I stayed in A13 and it was massive. It had the river just beyond the edge of the site. The area is too beautiful for words. There is at least one racoon that is feisty and will take ANYthing it can get its hands on. A woman's purse was stolen, he tried to taje my lighter fluid. Don't leave anything unattended. I wish i had spent all of my vacation in this campground. Maybe even plan to visit the resort next time!
We showed up late on a Saturday, off season to find out that the campground was empty and the water was contaminated with ecoli. We chose not to stay and was unable to explore the park due to an unexpected water issue.
This place is amazing! I wish I had this in my hometown. I had just as much fun as my 10-year old. We went at opening on a Sunday at the end of October, free parking for 90 minutes. Very small crowd and we got to really play with all of the activities without feeling rushed.
It took forever to find this place because it's out by absolutely nothing except cows in all directions. There is a train track for sure on the North entrance that had 4 long trains moving along the area. My GPS took me on a route that was not shorter or less complicated, make sure you are on the best route before starting. Once we got out there, there is a self service day use fee, a campground that has NO running water. Port-a-pottys but NO hand cleanser. There is a trail on the peaks to follow which we didn't know about until Midway thru and found people. There's a box at the gate with information pamphlets about each numbered wood post on the trail. Bring a backpack with water so that you can climb without getting sick. Kids LOVE this place so bring extra water to rehydrate them after playing.
The admission was a bit high, but after going in and watching the introduction video about Crazy Horse and the men who made it a reality, it really seemed like a small fee. We went on the artists memorial day, and didn't have a large crowd to look around. We didn't go to his cemetery because we would have paid extra to get on the bus ($3 each, which is still a small fee). It's viewable from the road, but you learn so much and get a direct view of the sculpture if you actually visit. I'd love to go again for the Native American Festival out there in October. It looks amazingly beautiful.
Free admission. Parking is $10 per vehicle. We went after 5pm on a Thursday and the parking fee is waived. Off season, and at night, the crowd was small and we were really able to enjoy the view from the balcony as well as on the Presidential Trail. However, the artist studio and the restaurant were closed and the ice cream shop was about to close. The Jefferson Vanilla ice cream is amazing. The road between Mt Rushmore and Crazy horse is a beautiful, winding road with granite peaks along the road. It's also a way to avoid the tourist trap town at the base of Mt Rushmore.
Beautiful and worth the time to go on this road. Needles Eye Tunnel is amazing and worth getting out to take photos. We went off season and had more time to enjoy without a long line of cars.
View of Mount Rushmore through two tunnels (Scovel Johnson and Doane Robinson) as you're heading North. Have you're camera ready before going through. Lots of winding U-turns and tight curves. Off season, people tend to go too fast around curves.
We camped in the tent campsite #25 and it had a beautiful view. Skyline is a bit covered by trees over the tent space, making stargazing from your TENT difficult unless looking outward towards mountains. Showers were in great condition and had warm water even after the long line of women had gone thru on a morning of 30°F outside. Coming from the north, this campsite took a LONG time to get to. Lots of turkeys live in this campground. Bison were not nearby as they were in other campgrounds. Would absolutely stay in this campground again and again!