Wind Cave National Park
Ok so I'm sure many people have heard of Badlands National Park in South Dakota but I'm sure that not as many people have heard of Wind Cave National Park. . I was shocked to discover how close wind cave was to many other western South Dakota attractions yet it doesn't receive nearly as much attention as Badlands.
As you can see Wind Cave is directly under Custer State Park and very close to Mt Rushmore.
General Wind Cave Information
-Wind Cave was the 7th area to be designated as a National Park and the first cave (it became a National Park before Badlands)
-Wind Cave is considered a "dry cave" meaning it wasn't created by a river running through it and this is why there are no stalagmites or stalactites in Wind Cave.
- Wind Cave got it's name because it "breathes" meaning the airflow in the cave adjusts with barometric pressure. There is a story about the discovery of the cave where the air coming out of the cave blew a persons hat off.
-It is most famous for it's collection of Boxwork formation. Boxwork is a crystalline formation that forms when calcite fills tiny cracks in limestone. It has has a corrugated cardboard like appearance hence it's name. Over 95% of boxwork formations in the world are found exclusively in Wind Cave.
Here are some examples of the boxwork formations in Wind Cave
- It is free to get into the park itself- however it does cost to take a cave tour.
- There is one Visitor Center in the park- in the basement of the park it has a small exhibit on the history of the park.
Touring the Cave
Prior to Covid there you could make reservations for a cave tour on the NPS website in advance. Post covid they have it on a first come first serve basis. I find this a little counter intuitive in my opinion because it leads to people gathering and lining up in the visitor center to book a cave tour but whatever.
I would highly recommend taking a tour! Touring Wind Cave was one of the highlights of our road trip- it was so neat!! We had just visited Mammoth Cave NP in Feburary this year and it was neat to compare and contrast caves.
These tours sell out pretty quickly so you need to get there in the morning. We got there around 9:00 am and our earliest tour wasn't available until 12:45.
We did the Fairgrounds tour because we wanted to see as much of the cave as possible. I would love to come back and do the Candle light tour (its the longest tour and its by candle light- the way the original cave explorers saw the cave) if it becomes available in a post covid world.
It's 54 degrees Fahrenheit in the Cave. The Park recommends wearing long sleeves When we went it was 90 degrees outside and the cave felt so nice! The park also states that you need to be able to walk up multiple flights of stairs and on uneven terrain.
Posing for a pic in the lightest part of the cave- still pretty blurry!
I found that my iphone did a really good job with pictures in the Cave. I have yet to master how to set my camera to take good cave pictures- and I'm too poor to afford a bounce flash.
Hiking in Wind Cave
Obviously if you are coming to Wind Cave National Park you want to explore the cave- that's a given. But we were also impressed with the scenery above the cave as well.
We had planned on doing two different trails but it was so warm the day that we went (over 90) that we didn't feel like we had enough energy or water to do the longer hike that we had planned.
We did hike Rankin Ridge trail and it was gorgeous. It had been recommended to us as the best hike in the park and it had breathtaking views.
Another hike that was recommended to us but we didn't due to the heat was the lookout point trail and the centennial trail. If we come back and its a cooler day we will definitely check these trails out!
The beautiful black hills!
Love those Ponderosa Pines!
Overall
We really enjoyed Wind Cave National Park and would recommend it if you are traveling through South Dakota. I consider it a hidden gem that is often overshadowed by Badlands.
Comments
Post a Comment