Helpful Mount Rushmore Area Vacation Information

The greater Mount Rushmore area draws history buffs by the millions each year.  The area is made up of the cities of Keystone, Rapid City, Deadwood, Hot Springs, and Spearfish.  Each of these towns add their own special touch to the overall beauty and history of the Black Hills.  With national monuments, historical landmarks and mining towns, the Black Hills area is perfect for anyone interested in the history of the Wild West. There are so many outdoor activities that are perfect for any getaway that you have planned, and you're sure to find a great hotel near anything you are wanting to do!
 

Keystone City Info:

• Land Area: 2.9 sq. miles
• Number of radio stations in the greater Mt Rushmore area: 13 AM; 18 FM
• Number of television stations: 11
   

Keystone Weather and Climate:

• Average daily temperature — Jan: 24?F; July: 68?F
• Average annual rainfall — 21.3 inches
• Average annual snowfall — 30.8 inches
   

Distances to other Metropolitan Areas from Keystone:

• Lincoln, NE — 601 miles
• Salt Lake City, UT — 644 miles
• Jefferson City, MO — 887 miles
• St. Paul, MN — 632 miles
• Denver, CO — 389 miles
• Dallas, TX — 1,095 miles
• San Francisco, CA — 1,380 miles
• Oklahoma City, OK — 894 miles
• Washington, DC — 1,635 miles
   

Mount Rushmore Area Safety Phone # and Major Hospitals:

• Ambulance: 911; Police: 911; Fire: 911
• Custer Community Hospital (about 17 miles) Address: 1039 Montgomery Street, Custer SD, United States, 57730
  Phone: 605-673-2229
• HIS PHS Indian Hospital (about 20 miles)
  Address: 3200 Canyon Lake Drive, Rapid City, SD, United States, 57701
  Phone: 605-348-1900
   

Mount Rushmore Area Top Tourism Draws and Seasons:

• Mount Rushmore
• Crazy Horse Memorial
• Black Hills
• Devil's Tower
• Deadwood
• Hot Springs
• Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
• Wall Drug
• Badlands National Park
• Jewel Cave National Monument
• Wind Cave National Monument
• Custer State Park
• Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
   

Mount Rushmore Major Shopping Areas:

• Alex Johnson Mercantile — Rapid City
• Rushmore Mountain Taffy Shop — Keystone
• Keystone Country Store — Keystone
• Stage Coach Gifts — Deadwood
   

Mount Rushmore Major Dining Areas:

• Keystone
• Rapid City
• Deadwood
   

Mount Rushmore area Famous Landmarks & Historic Places:

• Mount Rushmore
• Crazy Horse Memorial
• Wall Drug Store
• Black Hills Central Railroad
• Ice Cave
• Dinosaur Park
• Harney Peak Lookout
• Rapid City Historical Museum
• Badlands National Park
• Bear Butte State Park
• Black Hills Mining Museum
• Black Hills Petrified Forest
• Custer State Park
• Jewel Cave
• Wind Cave
• Wounded Knee Historical Site
   

Mount Rushmore area Famous Natives and Residents:

• Calamity Jane
• Wild Bill Hickok
• Sitting Bull
• George Armstrong Custer
   

Notable Moments in Black Hills History:

• 1874 — George Armstrong Custer arrives in Black Hills area and finds gold
• 1875 — Gold Rush begins
• 1876 — Deadwood becomes a prospecting town
• 1876 — Wild Bill Hickok was killed in Deadwood
• 1927 — President Calvin Coolidge dedicates Mt. Rushmore
• 1972 — Rapid City floods kill more than 200
   

Interesting facts about the greater Mt Rushmore area:

• Mount Rushmore features the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
• Fossilized remains from more than 50 million years ago have been found in the petrified wood forest.
• Tom Brokaw of NBC graduated from Yankton High School and the University of South Dakota in South Dakota.
• More than 1,500 free-roaming bison graze in Custer State Park.
• Jewel Cave is the third longest cave in the world with more that 120 miles of surveyed passages.
• When complete, the Crazy Horse mountain carving will be the world's largest sculpture.
• Badlands National Park is home to the world's richest Oligocene epoch fossil beds dating between 23 and 35 million years old.
• Harney Peak is the highest point in the United States east of the Rockies at 7,242 feet above sea level.
• The world's  largest concentration of wooly mammoth bones discovered in their primary environment is at the Mammoth Site of Hot Springs.
• The largest underground gold mine is the Homestake Mine in Lead.
   

Keystone Population and Demographics:

• City of Keystone Population — 311 (as of the 2000 census)
• Male - 147 (47.3%)
• Female - 164 (52.7%)
• White — 93.2%
• American Indian and Alaska Native — 2.9%
• Hispanic — 3.5%
• Two or more races — 2.3%
• Median age — 41.1 years
• Median household income - $26,406
   

Mount Rushmore Area Colleges and Universities:

• South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
• Black Hills State University
• Chadron State College