Just 30 minutes away from the Powder House Lodge is the world’s largest sculpture in progress.  Crazy Horse Memorial was commissioned in 1947 by Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear, and Korczak Ziolkowski made the first blast on the mountain in 1948.  Ziolkowski had just previously helped Gutzon Borglum with the carving of Mount Rushmore.

Crazy Horse was a legendary warrior and leader of the Lakota Sioux, celebrated for his battle skills as well as his efforts to preserve Native American traditions and way of life. Resisting efforts to force the Sioux on to reservations, he fought alongside Sitting Bull and others in the American-Indian Wars, and was instrumental in the defeat of George Armstrong Custer’s forces at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. After surrendering to federal troops in 1877, he was killed by a soldier’s bayonet while trying to imprison him in a cell.

During your stay at the Powder House Lodge, you can experience the Crazy Horse Volksmarch in the spring or fall.  This is your family’s chance to hike 10k (6.2-miles) to the top of the sculpture.  The highlight of this journey is walking out onto the Crazy Horse’s arm and experiencing this truly breathtaking monument.  Be sure to catch a night blast during the summer as well.  Night blasts are a magnificent way to have an opportunity to see the work on the mountain.