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Overview
About Breezy Point Overlook & Picnic Area
Why stop
- A short paved walk reaches two distinct granite-spire viewpoints.
Heads up
- No potable water; restroom type and accessibility are unclear.
Map
Where it is
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Full mapPlan your stop
Before you go
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Mount Rushmore Tour Guide
Your drive to Breezy Point Overlook & Picnic Area, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Mount Rushmore National Memorial. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this area
Wrinkled Rock Climbing Area0:00 / 0:18
“You're coming up on Wrinkled Rock Climbing Area, a day-use stop with granite formations reached from a gravel lot. It's mainly for climbers, rather than another view of the carved faces.”
Plays on the road 0.4 mi from Breezy Point Overlook & Picnic Area in the Parkwolf Mount Rushmore Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Washington's Profile View
- Grand View Terrace and the Visitor Complex
- Blackberry Trailhead: Creek Walk or Lake Hike
- A Record for the Distant Future
- 5 audio storiesacross Mount Rushmore’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Mountain Goat, Mule Deer, White-tailed Deer, and 7 more
- Works offlinemaps, 8 trails, 18 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“We recently toured Badlands, Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore and more! We learned so much from this app as we toured each of these sites. The audio tours are worth the money.”
Guide
More about Breezy Point Overlook & Picnic Area
Picnic stop, then viewpointBreezy Point is a five-site picnic area on SD-244, just west of Mount Rushmore, with a separate…
Breezy Point is a five-site picnic area on SD-244, just west of Mount Rushmore, with a separate overlook reached by a short paved path. It’s a good place to eat outside and stretch your legs, but the main view is beyond the tables, so keep walking past the picnic area.
Walk both branchesThe gently rising paved path is about 0.3 miles round trip and forks at two viewpoints.
The gently rising paved path is about 0.3 miles round trip and forks at two viewpoints. Take both branches: one faces granite formations, while the other looks toward a spire rising above the pine forest. The overlook also takes in Mount Rushmore, Black Elk Peak, and Black Elk Wilderness.
For a photo, try the branch with the spire above the trees; include some of the pine canopy so the rock’s height reads clearly. The other branch gives you a broader look at the granite formations.
The rock around youThe nearby granite spires are the same hard Black Hills rock used to carve Mount Rushmore.
The nearby granite spires are the same hard Black Hills rock used to carve Mount Rushmore. They add a close-up granite perspective to a stop known for its memorial and Black Hills views.
Pack a picnicThere’s a parking lot at the site.
There’s a parking lot at the site. Bring your own food and drinking water; potable water isn’t available here. A restroom is reported at the picnic area, but its current type and accessible status aren’t consistently clear. From Hill City or Custer, follow SD-244 east from US-16 for about seven miles, then turn north at the signed Breezy Point portal. The path is short and paved, but it rises gently to the overlooks.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Mount Rushmore
87 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
44 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
20 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
14 sightingsTurkey VultureMost seen around 1 PMSighting map
32 sightingsMarmotMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
11 sightingsBrook TroutMost seen around 8 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Mount Rushmore. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
