Mount Rushmore in View on Three of Five Ziplines
A guided run on five side-by-side lines above the Black Hills, with a few hundred feet of walking between each platform.
Keystone sits in the granite and ponderosa country of the Black Hills, about two miles from Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Rushmore Tramway Adventures strung five side-by-side lines across the ridge above the town, and the listing carries 4.9 from 482 reviews. A group tops out at ten riders, and one guide stays with it from the first platform to the last. The operator calls this South Dakota’s first zipline tour.
Every departure runs at a set time, and booking closes 60 minutes ahead of it. Harness, helmet and trolley come with the ticket.
Pinnacle Zipline Tour in KeystoneFive side-by-side lines above the Black Hills, guided, two hours. From USD 125 with sales tax included.www.viator.comWhat You See From the Line
The five lines are strung side by side. Two people ride at once, and the cable runs up to 400 feet above the ground, over canyon and creek and through stands of ponderosa pine.
Mount Rushmore comes into view on three of the five lines. The carved faces read small from that distance and stay unmistakable. On the other two the view is Black Hills forest and bare granite. The tour takes its name from the high point where lines two and three meet.
The Walking Between Platforms
📍 The course starts at 203 Cemetery Road in Keystone and stays on the operator's own mountain the whole way. Between each of the five lines there is a couple of hundred feet of hiking, and it adds up to under half a mile across the two hours. The ground is uneven and the grade changes.
Wear shoes with a fully enclosed toe and heel. An athletic or hiking shoe is what the operator asks for. A rider who wrote in September 2025 called the path between launch points "a little steep & on a gravel path" and recommended good walking shoes. Sunscreen is worth packing too, and the platforms sit out in the open.
Cameras and GoPros are allowed at your own risk. Strap anything you carry to yourself before you leave the platform.
Who Clears the Bar
The limits here are physical ones. Riders need to weigh between 50 and 300 pounds and stand at least 48 inches tall. Loose jewelry and loose clothing stay behind.
The booking listing calls the tour suitable for all physical fitness levels. It advises against the ride for pregnant travelers, for anyone with a spinal injury, and for anyone with poor cardiovascular health.
Riders keep coming back to the braking at the end of each line. One wrote in October 2021 that "the stops are a little rough so those with back or neck issues be warned." Another called them "a little jarring" four years later.
On the hardware the operator publishes its own numbers. Every piece of equipment is tested to hold at least 5,000 pounds, and each line carries a minimum breaking strength of over 26,000 pounds. Guides inspect the lines, platforms, trails and gear every day before opening, and an accredited ACCT inspector reviews the course.
- Group size: up to ten riders on a departure
- One booking: up to ten people
- Booking form: a single traveler band, from age six
- Waiver: sign online, or in the white waiver tent on arrival
- Redemption: any ticketing window, once the waiver is done
Weather, and the Late-Season Days
Tours run rain or shine. Weather in the Black Hills turns fast, and an extra layer is worth carrying up. If the operator has to call off a tour, it will try to reschedule or refund it.
The mountain runs on a season. In 2026 it opened daily into the first week of September, then narrowed to Friday through Sunday, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, through the end of the month. The first weekend of September stayed open until 7:00 PM. Dates and hours vary across the season, so check the operator's calendar before you build the rest of the day around it.
Cancelling on your own side runs on a clock: a full refund needs at least 24 hours’ notice ahead of the departure time. Arrive 30 minutes early, which is about what check-in, the waiver and gearing up take.
📍 Rushmore Tramway Adventures, 203 Cemetery Road, Keystone, South Dakota. This booking covers the zipline tour itself. The alpine slide, the tubing hill and the chairlift sit on the same mountain, and the chairlift took over from the sixteen two-person gondolas that opened this summit in 1965. Mark and Vivian Fullerton bought the tramway in 1999. Until 2002 the chairlift was all there was.