Bill Munny Loc: Aurora, Colorado

You cannot ride the cog railway to the top of Pike's Peak right now. It is broken and will not be fixed until maybe 2020. The old cog was built by the Swiss (I think, or somewhere in Europe) and they are the only suppliers of the parts (extremely expensive). So, after it being down for a year or two, it will be rebuilt to the specs that allow it to be maintained on a more common accessible supply of parts. Too bad for 2019 because that is an awesome ride and view. But in July the Pike's Peak auto race to the top will be held and is quite a spectacle.

ecurb1105

In Cheyenne, I'd want to go back to the train station. On the balloon I'd take the 18-135 rather then a fixed short telephoto. In Colorado try Gold Camp Road from Colorado Springs to Victor.

ecurb1105

Speaking of preparation, I used to do photo workshops in Victor Colorado and even in August I carried a down jacket with me.

DJphoto Loc: SF Bay Area

We went there in 2012 and the Black Hills are beautiful. We visited Mt. Rushmore three times in two days: the afternoon, evening and next morning. You should go there at least in the morning and for the evening presentation. You should drive the Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road. Check with the rangers at Mt. Rushmore regarding the direction to drive each of them; there are tunnels that open up to vistas that include Mt. Rushmore and depending on the direction you will see them from the windshield or the rear view mirror. You definitely want the windshield view. The drive from Mt. Rushmore to Deadwood is very nice; we drove it to an overnight in Spearfish on our way to Yellowstone and the Tetons. We went in my pre-DSLR days with a Canon bridge camera, and while you will use your 18-135 a lot (it's the go-to lens on my 80D), you will probably want your longer lens as well. I also have a 50 and wouldn't take it. Others have recommended Crazy Horse; we thought it was a waste of time. We drove from Vail to Colorado Springs on CO 24 through Leadville and it was a very scenic drive and allows you to visit the Garden of the Gods; definitely worth doing. If you choose to go to Yellowstone, U.S. 16 through the Bighorn Mountains and Ten Sleep Canyon is beautiful. Have a great trip.

IR Jim Loc: St. Louis

While I have not been to Mt. Rushmore yet, I can offer some advice to help in your planning. I highly recommend The Photographer's Ephemeris (TPE). It is a map tool that allows you to find out the position of the sun and moon at any given time. On the main interface you can tell if your subject will be in shadow or not. You can even drop a separate pin from your location on to the subject and it will give you distance, bearing, and the delta in elevation, all relative to your position. You can fiddle around with your position pin to find out exactly when and where you need to stand to place the sun/moon in the frame (where you want it!). It is by far my most used photography application.
There is a free desktop web application that I'll link below, there is also a smartphone version available for purchase. Worth every penny in my opinion.

https://www.photoephemeris.com/tpe-for-desktop

kenievans Loc: Dallas

Thank you for the reminder. I have used it setting up for super moons and blood moons but didn't even think about using it to plan this trip. I have it on my phone so I will definitely use it.

DK Loc: SD

Take the fairly short and easy hike at Mt. Rushmore which takes you closer to the mountain and there is an opportunity to get a shot of one of the faces through a crack in rocks along the trail. Definitely agree with the Devil's Tower, Custer State Park, Iron Mountain Road, Crazy Horse, Spearfish Canyon and Badlands National Park. Sylvan Lake and Needles Highway are also great photo ops. I am a native of the area.

skylinefirepest Loc: Southern Pines, N.C.

That's interesting. We found Crazy Horse, a year ago, to be really interesting because of the displays and the native products and folklore. And a speaker in native dress giving a talk about the Black Hills. While we are glad to have seen Rushmore we won't go back as long as it's a tourist trap. Made in China stuff.