A review of Under Canvas Mount Rushmore
Imagine: Crystal stars poking through the velvet black sky, crisp air like a sweet apple tucking you into your fall flannels, and a chorus of crickets singing the symphony of your evening.
The thought of camping may be undesirable to some, and utterly romantic to others. If you’re in the “I would never!” posse, I’d like to introduce you to glamping. More importantly, I’d like to introduce you to glamping in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
This past weekend, two of my closest girlfriends and I had the privilege of staying at and exploring Under Canvas Mount Rushmore (UCMR), in Keystone, SD. Under Canvas offers its patrons a luxury “glamour camping” or “glamping” experience with canvas tents, running water, a full-service dining hall, and (most importantly) beds.
Below you will find an unbiased review of my Under Canvas experience. From location, to on-site activities, I’m providing the “insider scoop” to the Black Hills’ newest arrival!
Location | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Under Canvas Mount Rushmore’s “glampsite” is located inside the Black Hills National Forest, just 3 miles from Mount Rushmore. I had been under the impression that perhaps the site would be difficult to find. I was emailed and texted directions from the site’s automated communication system. However, all I had to do was plug in “Under Canvas Mount Rushmore” into my Google Maps and I was taken directly to the glampsite! There were also plenty of signs with arrows pointing me towards my weekend getaway. All-in-all, quite easy to find!
Initially, I was nervous with how close we seemed to be to Highway 16A and downtown Keystone. My goal was to find a getaway that got away from the hustle and bustle of a touristy town, not to stay on a highway! Luckily, as I turned down the road, pavement turned into gravel, storefront turned into tree canopy, and pedestrians turned into wildlife. We were a short drive into town (no more than 5 minutes), but we did not experience any light pollution or loud noises from Keystone.
Upon arrival, there was a free parking lot for vehicles and a clearly marked reception tent. We understood exactly where we were supposed to go, but I can say with certainty that if we were to have any questions, one of the staff would have happily helped.
UCMR itself was perched atop a hill, and had a great view of the nationally renowned monument. This was a great perk, and admittedly, one of their largest selling-points. I will caution you that if you’re truly interested in seeing Mount Rushmore, I’d suggest driving the 10-15 minutes to visit the memorial. While you will have a view of it from the glampsite, it’s distant. So for those of you looking for that “up close and personal” look, go ahead and check out the park!
One thing I sincerely appreciated about this glampsite is the privacy. We stayed in tent #1, and there wasn’t one time where I felt my privacy was invaded. On the contrary, I also didn’t feel so far away that I felt we were completely alone. We had an easy walk to the community bathrooms and dining hall.
Staff | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
ALL of the staff at UCMR were incredibly friendly. And when I say all, I really do mean all. Not only were they friendly with the paying patrons of their establishment, but you could tell the staff has a great amount of respect and love for each other and their job. When the dining hall was busy, the staff remained calm and smiling, helping each other out where they could. Not once did I see a staff member roll their eyes, speak in a snippy tone, or sigh in frustration. They just enjoyed what they were doing.
Daniel, the Guest Experience Coordinator was happy to inform us of some great hiking spots in the area. Lisa, the General Manager, was around the glampsite for the majority of the day. But unlike most managers you see hanging around, Lisa was picking up trash. She was straightening out books. She was wiping tables. She was taking orders. She was getting parties checked in and out. There was no sense of a “better than you” or “not my job” mentality. This stuck out to me as a healthy workplace, which eased my mind.
When I noticed an odd charge on my invoice, I called the camp and questioned the charge. Instead of scoffing at me, they offered to go through their copies of the signed receipts. Within the hour, they gave me a ring and told me, “We dug up the old receipt! Yep, you’re right. That was mistakenly charged to the wrong guest, we have gone ahead and refunded you!” There was no sassy tone, just a polite apology and best wishes to me.
Some of the best customer service and experience I’ve seen in any establishment in a very long time.
Amenities | ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
I should preface this portion of the review by saying our group opted for the cheapest tent, called the Safari tent. Our tent had 3 twin-sized beds, a dresser, a small wood burning stove, two chairs and an end table outside to hang out on, and a rack holding firewood with a top to put our cooler on.
Some of the tent options come with their own private baths, but ours did not. Where Under Canvas lost a star for me here was the bath house. Their website mentioned the bath houses had “6 individual, lockable bathrooms. Each bathroom is fully private with a hot shower, sink & flushing toilet.”
This was not the case.
The bath house closest to our tent had 3 lockable bathrooms, and only 2 of those bathrooms had a hot shower, sink and flushing toilet. This was a bit of a bummer, as there were 3 of us. It would have been nice to all take our showers at the same time, rather than having to rotate.
What saved Under Canvas from losing more points here was that they not only provided shampoo, conditioner, and soap, but they also provided bath towels. Not having to bring your own towels is a major space saver!
