A road trip from Chicago to Mount Rushmore takes you from one of America’s largest cities to one of its most famous monuments. Along the way you will get to experience historic towns, natural beauty spots, and iconic attractions.
While it is definitely a lengthy trip, there is sure to be something along the way to keep everyone entertained. This makes it a journey worth taking, even if you would usually be the sort of person who prefers to get to a destination as quickly as possible.
So, if you’re planning a road trip from Chicago to Mount Rushmore and want to make sure you see and do everything on offer along the way, I highly suggest reading on.
A Road Trip From Chicago To Mount Rushmore: How Far Is It & How Long Will It Take To Get There?
Strap in for a long ride, as a road trip from Chicago to Mount Rushmore is going to take you around 14 hours, not accounting for stops. While a journey of that length certainly isn’t for the faint of heart, it is at least a straightforward one, in terms of the route that is.
Begin by setting off west on the I-88 and follow it to where it merges with the I-80, just before the Iowa border. Continue heading west until the I-880 begins and follow that for its 16 and ½ mile duration. You’ll then head north on the I-29 until you reach the city of Sioux Falls.
Upon reaching the city you’ll begin heading west again, on the I-90, and follow it for 350 miles to Rapid City. From here it’s just a 30-minute drive along US-16 and US-16A to your destination at Mount Rushmore.
Best Places To Stop On A Road Trip From Chicago To Mount Rushmore
With a road trip from Chicago to Mount Rushmore being such a gargantuan expedition, the majority of people are going to want to split the trip into a few more palatable chunks.
While there are plenty of great options along the way, the following two are my personal recommendations of where to make your stops. This is because they offer a perfect balance of attractions and manageable driving times.
Des Moines
Des Moines is a beautiful city that often gets overlooked due to its location. The capital and most populous city in Iowa, Des Moines has plenty of things to keep those who enjoy history and nature entertained.
You have the Iowa State Capitol, the only five-dome capitol building in the country, constructed between 1871 and 1886. Then there is the Kruidenier Trail Bridge, a stunning pedestrian walkway out into Grays Lake, offering stunning views of the city and surrounding area.
You also have the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden, a 14-acre greenhouse displaying more than 1,200 species of plants from around the world, surrounded by beautiful works or art and water features.
Beyond all of this, there is also a number of great bars and restaurants throughout the city. These provide the perfect opportunity to kick back and relax while you get off the road for a while.
Best Hotel To Stay At In Des Moines - Historical Oscar Lofquist House
Not technically a hotel, the Historical Oscar Lofquist House is my recommendation for the best place to stay in Des Moines. Located in the heart of the city, you can rent this entire home for an astonishingly good price.
The house features luxurious furnishings, beautiful grounds and stunning views, all less than 5 minutes from the capitol building.
With a private kitchen, dining room, living room, bedroom, and garden, you will feel like Des Moines royalty and get well rested to prepare for the long road ahead.
Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls is the largest, most populous city in South Dakota, located on the banks of the Big Sioux River. It is well known for its amazing collection of parks and wide-open spaces, most notably Falls Park, which is home to the waterfalls that the city is named after.
Recognised as the healthiest city in America by many publications, Sioux Falls is a great place for foodies to enjoy some tasty cuisine, without hurting their waistline. With everything from local delicacies to international offerings, there will be something to suit all pallets.
Sioux Falls also has plenty of other attractions too though. For starters, it is well known for its arts community. Galleries, markets, and exhibitions allow you to see, buy, and learn all about the local artists and their work.
This artistic endeavour even extends into the sculptures and buildings that can be found throughout the city and its parks. Meanwhile, the Kirby Science Discovery Center and the Great Plains Zoo & Delbridge Museum will teach visitors about the nature and history of the area.
Depending on the time of year you visit, there is also a number of festivals held throughout Sioux Falls for you to enjoy.
There is the SculptureWalk each summer, which displays exhibits with local cultural or historical significance. The Downtown Riverfest celebrates the beauty of the Big Sioux, while the SiouxperCon is perfect for fans of comic books, sci-fi, fantasy, anime, board games, and video gaming.
