Lincoln Borglum Visitor Center

This museum, theater and information center sits beneath Grand View Terrace. It is the best indoor stop for understanding how the four faces were carved, with original tools, models, photographs of workers and a short film. Pair it with the outdoor monument view; the center is a separate lower-level visit.

From the memorial parking structure, walk toward the sculpture and reach Grand View Terrace, then go down by stairs or elevator at either side. The route back returns you to the terrace. The memorial has no entrance fee, but its parking structure is paid and federal recreation passes do not cover that charge. The center is wheelchair accessible, with elevators and accessible restrooms; snow often closes the stairs in winter.

The exhibit hall uses carving tools and models alongside photographs of the workers and historic footage to show the process behind the finished granite faces. A 14-minute film, Mount Rushmore: The Shrine, gives the story its own theater presentation. There is also park information, a bookstore, restrooms and a bottle-filling station.

South Dakota historian Doane Robinson invited Gutzon Borglum to consider the Black Hills for a carving. Gutzon and his son James Lincoln first looked at the Needles, but rejected its rock as unsuitable; on a return trip in 1925, Gutzon selected Mount Rushmore.

James Lincoln Borglum was 12 on his first visit to the Black Hills with his father in 1924. He later worked as a pointer, became chief pointer in 1935 and superintendent of all work in 1938. After his father died in 1941, Lincoln took on sculptor responsibilities and served as the memorial’s first superintendent through 1943.