crazy horse memorial tour

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What to do at Crazy Horse Memorial

The world’s largest mountain carving in progress is a site to behold. However, there’s a long list of things to see and experience while visiting the Crazy Horse Memorial® that go beyond this jaw-dropping piece of work. Explore the grounds, catch a special event, and uncover the history and people behind the mountain carving. Here’s what your day at Crazy Horse Memorial® could look like!

Take a Special Tour

Rustic bus ride.

Grab a ride on the bus. Costing just four dollars a person, visitors get to enjoy a tour that takes them to the base of the mountain for a close-up view of the Crazy Horse carving. Kids ages six and under get to ride for free!

Face-To-Face

Take the opportunity to stand face-to-face with Crazy Horse. Visitors who make a select charitable gift to Crazy Horse Memorial® get the remarkable experience of standing on the arm of the memorial. It’s as close as it gets.

Explore the Campus

The native american educational and cultural center®.

Built from rock blasted off the mountain during carving, THE NATIVE AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL CENTER® displays one-of-a-kind exhibits, unique educational opportunities and hands-on activities. Learn about American Indian history and culture through one of the storytelling sessions, witness flute playing, or song and dance.

Korczak's Home - Tour The "Big Room"

After living in a tent for the first several months of the carving, Korczak built the log home that still remains as part of the visitor’s complex. Today, visitors can tour the “Big Room’ of the home which showcases antiques like the Marie Antoinette’s mirror.

The Mountain Carving Gallery

See what it took to start, and will one day be, the largest mountain carving in the world. A visit to the Mountain Carving Gallery will show how this Memorial grew into one that honors all North American Indians. Take in the detailed pictorial progressions of the face carving, view tools used by Korczak in the early years and learn more about phases of the carving yet to come!

Laughing Water Restaurant®

Touring the grounds can work up quite the appetite. Good thing delicious food with a spectacular view is waiting for you at the Laughing Water Restaurant®. Popular items to try are the Tatanka Stew, which has prime cuts of tender Black Hills Buffalo, or the Native American Taco which is served on traditional Indian fry bread!

Make sure your visit to the memorial includes browsing in the gift shop! Here you’ll find the perfect keepsake to take home and remind you of the one-of-kind experience you had at Crazy Horse.

Attend an Event

Twice a year, Crazy Horse Memorial® hosts the most popular organized hike in America. During the Spring and Fall Volksmarch, visitors from around the world come to hike out onto the arm of Crazy Horse. It’s one unforgettable experience.

To add to an already fantastic experience, Crazy Horse Memorial® also hosts Native Performers and Storytellers from the end of May until the end of September. With Crazy Horse as the backdrop you can experience a remarkable look into this culture. Performances have set times that are listed on the Crazy Horse website.

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Crazy Horse Memorial: Visiting (What Will Be) the Largest Sculpture in the World

In the 1930s, Dorothy Hustead lay awake listening to the sounds of cars driving past her husband’s small drug store, wondering how she could get the cars to stop and make a purchase. She knew as time passed, there would be even more cars on that road; after all, the massive Mount Rushmore sculpture was in development, and when it opened thousands of tourists would be guaranteed to visit. There was good news in store for both the Husteads and the monument; Wall Drug became one of the USA’s most popular roadside attractions, and Mount Rushmore became one of them most visited sculptures in the world. But further into the Black Hills, work was just beginning on a sculpture to rival Mount Rushmore’s size and popularity and give travelers one more reason to stop for some free ice water on their drive through South Dakota: the Crazy Horse Memorial aimed to tell its own American story.

Who Was Crazy Horse?

Remembered for honor, bravery, and leadership, Crazy Horse was an iconic member of the Lakota tribe. Born in the early 1840s, Crazy Horse earned a reputation as a warrior from the time he was in his mid- to late teens, and he eventually played a big role in the Native Americans’ resistance to westward expansion as more and more settlers began to move into lands that the Lakotas called home.

Crazy Horse was best remembered as a leader during the Battle of Little Bighorn, where the Lakotas joined several other tribes to defeat General George Custer and the US Army in 1876. One year later, he surrendered after another altercation and died of a stab wound when a military guard acted to prevent his escape. Today, Crazy Horse remains an important symbol particularly to Native Americans, and his name has become synonymous with a spirit of defiance.

Celebrating a Legacy with the Crazy Horse Monument

The Crazy Horse Monument is somewhat uniquely integrated with the story of the man commissioned to sculpt it: Korczak Ziolkowski.