Music festivals are particularly abundant in the city too, with yearly events including First Fridays, Festival Of Bands, Sioux Empire Spectacular, and Party In The Park.
Best Hotel To Stay At In Sioux Falls - Clubhouse Hotel Sioux Falls
The Clubhouse Hotel Sioux Falls is a stunning hotel that has an incredibly natural feel to it.
Traditional brick exteriors and gardens house stylish and sophisticated interiors. All guests will receive beautiful, air-conditioned rooms, with amenities like flat screen TVs and safety deposit boxes.
With an on-site fitness centre, business centre, restaurant, bar, lounge, and even a water park, guests of all ages will have plenty to keep them busy without even leaving the grounds. A choice of buffet or continental breakfasts is also included with each reservation.
Best Time For A Road Trip From Chicago To Mount Rushmore
While a road trip from Chicago to Mount Rushmore goes through a part of the country that can be enjoyed at any point of the year, the best time to visit is between late May and early September.
With many of the attractions around Mount Rushmore being quite seasonal, this is the period that ensures you will be able to see everything you had hoped on your journey.
It also offers the best temperatures of the year, so you can enjoy your journey with plenty of sunshine and clear skies.
Top Attractions On A Road Trip From Chicago To Mount Rushmore
On a journey as long as a road trip from Chicago to Mount Rushmore, you don’t simply want to rush from A to B. The whole point is to stop and take in the beauty and history of the area around you.
While there are plenty of great attractions along the route, the following are the cream of the crop. I would recommend everyone take the time to tick off as many as possible along the way.
Iowa Cornfields
Iowa is affectionately known as the “corn state”, as it is the largest corn producer in the country, with over 90% of its land dedicated to agriculture. Countless movies over the years have been filmed here, using these locations as a backdrop for their stories.
While these aren’t the type of attractions you need to stop to enjoy, they will certainly add plenty to your journey if you decide to get off the freeway for a while and enjoy the more rural side of the area.
John Wayne Birthplace Museum
Located a short way from Des Moines, in neighbouring Winterset, the house where legendary movie star John Wayne was born in 1907 has been transformed into a museum in his honour.
Restored to look how it would have done at the time, it is a perfect place for fans to learn about this movie icon.
With a statue of “The Duke” out front and numerous artefacts and exhibits throughout, you can have a first-hand experience of how one of the big screen’s most famous stars came to be.
There is even a movie screen inside, where lucky guests can watch one of his films in perfect surroundings.
Omaha
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska and second largest in the Great Plains states. Located on the banks of the Missouri River, it was founded in 1854 and is a city known for its rich history.
With more than a dozen historic districts and over 100 individual buildings listed on the National Register Of Historic Places or as National Historic Landmarks, it is the perfect stop for lovers of history and architecture.
Yankton Reservation
Yankton Reservation is home to the Yankton Sioux Tribe and is the second largest reservation located entirely in one county in the United States.
Over the years, it has been home to multiple iconic chiefs, including Chief Running Bull, Chief Smutty Bear, and Chief Struck By The Ree.
If you have never visited an Indian Reservation before, this is a wonderful opportunity to experience a rich and vibrant culture and learn more about their ways. It is also the resting place of Jack McCall, who was hung here for the murder of Wild Bill Hickok in 1877.
Wall Drug
A famous shopping complex in the town of Wall, just north of Badlands National Park, Wall Drug features a wild west style synonymous with the area. Covering 76,000 square feet, the complex contains souvenir stores, eateries, and the original drug store that opened in 1931.
There is also an art gallery and sculptures of historical and mythical creatures, such as a brontosaurus and a jackelope. This helps teach visitors about the culture and history of the area, adding an educational side to an already fun-filled stop.
Badlands National Park
Badlands National Park is a stunning area, filled with sprawling prairies and rugged canyons.
The park is best known for featuring one of the world’s best collections of fossils. Resident palaeontologists are available to take you through the historic sights you are seeing and explain every detail.
