1 active Mount Rushmore alert
- InfoSculptor’s Studio Heat AdvisoryThe Sculptor’s Studio may close temporarily during periods of high heat. - The closure protects visitors and staff from high heat.Official details
Overview
About Youth Exploration Area and Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota Heritage Village
Why stop
- Combines hands-on youth activities with Lakota, Nakota and Dakota interpretation.
Heads up
- Programs are seasonal and their schedules vary.
Map
Where it is
Loading the Mount Rushmore map
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 Youth Exploration Area and Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota Heritage Village, 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 place
Grand View Terrace and the Visitor Complex0:00 / 0:34
“You're approaching the memorial visitor complex and the walk to Grand View Terrace. For the classic photo of all four faces, keep some granite below the portraits in frame to show their scale.”
Plays as you drive up to Youth Exploration Area and Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota Heritage Village in the Parkwolf Mount Rushmore Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Washington's Profile View
- Blackberry Trailhead: Creek Walk or Lake Hike
- Wrinkled Rock Climbing Area
- 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 Youth Exploration Area and Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota Heritage Village
A paired program stopThis shared outdoor program area sits on the first section of the Presidential Trail and brings…
This shared outdoor program area sits on the first section of the Presidential Trail and brings together the Lakota, Nakota and Dakota Heritage Village and the Youth Exploration Area. When programs are running, interpreters share local customs and traditions, while interactive activities explore the memorial's natural, cultural and historical stories. It's a good pause for families and anyone who wants more context on the Black Hills alongside the memorial's better-known story.
Check what's runningNPS estimates 10–30 minutes for either experience.
NPS estimates 10–30 minutes for either experience. Both are seasonal, and dates and times vary, so ask at an information desk before planning around a talk or activity. Benches give you a place to stay for a presentation.
A longer history than the memorialThe Black Hills have been home to Indigenous peoples for thousands of years and carry deep…
The Black Hills have been home to Indigenous peoples for thousands of years and carry deep historical, spiritual and cultural ties for associated Tribal Nations. The Heritage Village gives visitors a chance to hear Lakota, Nakota and Dakota perspectives as part of this landscape's story, alongside the memorial's familiar carved faces.
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.
