The Black Hills of South Dakota stretch for over 100 miles from Spearfish in the north to Hot Springs in the south. The Black Hills National Forest is the focal point more the majority of tourist activity in South Dakota. The Close proximity of several National and State monuments and parks attracts thousands of people every year. The main tourist season runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Custer State Park is the largest area after the National Forest itself. The Park boasts the largest state owned buffalo herd in South Dakota and the State Game Lodge, where President Calvin Coolidge stated for one summer for three months. It was while staying there that Coolidge decided on the Black Hills for the site of America's "Shrine to Democracy", Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Finished in 1941, the carving is a representation of four American presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. The memorial is undergoing renovations to accommodate the large number of visitors every year and work is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 1998.
Another mountain carving, currently in progress, is the massive Crazy Horse Memorial. This carving is a nonprofit memorial and receives no state or federal funding. The monument is dedicated to the American Indian and the carving is a representation of the great Sioux Chief Crazy Horse. June 3, 1998 marks the 50th anniversary of the first blast in 1948 and the massive nine story face will be completed and dedicated on that day. Every year during the first week in June a volksmarch is held giving visitors access to the top of the carving. The volksmarch has become one of the biggest in the nation.
The Black Hills also provide scenic beauty and may scenic byways allow travelers to drive through the heart of the Black Hills to take in the grandeur of granite spires, towering pine trees, and the thousand foot cliffs and waterfalls of Spearfish Canyon.