If archaeology isn’t your thing, Badlands also has an incredible collection of wildlife to enjoy. Its famous bison and bighorn sheep combine with numerous species of deer and birds, to make it a wonderful destination for nature lovers.
Wind Cave National Park
Wind Cave National Park features one of the longest, most complex cave systems in the world. It is well known for its fabulous boxwork and frostwork formations. Its name comes from the winds that occur as the air pressure in the cave fluctuates.
The caves themselves are home to a range of species of bats, as well as a few other cave dwelling species.
Meanwhile, above ground, you will find dense pine forests and sprawling, grassy prairies, which are home to bison, cougars, elk, ferrets, prairie dogs, and numerous species of birds.
Bear Country USA
Bear Country USA is a fabulous, drive through wildlife park, where visitors can see the wildlife that South Dakota is famous for, living freely in its natural habitat.
Beyond the black bears the park is named after, you will also find buffalo, elk, mountain lions, and reindeer, as well as numerous other species of birds and animals, all living in harmony. This makes a perfect stop for both photographers and nature lovers alike.
Rapid City
Rapid City is the second most populous city in South Dakota. A wonderful city with a vibrant culture, it offers the opportunity to see how a city can operate with a slightly slower pace. It is also a great place to use as a base to explore the surrounding area.
Within an hour’s drive of the city, you have a better selection of natural and historical attractions than perhaps anywhere else in the county. For those willing to drive a little further, you also have the site of the infamous Wounded Knee Massacre just 90 minutes away.
Sturgis
Sturgis is a sleepy, small town, that is filled with a fabulous atmosphere and plenty of culture. It is best known for the Sturgis Bike Week Festival, which takes place during the first week of August each year.
Beginning in 1938, more than half a million people travel to the town to enjoy live music, entertainment, local cuisine, and scenic rides through the Black Hills.
There is even the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall Of Fame, where you can enjoy the culture, no matter when you visit.
Deadwood
Deadwood is a historic town that is the second largest wild west settlement still in existence, behind only Tombstone in Arizona. Historical Markers are dotted throughout the town, signalling events that occurred there, such as the murder of Wild Bill Hickok in 1876.
An important city during the Black Hills Gold Rush, it has been home to numerous famous names through the years, including Wyatt Earp and Calamity Jane. It is the perfect place to learn a little of the history as you travel through the Wild West.
Crazy Horse Memorial
The Crazy Horse Memorial is an under-construction monument depicting Oglala Lakota warrior Crazy Horse, carved into Thunderhead Mountain. Upon completion, it will be the second tallest statue in the world, with the head dwarfing those on nearby Mount Rushmore.
While still far from completion, despite construction beginning in 1948, it is a wonderful opportunity to see what goes in to creating a monument of this size.
It is also a chance to pick up a free souvenir, as visitors are gifted a piece of the mountain that has been removed during construction to take home as a keepsake.
Black Hills National Forest
Black Hills National Forest covers 1.25 million acres of the sprawling Black Hills of South Dakota. With pine trees and mountains towering around you in every direction, it is a wonderful chance to get lost in nature for a while.
Whether hiking the trails or driving around the scenic highways, there are vistas and wildlife in every direction. On such a long journey, the opportunity to get out and stretch your legs in a beautiful area for a while will refresh both your body and mind.
Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore is one of the most famous monuments in the world. Constructed between 1927 and 1941, it features the faces of four former U.S Presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.
It is designed to represent the birth, growth, development, and preservation of the nation. Combined with its scenic surroundings, Mount Rushmore is an incredible piece of art, which is an experience unlike virtually anything else on Earth.
Conclusion
A road trip from Chicago to Mount Rushmore is an incredible journey, taking you from the big city, through small town America, to one of the country's most famous monuments.
It gives you the chance to see all sides of the country, letting you learn first-hand what makes it so wonderful. The range of attractions along the way are second to none, ensuring every second of your trip keeps you entertained.
While the journey may be long, this is the sort of experience road trips were made for and is an adventure I would recommend everyone makes if they have the chance.