Constructing the monument has been a painstakingly detailed effort since work began in 1948. It was enormously difficult. From very small crews to hauling necessarily tools up and down the rockface to battling the elements (rock carving is tough in the rain and snow!), there have been plenty of obstacles that have slowed and stopped work as the decades passed. For many years, Ziolkowski was the only person actively working on the monument. Over the years, small groups of trained carving professionals have contributed to the effort, including his own 10 children. His sons helped him on the mountain as they prepared it for carving, and his daughters helped his wife, Ruth, with the development of the monument’s visitor center. When Ziolkowski passed away unexpectedly in 1981, it was Ruth who carried on the work, overseeing each detail to ensure the monument continued as envisioned by Standing Bear and her husband. Ruth passed away in 2014, and today her children and grandchildren continue to further Crazy Horse’s legacy- and the monument’s development.

When Will the Crazy Horse Memorial Be Finished?

More Information: CrazyHorseMemorial.org

Crazy Horse Memorial Tour

When we first walked through the door of the Crazy Horse Memorial visitor center, we were among the first people to arrive that day. A young woman checked our tickets and suggested we watch the movie before walking through the museum and visiting the monument itself. We decided to take her up on that recommendation; although we often pass on visitor center movies because of our own time constraints, we had the time to spare that morning. We were glad we watched; the movie provides a very complete overview of the memorial’s history, purpose, construction, and the Lakota legacy it celebrates. Interview clips featuring Ziolkowski invited us to learn why he was so passionate about the project, how Ruth came to share that passion, and why generations of his family chose to stay and assume leadership over the project. We laughed as Ziolkowski described some of the most challenging days, when we would start a machine needed for the carving process, climb 700 stairs to his work site, and find the machine had somehow turned off, meaning he had to walk all the way back down the mountain to restart it. The story is funny, especially as Ziolkowski told it for the cameras, but the humor didn’t mask his determination to get the job done.

After the movie, we spent time walking through the huge Indian Museum of North America that is connected to the visitor center. The museum strives to provide an education about the lives and cultures of Native American tribes, and much of the collection has been donated over the years to preserve each artifact. It’s easy to get lost in the stories told by artwork, carvings, and clothing; it provides a nice connection to the people who once made those items part of their everyday lives.

For a closer look at the monument, we took a quick bus ride to the base of the carving. The ride is available for a nominal extra fee, but it was well worth it. Our guide was almost bubbling over with a mix of joy and pride as he told us about the work being done, pointing out the challenges crews had to overcome to make any progress at all. From where we stood, the workers look like ants scurrying under Crazy Horse’s jaw, and we could hear the machinery echoing through the mountains. Our guide shared how the community is welcomed in to be part of the monument twice a year during their Volksmarch, when thousands of people complete a 10K hike along the paths and work roads to the monument’s chin. On summer nights a laser show lights up the sky. Cultural presentations, workshops, and speakers keep native stories alive and memorable.

Before we left, we stopped by the reception desk for a brochure to take with us. The gentleman we spoke with nodded back to the entrance, to the young woman who had checked our ticket when we first arrived. He mentioned that she was a student at the Indian University of North America, which continues Standing Bear’s dream of providing Native Americans with quality education opportunities. That, too, made us smile; although the university continues to be a work in progress, much like the rest of the area, it offers scholarships and a summer program to benefit young members of the Native American community. It’s not yet what Ziolkowski envisioned when he planned the memorial complex; the goal was to have a robust medical center and a full university in addition to the visitor center and monument, but those are also coming to life at a crawl, not a sprint.

Where to Stay Near the Crazy Horse Memorial

There are plenty of hotel options to choose from if you’re planning to stay in the area. We stayed in Rapid City, which is the largest metropolitan area close to Crazy Horse and about an hour by car. Rapid City is is also about 30 minutes from Mount Rushmore and it’s sure to have the largest selection of hotels in the region. We made the decision to stay in Rapid City after comparing some of our options on Booking.com, which is our favorite website for researching and selecting hotels. If you are thinking of a trip to see the Crazy Horse Memorial, take a look at Booking.com to see if they have a hotel that meets your needs as well!

Visit the Crazy Horse Memorial!

The Crazy Horse Memorial is just as much a tribute to patience and perseverance as it is a tribute to the man who inspired it. When completed, it will dwarf Mount Rushmore; all four presidents would be able to fit inside Crazy Horse’s head if they were to be placed side-by-side. It’s not without its frustrations, some of which come from the Lakota tribe themselves. Some have criticized the Ziolkowski family for making money off a culture and heritage that is not their own. Some grumble about how it should have been done by now, and still others wonder if it might go faster with government investment or oversight. We found ourselves simply hoping it might be done- or closer to completion- the next time we find ourselves close enough to stop in.

The Crazy Horse Monument invites this kind of introspection, and we were glad for the chance to learn about the Lakota tribe and their defiant protection of their people, land, and culture. The history of the United States is as complex as each of the people who is part of it. In South Dakota, that is personified by the profile of one of history’s great leaders looking out over his lands, fulling his own prediction that, “I will return to you in stone.”

