Crazy Horse Memorial & Mt. Rushmore

Chris Reynolds / LAT

An afternoon blast shaves 300 tons off the Crazy Horse Memorial near Mt. Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota. When completed, the sculpture will show the Sioux warrior on horseback, pointing southeast to the lands where many of his people lie buried. "I just can't conceive the engineering that's going into this," one visitor said, gazing up from the base of the mountain.

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Chris Reynolds / LAT

Grand View Terrace is a nice spot for family photo ops or just to take in the view. From the terrace, visitors can follow a half-mile loop trail that takes them to the base of the mountain and the studio of Mt. Rushmore's sculptor, Gutzon Borglum. Those presidential visages are a symbolic representation of power, which has made the monument "a very political place" since its beginnings, says the memorial's interpretation chief, Judy Olson.

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In the Black Hills, two men carved their dreams into the granite.