) accepted when be began work on Mount Rushmore - America's "Shrine of Democracy" - in 1927. Borglum and his team worked six and a half years on the actual carving, but paused in their efforts, due to financial shortages and World War II. The completion of the final masterpiece came 14 years later.

The Washington head was formally dedicated in 1930, followed by Jefferson in 1936, Lincoln in 1937 and Roosevelt in 1939. Borglum died in March 1941; the final dedication was not held until 50 years later. Son Lincoln Borglum supervised the completion of the heads. Today, Borglum's massive granite carving is seen by nearly 3 million visitors annually, a symbol of the nation's rich history, rugged determination and love of freedom.

Visitors to Mount Rushmore are typically overwhelmed by the magnitude of the carving. Washington, for example, soars 60 feet high from forehead to chin; each eye measures 11 feet wide; his nose is 20 feet long and his mouth is 18 feet across. Visitors can view the presidential faces from several lookout plazas around the memorial. For the closest look at the faces, follow the Presidential Trail, which will take you right to the base of the mountain. Also, the award-winning Mount Rushmore Audio Tour is available for visitors to rent at the Audio Tour Building during the summer months and in the Mount Rushmore History Association Bookstore located in the Information Center in the winter. The Mount Rushmore Audio Tour: Living Memorial incorporates a lightweight handheld wand that features narration, music, interviews, sound effects and historic recordings of Gutzon Borglum, Lincoln Borglum, Mary Ellis Borglum Vhay, Native Americans and several workers.

Visitors can listen to this self-guided tour while sitting in a favorite spot at the memorial or walking around the park on a suggested route. The entire tour lasts two hours, but visitors can listen to different portions of the tour as time allows.

Lakota Sioux Chief Standing Bear asked sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski (1908-1982) to carve the Crazy Horse Memorial "so that the white man would know that the red man has great heroes, too." Drilling and blasting on this colossal mountain began in 1948, and the face of Crazy Horse, completed in 1998, now stands as the fifth legendary granite face of the Black Hills. Since Ziolkowski's death in 1982, his wife and family have dedicated their lives to continuing his dream. Progress continues on the rest of the sculpture.

When completed, Crazy Horse will stand 563 feet high, 641 feet long, and it will be carved "in the round."

Drilling and frequent blasting on the mountain can be observed from the visitor complex, which features scale models and audio-visual displays of this historic project.

This hauntingly beautiful landscape rises mysteriously from the prairie floor. A maze of buttes, canyons and gullies, the Badlands are a geological wonder, formed by 37 million years of erosion. The unusual, almost ethereal rock formations are home to wildlife like buffalo, coyote, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, jackrabbits and prairie dogs. Rocks, minerals and fossils are as abundant as they are fascinating. You can explore the Badlands on ranger-guided tours or venture off the trail into the Sage Creek Wilderness Area, where the only paths are those worn by passing bison. The Badlands is a place of extremes in landscape, weather, and awesome natural history.
The park consists of three units totaling more than 240,000 acres. The North Unit is best known and most easily explored.
 

It includes the 64,000-acre Sage Creek Wilderness Area, a loop road with numerous scenic overlooks and trailheads, a Visitor Center and the Cedar Pass Lodge. To the south and within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, are the Stronghold and Palmer Creek Units of the Park, which are managed under a cooperative agreement between the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe and the National Park Service.

Located just south of Mount Rushmore on the southeastern foothills of the Black Hills is Custer State Park. At 71,000 acres, it is one of the largest state parks in the United States. Winding hairpin curves and narrow tunnels lead to wide-open prairies where wildlife abounds. A herd of more than 1,500 bison, along with mountain goats, antelope, bighorn sheep, elk, prairie dogs, coyotes and other animals make their home here. The 18-mile Wildlife Loop Road takes you through a mixture of rolling prairies, open grassland and pine covered hills, offering one of the best spots in America to view and photograph native animals in the wild.

Jewel Cave takes its name from the jewel-like calcite crystals that line its passages. Stalactites, stalagmites, dogtooth spar crystals, moonmilk and other unusual formations litter the cave's 135 miles of explored passageways. It ranks as the second-longest cave in the US and in the world!

Wind Cave National Park doubles as a 28,000-acre wildlife preserve and underground wonderland, with 120 miles of curious cave formations stretching below the park's surface.

Wind Cave is known for its incredible displays of "boxwork," honeycomb-shaped calcite that adorns the walls and ceilings. Above ground, the park is home to bison, elk, pronghorn antelope and deer. Wind Cave ranks as the third longest cave in the US and the fourth longest cave in the world!

Across the state line in the Black Hills of Wyoming, Devils Tower rises nearly 1,000 feet above the Belle Fourche River Valley. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed the two-square-mile park surrounding the tower the first national monument in 1906. Native American legend has it that a giant bear clawed the grooves into the mountainside while chasing several young Indian maidens.

Nestled on the eastern foothills of the Black Hills, Rapid City shines as the hub of this legendary region's vacation activities. Rapid City Regional Airport is the commercial airline hub for the Black Hills. Six highways from Rapid City lead south, north and west into the canyons and mountains of the Black Hills, making all of the area's main attractions easily accessible. Parks, gardens, five municipal golf courses, Frisbee courses, a polo field and a 9-mile bike path line lovely Rapid Creek which also offers some of the best trout fishing in the region. Shops and museums abound to delight every taste. For a special treat, try sampling regional foods like buffalo meat, pheasant, trout and elk dishes, delicate South Dakota honey, or native jams and jellies.

Rapid City is where six different jewelry-manufacturing companies create the world's supply of Black Hills Gold Jewelry. Most have factory stores that sell this heirloom quality jewelry-all of it featuring the traditional motif of wild grape leaves, grapes and vines in tri-colored gold. Tours are available at selected stores.

Seated or standing as pedestrians on busy street corners, life-size bronze statues of 27 U.S. Presidents grace the downtown area in a four-block perimeter. Each president wears clothing he would have worn during his term in office, and is posed in real-life action. By the year 2011, it is expected that all 40 presidents will be in place.

Deadwood - the sound of it just stirs the imagination. Surrounded by mountains of pine, the legends of its gold rush history whirl in the crisp open air. Today, the whole town is a National Historic District and almost every attraction is based on the city's notorious history. Deadwood's legal gambling began in 1989. There are more than 80 gambling venues in town and the maximum wager is $100. Getting around Deadwood is fun. Its trolley system shuttles visitors efficiently from one end of town to another.

In the 1870s, Deadwood Gulch was the site of the last big frontier gold rush in North America. Deadwood began as a lawless camp of get-rich-quick prospectors and a business district comprised largely of bordellos, saloons and dance halls. Into this volatile mix came frontier legends like Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane who lived and died in Deadwood.
 

Deadwood attractions include the Adams Museum and House, Broken Boot Gold Mine, Kevin Costner's Tatanka: Story of the Bison and Mount Moriah Cemetery, the final resting place of gunman Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Preacher Smith and Potato Creek Johnny (famous for finding one of the world's largest gold nuggets, weighing 7.75 ounces).

It is this concentration of big-name attractions in a compact region which makes the Black Hills a popular destination for so many motorcoach companies. Local transit times are short and each day is a rapid-fire succession of interesting attractions, all set against a backdrop of beautiful mountains and unexpected encounters with free-ranging wildlife, lively events and interesting local folks.