Keystone, South Dakota, is quaint town nestled in the Black Hills and is billed as the home of Mt. Rushmore. Though Keystone carries its own notoriety with South Dakotans, most people have never heard of it.
The small Black Hills resort town of a little more than 300 residents is just two miles from Rushmore National Monument. Because of this proximity, Keystone has 26 motels and plenty of accommodations.
Keystone sprung up as a gold mining boom town in 1882 and took on the name, "City of Gold." It gained a new reputation as the home of Mt. Rushmore when sculptor Gutzon Borglum began carving the national monument in 1927. Borglum's work took 14 years to complete.
Though the town is tiny, there is a plethora of things to see and do. The South Dakota Department of Tourism recommends that visitors on their way to Mt. Rushmore stop and experience an 1880 train ride, ride a tram up the mountain or go down an alpine slide. There's Rushmore Cave and Big Thunder Cave, not to mention the National Presidential Wax Museum that documents Gutzon Borglum's carving of the mountain. Keystone also boasts being the adult home of Carrie Ingalls from "Little House on the Prairie." Besides the "touristy stuff," the Black Hill scenery is spectacular.
