Gallery 2 - A Pilot's View   >   Famous Places   >   Mount Rushmore

In the Black Hills of South Dakota, Mount Rushmore's famous 60 foot high carvings of 4 presidents of the Unites States stand out in the granite rocks. This visit was unexpected and the air traffic controller asked us if we would like to fly near Mount Rushmore. We followed vectors but didn't have much time to photograph. We would like to go back someday with better equipment and do a more extensive photo shoot.

Here you can see the 4 presidents from left to right, of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. It took 14 years to complete the carvings that starting in 1927.

A zoomed in shot shows only Washington and Lincoln, Jefferson and Roosevelt are hidden behind George. In the canyon behind the carved faces is a chamber containing a vault with sixteen porcelain enamel panels. The panels include the text of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and the biographies of the four presidents. Mount Rushmore was really great to see. Many thanks to the friendly air traffic controllers of South Dakota!