One of these days, he’ll find himself pointing toward the lands he called home, too.

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Crazy Horse Memorial: A Monumental Tribute to a Lakota Legend

• by history tools
• May 27, 2024

Rising from the granite face of Thunderhead Mountain in South Dakota‘s Black Hills, the Crazy Horse Memorial is a massive mountainside monument dedicated to one of history‘s most famous Native American leaders. Still far from completion over seven decades after work began, the memorial will eventually depict the Oglala Lakota war chief Crazy Horse riding his steed and pointing towards his ancestral homeland.

The story of Crazy Horse and his people‘s struggle against the U.S. government‘s westward expansion is etched into the history of the American West. Born around 1840, Crazy Horse rose to become a skilled warrior and prominent leader of the Oglala band of the Lakota (Sioux) tribe. He fought fiercely against U.S. forces in Red Cloud‘s War and the Black Hills War, playing a key role in the Lakota and Cheyenne‘s overwhelming victory against General Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.

In May 1877, Crazy Horse surrendered to U.S. troops under General Crook at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. He was fatally wounded in September of that year while allegedly resisting imprisonment, though accounts differ. He quickly became a revered martyr for the Lakota, famous for his battle prowess, strong leadership, humility, and lifelong quest to preserve his people‘s traditions and way of life in the face of American encroachment.

A Herculean Undertaking in the Black Hills

The origins of the Crazy Horse Memorial can be traced back to 1939, when Lakota chief Henry Standing Bear wrote to sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, inviting him to create a monument honoring Native American heroes in the sacred Black Hills. Ziolkowski had gained notoriety earlier that year for his work on the Mount Rushmore monument.

In 1940, Ziolkowski began designing a sculpture that would commemorate Crazy Horse and his legacy. Work officially began in 1948, commencing with a dedication ceremony led by Standing Bear and other Lakota elders. Ziolkowski and Standing Bear shared a vision of the memorial as a means to honor the culture, traditions and living heritage of North American Indians and increase interracial understanding.

Using dynamite, bulldozers and drilling rigs, crews have been slowly blasting and chipping away at Thunderhead Mountain for decades, gradually revealing Crazy Horse‘s form from the granite. The work is painstaking and progresses slowly, with the harsh South Dakota winters limiting construction to just seven months out of the year.

If completed as designed, the Crazy Horse Memorial will rank as the world‘s second largest statue after the Statue of Unity in India. It is already considered the largest mountain carving in progress anywhere on Earth. Here are some key statistics that highlight the monument‘s enormous scale:

For comparison, the heads of the four U.S. presidents carved into Mount Rushmore are each 60 feet (18 m) tall. All four of those heads stacked on top of each other would only reach to just above the warrior‘s shoulder.

Crazy Horse‘s determined face, gazing out over the plains, was completed on June 3, 1998 after a half-century of carving and shaping. Work is now focused on roughing out the leader‘s outstretched arm and his horse‘s head and mane in the round.

When finished, Crazy Horse‘s arm will point towards the horizon, indicating his people‘s land. His sculptors used descriptions from survivors at the Battle of Little Bighorn and other contemporaries to determine his appearance, as no known photographs of Crazy Horse exist. He famously refused to be photographed or depicted in artwork during his lifetime.

A Center of Native American Culture and Education

While the mountain carving understandably attracts the most attention, the Crazy Horse Memorial complex has expanded over the decades to become a major center of Native American history, arts and culture. The 1,000-acre site now includes the Indian Museum of North America, displaying a large collection of indigenous artifacts and artworks, and the adjoining Native American Educational and Cultural Center, which hosts lectures, performances and educational events.

Admission fees, along with donations and commemorative merchandise sales, help fund the memorial‘s ongoing construction, overseen by the nonprofit Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation. The monument is a massive undertaking requiring extensive engineering and significant financial resources. By relying entirely on private funding, including admission revenues and contributions, the memorial‘s builders aim to retain independence over the nature and pace of the project.

Controversies and Criticisms

The Crazy Horse Memorial has attracted its share of controversy and criticism since its inception. Some Lakota and other Native Americans object to the monument on religious and cultural grounds, viewing it as a desecration of the Black Hills, which they hold sacred. Leaders like Crazy Horse fought hard to preserve those lands from American development and settlement.

Critics also point out that Crazy Horse was deeply modest and spiritual, and likely would have opposed such a grandiose depiction of himself. He rejected personal glory or accolades, always putting his people‘s welfare and freedom first. Carving an enormous statue of him strikes some as disrespectful to his values and way of life.

