Large attractions

Everyone needs to see Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse one time in your life.  We traveled in late August.  This turns out to be a good time since most kids have already started school for the fall.  Any earlier would be too busy and later meant that some things closed after Labor Day.

Mount Rushmore

Having seen it so many times in movies and pictures, Mount Rushmore is neat to see plus get the story behind all the work.  There is a nice path to get different views of the monument plus a good musuem with a movie. 

Crazy Hourse

Crazy Horse is a bit different.  The fees are higher, but it is to support making the monument.  This is not a national monument but a family that is doing the work to honor Native Americans.  We could see some of the work being done through binoculars.  The visitors center includes a nice film plus a museum of Native American items.  I like thinking that I got to see this in progress.  I wonder how many years it will take to finish since there still seems to be an extensive amount of work to do.

Cave Boxwork - Wind Cave

We also went to Wind Cave in the same area.  I like cave tours.  They are cool (literally), I enjoy the walk, plus the geology is so interesting.  Wind Cave has boxwork formations which are unusual.

Devil's Tower

Our final major stop was Devil's Tower in Wyoming.  This was made famous by the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".  Of course the movie and real life are very different.  The movie had the main characters climb a difficult path to get to the other remote side where the aliens landed.  The reality is that there is a very nice 1.3 mile path that takes you around this volcanic monolith.  It was particularly interesting to watch technical climbers with all their gear start out and climb the sheer walls of the tower.  Several climbers could be seen at different places and stages.