Four presidents, and a story that starts before them

The majestic figures of **George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore
Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln**, surrounded by the beauty of the **Black Hills
of South Dakota**, tell the story of the birth, growth, development and
preservation of the country.

The memorial's own framing goes wider than the four faces: **from the history
of the first inhabitants to the diversity of America today**. The Black Hills
were inhabited long before the carving, and Mount Rushmore is presented as a
place that brings visitors face to face with a heritage they all share —
including the parts that predate the sculpture and complicate it.

Getting there

The weather

Highly variable in any season — that is the park's own first sentence
about it, and the ranges show why:

July and August are typically the warmest months, January and February
the coldest. March and April get the most snow; **May and June get the
most rain** — which means the wettest months and the snowiest months are not
the same ones, and spring gets both.

*Location: National Memorial, South Dakota. Source: U.S. National Park
Service.*