SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Virtual visitors to Mount Rushmore can now explore even more remote areas of the memorial than some who see it in person.
Three-dimensional laser technology scans that captured every nook of the four presidential faces and other features of the monument last year mean that starting Tuesday, visitors will be able to take in-depth tours of the four presidential faces and see other features of the monument online.
The portal, comprised of models of the monument, allows people remote access to the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in western South Dakota to plan a visit or explore unusual areas, said Maureen McGee-Ballinger, the memorial’s director of interpretation and education. The monument draws about 3 million in-person visitors a year.
Online users are able to manipulate or dissect the three-dimensional models in various ways to learn more about the 60-foot granite carvings of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, McGee-Ballinger said.
Crews scanned the entire monument and other features of the park in 2010 for historic documentation and preservation.
“They physically scanned all the different aspects of the sculpture,” McGee-Ballinger said. “This is going to really enhance our preservation aspect.”
The project is a five-year collaboration between the National Park
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