Questions have also been raised about the memorial foundation‘s finances and motives over the years. Some detractors view the project as more of a tourist attraction than a sincere tribute to Native American culture and accuse the Ziolkowski family of personally profiting from the enterprise. The foundation has vigorously denied such allegations.

An Audacious Dream Taking Shape

Despite the criticisms and controversies, the Crazy Horse Memorial stands as a one-of-a-kind monument, an audacious dream steadily taking shape year after year, decade after decade. For its supporters, the memorial is a vital tribute to Native American culture, history and identity, a powerful counterpoint to the carved presidential faces of Mount Rushmore 17 miles away.

As work continues and the sculptural forms of Crazy Horse and his horse slowly emerge from the solid rock of the Black Hills, the warrior‘s steely gaze and outstretched arm are visible reminders of indigenous people‘s strength, spirit and presence on the American landscape. The Crazy Horse Memorial has already become a major landmark and significant cultural destination, attracting over a million visitors per year from around the world.

While its ultimate completion date remains unknown, the Crazy Horse Memorial seems certain to stand as one of the most ambitious and distinctive public monuments in the United States and the world, an enduring if imperfect attempt to honor and elevate the too often marginalized heritage of North America‘s first inhabitants. As the Black Hills and the Great Plains have been central to centuries of Native American life and culture, this massive mountainside tribute to one of their greatest heroes aspires to solidify and extend that legacy for generations to come.

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Mt Rushmore & Crazy Horse

About this tour, $200/person + tax, year round (weather pending), group: no group size limit, tour length: 6-7hrs.

This narrated tour takes us through the Black Hills to the Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorials. We will spend 2 hours at each memorial.

MT RUSHMORE

At Mt. Rushmore there is a 14 minute video narrated by Tom Brokaw about the carving, the sculptor Gutzon Borglum, and workers. The Lincoln Borglum Museum has some great displays about Borglum, his family and his works, the mountain and machinery and the workers.

The Presidential Trail is a gradually inclining walk that goes under the faces in the rock rubble with great spots for pictures of the individual faces. If you go further there is a strenuous walk down to the Sculptor’s Studio (open only in the summer months) then back up to the viewing terrace. The Avenue of Flags represents all 50 states and the territories, along with their respective dates of admission to the Union.

There is also a new Youth Exploration area recently opened. The large gift shop has many items.

The Carvers’ Café and an ice cream shop are available for refreshments with vanilla ice cream from Thomas Jefferson’s original recipe. As we leave we stop for a picture at the side profile of George Washington.

CRAZY HORSE

From Mt. Rushmore we drive 30 minutes to Crazy Horse Memorial. This is a 3 sided sculpture which will be the largest in the world when completed. There is a 20 minute video about the carving and the sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski and his family that are doing the work.

The North American Indian Museum has items from many different Indian tribes, with 90% of the items being donated. Refreshments are available at the Laughing Water Restaurant. The gift shop has many Native made items for sale.Ziolkowski’s workshop and the log home he built, filled with antiques, are available to walk through. There is a Native American Cultural Center where you can watch Natives making items for sale, as well as display items to see and touch. There is a brass Nature Gate and a huge statue of Fighting Stallions.

For an additional $4 you may take a bus that delivers you to the base of the mountain so you can take a full picture of the face of Chief Crazy Horse. The bus ride may be arranged on your own after arriving at the memorial.

The price of this tour is $200 per person plus 5.7% state sales tax. Guide gratuities are at your discretion. We pay the Mt. Rushmore parking fee as well as the admissions to Crazy Horse and Custer State Park. We provide cold bottled water and you may bring any snacks that you like. Lunch and any other refreshments are at your own expense.

If you would like to add Iron Mountain Road with pigtail bridges and tunnels that frame Mt. Rushmore, Needles Highway, Needles Eye, and Sylvan Lake, add another $25 per person. This adds approximately an hour and 45 minutes to the length of the tour.

Our friendly and knowledgeable tour guides look forward to sharing the culture and history of our beautiful Black Hills with you!

REQUEST YOUR TOUR TODAY!

You won’t want to miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime to enjoy an unforgettable tour in the Black Hills!

Have any questions? Contact us!

605-342-7691, [email protected], 5542 meteor street rapid city, sd 57703, 7:00 am to 9:00 pm seven days a week, excluding holidays.

Select Tour(s) 1880 Train Badlands and Wall Drug Buffalo Roundup Custer State Park Wildlife Loop and Needles Highway Devil's Tower Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorials Mt Rushmore Memorial Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and Custer State Park Wildlife Loop Northern Black Hills (Deadwood, Lead, Spearfish Canyon) Rapid City Number of People 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8+ Name* Email* Phone Number* Mailing Address* Requested Tour Dates* Where Are You Lodging? Additional Info