Somewhere in the Black Mining Hills of Dakota

Our first National Park stop was Mt. Rushmore. As I began to research the details for this trip, I came across Under Canvas, a company that provides immersion in the great outdoors without sacrificing the comforts of home. There are Under Canvas locations at virtually all of the US National Park Sites.

I am not a camping kind of girl. Truth known, I am a bit high end. The idea of retiring to a sleeping bag under the stars holds little attraction for me, nor does the concept of cooking my dinner on an open fire in the wilderness. I hate bugs, limited bathroom facilities, weather exposure issues, and pitching a tent. But Under Canvas promised comfy king-sized beds, en-suite bathrooms, healthy café-style dining and even some tents with views of Mt. Rushmore. I was sold. My final concern was safety, and of all the National Parks we are visiting, Mt. Rushmore was the only one that did not seem to reference the need for bear spray. So, I booked a deluxe tent boasting a king bed, private deck, a wood-burning fireplace if the nights were chilly, and complete with shower, sink, and flushing toilet.

The road leading into the campground was gravel, and narrow, but Bob took it slow and Penny handled it well. There are 70-some canvas tents with a large central reception/relaxation/mess-hall tent managed by a very friendly staff. They loaded our bags onto a golf cart, pointed us to our parking area, and led us to our tent. Not only was it everything I could have wanted, we had a distant view of Mt. Rushmore from just a few feet from our deck. The staff warned us about having food in the tent, although we could bring in drinks. While there was no risk from bears, we were advised that the area was legion with squirrels and chipmunks that could overrun us. The area has no wi-fi, but there are battery chargers for keeping your phone, a small fan, and a lantern charged. That evening we went to the mess tent and had a delicious dinner of a cheese board and pulled pork sandwich and wine, and listened to a local bluegrass duo, James and Randy, who were quite talented. By now, we were crossing time zones and were two hours behind, so were getting tired pretty early. We climbed into our incredibly comfortable bed that had two down comforters, two thick blankets, triple sheeting and comfy, squishy pillows. Bob likes a warm room for sleeping and I like it very cold. The temperature was to get down into the 50’s during the night, but we decided not to start the fire, since there were so many blankets. We zipped our screen flap shut but left the canvas flap open, and the two window flaps open so we could see and smell the night air. We fell asleep very quickly, and I dreamed about being overrun by squirrels and chipmunks, but in a nice way.

Next day bright and early we got up and headed to the mess tent for breakfast burritos, fresh fruit and coffee. Then off to the Mt. Rushmore Monument. Mt. Rushmore was carved by John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum, an American sculptor of public monuments. He chose Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln for Rushmore, as he believed they best represented the most important presidents in American history at that time. Washington is the most prominent figure on the sculpture, and can actually be seen independent from the others along the roadway. To Borglum, Washington represented the birth of the US. Jefferson represented the growth of the country to Borglum, as the primary author of the Declaration of Independence and the Louisiana Purchase from France, doubling the size of the country. Roosevelt was chosen to represent the development of the US as the country grew into the 20th century, and his work to ensure the rights of the common working man. Finally, Lincoln was chosen to represent the preservation of the US and his conviction that slavery must be abolished. The monument was not crowded, and was breathtaking in its scope. It’s one of those things that we’ve all seen a million times, but to see it ‘in person’ is pretty amazing. And we could even see it from our tent!

After seeing the monument, we drove back into Keystone, the closest town to Under Canvas and the Monument. It was fairly disappointing. The shops were mostly junk stores and t-shirt shops designed to separate tourists from their money, and we walked around for a while and left. But we did find the 1800 Steam Train and although it was Labor Day, we were able to get tickets to ride the train into Hill City from Keystone and back. This was a nice ride into the Black Hills, called that because the many Ponderosa Pine Trees appear black from a distance. During the 3-hour ride, we learned about the gold and tin rush, the buildup and eventual deterioration of the towns as the precious metals were mined out. Today, though, they mine lithium, which has reenergized the towns. We also met Fred, a bicyclist who, for some reason, rides his bike up the mountain from Keystone to Hill City alongside the train, waving frequently. Fred is in amazing shape!

After another fantastic tent sleep, we bid goodbye to our tent, packed up Penny and headed northwest to our next stop, the Grand Tetons, in Moose, Wyoming.