The Mammoth Site

About

The Mammoth Site sits over a collapsed sinkhole in the southern Black Hills, about 50 miles south of Rapid City and roughly an hour from Mount Rushmore. The sinkhole trapped mammoths and other Ice Age animals thousands of years ago, and their bones remain in the ground where researchers found them starting in the 1970s. The whole excavation is enclosed in one building, so the site runs year round regardless of weather.

Inside, a main walkway circles the dig floor and lets visitors look down at fossils still embedded in the sediment. An elevator takes visitors to a lower level, where windows look into the prep lab and staff clean and catalog bones pulled from the site. A separate viewing platform sits on one of the deepest parts of the dig, and reaching it means stepping down from the main walkway rather than riding the elevator. Exhibits nearby cover Ice Age animals found alongside the mammoths, including camels, llamas, prairie dogs, and giant short-faced bears.

Families can book the Ice Age Explorers program or the Family Dig class, a hands-on session where participants excavate replica fossils and make a cast of a mammoth tooth to take home. The Family Dig runs hourly from 10am to 3pm daily between June 1 and August 15.

Most visits run 1.5 to 2.5 hours. As of 2026, admission runs from free for children 3 and under to $15 for ages 13 to 59, with $13 for seniors and active or retired military and $12 for ages 4 to 12. Hours shift by season: 8am to 6pm mid-May through mid-August, 9am to 5pm in the shoulder seasons, and 9am to 3:30pm from November through February. The site closes on New Year's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Hot Springs is a small southern Black Hills town built on sandstone, known more for its warm springs than for crowds. Visitors touring the region often pair The Mammoth Site with a stop at Wind Cave National Park or Custer State Park, both a short drive away.

Accessibility

The Mammoth Site says it is ADA accessible, though it does not publish route details for every part of the building.

For arrival, guests who have trouble covering the distance from the parking lot to the building can call ahead at 605-745-6017 to arrange a golf cart ride. There is no public information on whether the lot itself has marked accessible spaces, so it is worth asking about that when you call.

Once inside, the main walkway that circles the dig floor forms the core of the visit and appears to be one continuous route rather than separate rooms. An elevator carries visitors to the lower level, where windows overlook the fossil prep lab. One viewing platform, set on a deeper part of the dig, is reached by going down steps from the main walkway rather than by the elevator, so that specific vantage point is not step-free.

The site keeps a number of wheelchairs on hand to borrow, useful if you or a companion needs one only for the visit itself. The site does not publish details on restroom accessibility, door widths, or seating near the prep lab windows, so call ahead if any of those specifics matter for your trip.

Practical tip: mention any mobility needs when you call for tickets or the golf cart, and ask specifically about the stepped platform if you want to see that section of the dig up close.

Checked by Accessible America, August 2026. Report a change

More accessible places in South Dakota

• Wind Cave National Park (Hot Springs)
• 1880 Train (Black Hills Central Railroad) (Hill City)
• Jewel Cave National Monument (Custer)
• Minuteman Missile National Historic Site (Philip)
• Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center (Chamberlain)
• Crazy Horse Memorial (Crazy Horse)

Photo credits

• Entrance sign for The Mammoth Site featuring a bronze mammoth statue with pine covered hills behind.: Jllm06, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)
• The Mammoth Site's low brick and metal building sits on a grassy hillside in Hot Springs.: Jllm06, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)
• Indoor bone bed exhibit with a walkway and railing circling the fossil dig, plus a life-size mammoth model.: Jllm06, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)
• A railed walkway circles an indoor dig site with a mammoth statue and exposed tusks and bones.: Jllm06, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)
• Exterior of The Mammoth Site's modern brown building with a grassy lawn in front.: Jllm06, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)
• A researcher kneels on a railed platform excavating fossils in the sandy dig site.: Dino, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)