Mount Rushmore is about 25 miles from Rapid City, the gateway to the Black Hills, and many visitors pass through on the way there. It is a city of roughly 80,000 with a walkable downtown lined with bronze statues of presidents, and it sits at over 3,000 feet where the plains meet the pines. Day to day it feels like a friendly western town with a lot of outdoor life and a lot of tourists in summer.
Beyond Rushmore there is Crazy Horse, Custer State Park and its bison loop, Needles Highway, Wall Drug and Badlands National Park. The Sturgis Rally in August fills the roads with motorcycles. The tradeoffs are real. Crime is higher than the national average, mostly property crime and assaults, and winters bring blizzards. Summers can be hot, with sudden hail. Housing is moderate and has been climbing.
