Is Mount Rushmore Overrated? Travelers Share Their Experiences

It is, hands down, the number-one tourist attraction in South Dakota.

But not everyone who ventures to Mount Rushmore National Monument in the Black Hills has a stellar experience.

That's bound to happen when you're talking about the opinions of the two million people who make the trek to Keystone, SD, each year.

Is Mount Rushmore Overrated? Travelers Share Their Experiences

Some don't appreciate the winding two-lane roads you travel on to get to the 'famous faces'.

READ MORE: What This President Said At Mt. Rushmore's Opening Still Rings True

Others are turned off by the crowds, especially during the busy summer tourism season.

Weather Woes: How Conditions Affect Visibility

Then there are those finicky folks who just don't see what the fuss is all about over the carvings of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, which was finished in 1941.

And let's not get started on the weather.

Unpredictable snow, ice, and wind during the winter and spring, and unrelenting heat and severe thunderstorms during the summer.

But it was an entirely different weather event that left one struggling to enjoy their Mt. Rushonmre experience.

READ MORE: The Untold History of South Dakota's Mount Rushmore

After a 12-hour drive to get to the monument, TikTok user @crachel14 posted a video of their 'view' of the former presidents during a June 2024 visit.

@crachel14 Well worth the drive! #fyp #mountrushmore #bridetobe #couplestiktok #adventure #trending #roadtrip ♬ A Summer Place - Hollywood Strings Orchestra

Visitor Voices: Mixed Reviews and Personal Accounts

While they have missed out on seeing what they came for, plenty of people have seen their video, which has collected more than 1.6 million views and racked up more than 4,000 comments.

Some of the best:

• lol!!! Nice - but really, that cloud coverage is more exciting than Mount Rushmore honestly.
• Welcome to SD the weather has a sense of humor
• Wow.. beautiful. I didn’t realize Mount Rushmore was so majestic
• Welcome to SD. Where it’s 75° one minute then snowing 2 hours later. It happened once . Sorry about your luck!!!
• we SD people don’t do weather good hahaha
• Would LED string lights outlining their facial features make it better for ya? Nah that'd be creepy.