This area of southwestern South Dakota has much more to offer than just Mount Rushmore. In fact, Mt. Rushmore was probably the least cool thing we did on this long sightseeing day. One of the coolest things we saw was The Mammoth Site located in Hot Springs, South Dakota about 40 miles south of Mt. Rushmore. It is theorized that a sink hole formed in this area about 30,000 years ago and filled up with water from underground caves. Mammoths then went for a dip in the pool, but could not get out because the walls of the lake were slippery limestone. As a result, it is believed that there were thousands of mammoths which died in the pool. The mammoth bones (the ACTUAL bones, not fossils) are essentially piled up 65 feet thick at the site, but to date they have only excavated the first 20 feet. They have found the remnants of over 200 mammoths in this first 20 feet. Unbelievable.
Photo: John standing above a pile of Mammoth bones at The Mammoth Site.
