Part of our Black Hills Bucket list was to view and take a photo of Mount Rushmore through one of the tunnels on Iron Mountain Road. Driving Iron Mountain Road, of course, was also on the bucket list, so we knocked off two items at the same time.
The first time we drove Iron Mountain Road, I completely forgot that I had put this item on my bucket list until we had already driven through the tunnel and saw it on the GoPro video I recorded of the beautiful drive. Needless to say, later on in the vacation, we drove Iron Mountain Road again, to get the shot.
Which Tunnel?
There are several tunnels on Iron Mountain Road, and not all of them give this picturesque framing of Mount Rushmore. Searching for the information really did not yield any results. However, after a lot of slowing way down and making sure my camera was ready for each exit of the tunnels, I can tell you that if you are heading to Custer, it will be the second tunnel. If you are heading towards Keystone, it will be the last tunnel.
The View
Thankfully I have a sunroof, so I was able to get the perfect shot as we headed through the tunnel. Yes, I stood up through our sunroof!
There is no parking area before the tunnels, so you can scratch the idea of parking and then standing in the road to try and get a shot. If you don’t have a sunroof, I suggest making sure your front windshield has been cleaned before heading out! =)
My Shot
Although I would have preferred to have a longer telephoto lens, I am pretty happy with the shot. It’s not frame worthy by any means, but it is pretty cool and at least I was able to mark taking a picture of Mount Rushmore through Iron Mountain Road Tunnel off of the Black Hills Bucket List!
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