The public spaces, otherwise, were fabulous. There were a couple of lounge spaces where people could come in and hang out early in the morning, or stay and chat late at night. The main tent was open 24/7 with around-the-clock staff monitoring it for safety purposes. There were heaters for cooler nights, and fans for the warmer ones. It was a comfortable space, and can I just say, impeccably decorated! Sometimes I forgot I was inside of a tent!
While the tents on site were truly beautiful, they’re still tents. You’re still outdoors, and there will be bugs inside the tent. Additionally, there were previously squished bugs that hadn’t been wiped off by the cleaning staff. To me, this was fine. To others, it may not be!
Finally, there is no Wi-Fi. This is intentional. My friends and I decided it was a “no phone” weekend anyway, so that was fine with us. Under Canvas as a company believes in and encourages its visitors to spend time outside together. I appreciate that sentiment SO much, because it really helped me feel like I fully absorbed my surroundings.
On-Site Activities | ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
This is the area I think UCMR could use some work on. While their sunrise yoga was delightful, and the plethora of board games and CDs to choose from were appreciated, this particular glampsite didn’t have much going on at night, which is when our group spent the most time there.
I’ll give them props for the nightly s’mores, info hikes, and again, the beautiful sunrise yoga. I noticed the Great Smoky Mountains location has an Acoustic Campfire Music Series with up and coming artists, which is something I’d love to see the Mount Rushmore location do more of. On Sunday night, they did have live music, but it was so early that we weren’t back from our hike by the time the music started. Major bummer!
It would have been great to have more mixer events as well. We were three young people, with no children, traveling! I know I would have loved to meet some fellow travelers along the way, but there wasn’t much opportunity for that, because most groups kept to themselves. I believe UCMR could do (and does at other locations) a better job in that department!
Food | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ( ★ )
You guys. Let’s talk food.
UCMR had some of the absolute BEST food I could have ever imagined at their dining hall! It was freshly cooked on site, beautifully seasoned, and perfect at any time of the day! It was not complimentary, and a little more spendy than I would have liked, but it was worth every penny!
We enjoyed fresh walleye over a bed of rice with sugar snap peas, a bagel breakfast sandwich (soft, squishy, warm bagel…YUM!) and on our final day I gobbled up an American breakfast with some of the fluffiest scrambled eggs I’ve ever tasted!
The dining center itself was gorgeous, with plenty of seating for its guests both inside and outside. What I loved about the service here, was that you ordered at the front, then were handed a table marker and sat down wherever you wanted. Then the staff would bring your food out to you. Just like a restaurant! This is a part of the “glamour” part of camping I enjoyed – no hot dogs over the fire!
They had complimentary coffee, tea, and cocoa on-site, any time you needed it. This was great for my 7 a.m. Yoga class, or late-night relaxation!
Finally, while we didn’t take advantage of this program, the team was also willing to make you boxed lunches to-go for the following day. All you had to do was put in an order before 9 p.m. the night before, and then pick them up the morning you needed them! I thought this was a really great perk.
Passport Program | ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
As most hotels have their rewards programs, Under Canvas has theirs as well.
The Passport Program is essentially a buy 4, get 1 free deal. What’s great about it is it averages the amount of nights you stay at your first 4 camps, and gives you that number of nights FREE at your 5th!
Pros:
- Great way to explore new camps.
- Stamps never expire (your 4 trips could be over 4 years, and those stamps still count).
- Averages the number of nights for your free 5th trip.
- Cool, informative and interactive passport design.
- Stays are tracked electronically if you lose your passport.
Cons:
- You cannot backtrack any stays prior to the program’s launch in 2018. This means if you had a stay in 2017, it doesn’t count.
- You have to ask for the Passport, versus being given one.
- The stays must all be unique, meaning you can’t stay at the same camp 4 times and get your 5th free. Your camps have to all be different.
Overall Value | ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Overall, I give Under Canvas a 4-star rating out of 5. The stay was very enjoyable, with some of the friendliest staff and absolutely stunning views. We felt we were warmly welcomed and were given a great tour of the camp and its facilities. However, this was an expensive stay (partly because of the holiday weekend). Split three ways, it wasn’t too bad. But at $240/night plus taxes and fees for the cheapest tent, I really would have appreciated complimentary breakfast or more activities to off-set the price of the stay.
I think the community spaces here are great. Specifically, their lounge area really blew me away with the amount of seating that was available! Having games and CDs/records would have been great if we decided to stay on site. I would encourage the team to properly market the shower situation, because having only 2 showers close by was really a big downfall in my eyes.
Would I stay here again? Absolutely! Now that I know what to expect, I know I’d be better prepared, and would encourage others to check out Under Canvas Mt. Rushmore! If you do, I found that unplugging the electronics was the best way to absorb what the camp had to offer. For my first time glamping, it was a truly unique experience, and to share it with two of my best friends made it all that more special.
