orientation and communications center

It is a pretty neat story about what this family has done. I know there are conflicting opinions on this place and the legacy. For me and my family, we found it to be educational and fascinating.

As other reviewers have noted, TripAdvisor lists three attractions for Crazy Horse. They are: The Orientation and Communications Center, the monument itself, and the Native American Educational and Cultural Center. All three attractions are located at the same address and you pay one fee per carload, $22 at the time of my visit, to park and to see all three. Note that if you visit during the day and want to return to see the laser show, you can get a free pass to return the same day without having to pay another $22.This review features the Orientation Center.There is a film to see and not much else I'd categorize as "orientation center" material. We enjoyed the film which featured the history of the monument as well as showing how much carving's been done since the beginning. Overall the orientation center does not take longer than about 30 minutes and we moved on to the viewing areas, cultural center and gift shop. There is a restaurant on site, but we visited at a time that was between meals so didn't try it out. It looked quite nice with views of the monument but perhaps a bit pricey.

I think this was a good stop. We enjoyed looking at all the displays, there was a native american dance display going on. Lots of people touring the place, so we had to park pretty far in the lot, but that's okay. I think we paid $22 for 2 adults and we weren't really sure what that covered until we got inside. You get to view a short film and tour the museum. We were silly and thought you got a tour up closer to the statue, but that's $125 per person for a van ride to it. We'll we didn't think it was worth $250 so we passed. We thought that was a little steep.We had a small dog and it's okay if you bring your dog, just can't go into any of the eating places and that was fine with us. We saw a few people with dogs on leashes.The native american dance display was pretty loud and a few children were actually a little scared by the chanting.There were some places to get food and drink and the patio was nicely shaded with a view of the monument, but we had the puppy and it was pretty crowded so we didn't eat or drink. They also had a bad outside that was rehearsing, so not sure when there was entertainment. Overall, it was an interesting place and didn't take long to look around.

We visited on a day when the also had a rodeo at the memorial just down from the visitor center. With admission to the rodeo the pass was also good for the visitor center. It was a great value being able to see the rodeo which although not a large show it was still very good. The visitor center itself had quite a few vendors and exhibits. The highlight for us though was 3 native american family members who were performing dances and were very open about sharing there culture. We talked to them for several minutes and they even performed a special dance to bless my sisters recent wedding. Although the memorial is far from completed it is worth seeing and i look forward to visiting again and seeing the progress. It truly is history in the making

This place is a lot bigger than it appears from the outside. Easy to get around. Provides some information about the Crazy Horse Memorial if you don't already know the history. I am, however, on the fence about this memorial. There is a lot of controversy about the memorial...from the perspective of the Lakota and others.

There are three attractions attributed to Crazy Horse Memorial: The Orientation and Communications Center, the monument, and the Native American Educational and Cultural Center. All three attractions are featured separately on TripAdvisor, and are located at 12151 Avenue of the Chiefs, Crazy Horse, SD 57730 (www.CHMemorial.org). This review features the Orientation Center, which is more like a welcome center. Though a spacious complex that features brief videos, exhibits are sparse. It seems this, too, is a work-in-progress to give a good vantage point to view the in-progress monument. The entrance fee charged (free for military members) includes all three attractions, but many TripAdvisor reviewers kvetch about the fee for all three, attributing it to this one attraction. Would those prefer a lower fee and the federal government taxing them to pay for this? How about three less-expensive admission charges and three separate parking fees?The Memorial opens at 7am during the summer (8:00 in winter) months and closes just before the nightly “Legends in Light” laser-light show, which runs Memorial Day weekend through Native American Day (October 13, this year). The Light Show starts at dark. Ask at the Orientation Office to receive a free pass for a return visit to see the Light Show.

Let me start by saying that I am easily impressed. I like everything. And I STILL was unimpressed. First, read the wikipedia page on this place and you'll see that even the native americans don't like this place.So, $20 per person to get in......to the visitor's center. That does not get you to the monument. You are NOT allowed to hike up to the monument. If you want to get closer, you have to pay an additional $4 per person to take the bus to the monument. I went with my girlfriend so, we paid $28 to see a face. To say that it's not finished would be an insult to Mt. Rushmore (Mt. Rushmore is not finished....look it up). This place is barely started. If they'd spent half the time and money on the monument as they have on the visitor's center, it'd be done by now. Oh, and btw, if you're consoling your loss of $28 by thinking it went into the national park system.....don't. This is not a park. It's a private endeavor on private land. So, all those people wearing uniforms are NOT park employees. I completely understand why the native americans are not happy about this. If you want to see it, here's my advice. Bring a pair of binoculars. Drive up to the entry stations where you pay and then pull to the right BEFORE paying. Park right there and get out your binoculars. Your view from there is no worse than on the other side of the entry stations and you just saved yourself $28. I'm not being sarcastic here. This is really the best way to see it.In the end, this is just a money maker for the owners disguised as a native american memorial. Don't give these people your money! Native Americans would probably rather you go to an Indian Casino: at least they get a cut of that.

Enjoyed the orientation movie. One of the best I've seen anywhere. We'll done. Excellent info on Memorial, the sculptor and Crazy Horse. Nice seeing actual video of sculpture and working on the mountain.

The orientation centre is well-presented and very informative. The movie is a must-see; in fact, we bought the DVD. The story of the monument is both incredible and unique.

The orientation movie will add to the dynamic experience of visiting the Crazy Horse Memorial.Do not miss this attractions!

A must do to enhance the experience. This has the ability to teach everyone something about this attraction from the casual tourist to someone like myself who is native but of a different nation who likes to learn.The movie, the artifacts and historic pictures all help to blend everything together into a learning experience.

Very educational. We learned so much about the family behind the Memorial. It added so much to the entire experience.

Just a little bit of History everybody should see. It's an awesome place to have your picture taken and have Mt. Rushmore in the background.

The film lasts about 30 minutes and was helpful concerning the history of Crazy Horse, the sculptor who began the project and the fact that this is a privately funded endeavor

Money hungry area. For all the wrong reasons. Every time you went to look at something, you had to pay for it. There was a bus to take you to the bottom of the monument, for more money!! Come on, 20 bucks and they want more money..LAME!