Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota is home to one the largest cave systems in the world. The caves, named because of the way air rushes in and out of the natural openings with so much force it can blow a hat off your head like a giant gust of wind, stretch (at least) 100 miles underground. Inside, the visitor is greeted with gorgeous caverns filled with Boxwork Calcite (found almost no one elsewhere in the world). Unfortunately, due to both ongoing elevator repairs and Covid-19 social distancing requirements, the caves are temporarily closed to tourists in 2020. Despite this, the park is still worth visiting. I really enjoyed hiking above ground near lots of wildlife and through pristine mix-grass prairies.
How to Explore
The cave can be explored through a variety of Ranger led tours (when the cave is open). Check the official park website for tour times and reservation details. (Personal note: while I didn't get to go into the cave in 2020 as part of my National Parks adventure, I have been in the cave before as a child, and hope to return someday soon to see it again as an adult.)
Above ground, I enjoyed hiking out on the Centennial Trail and looping back on the Lookout Point Trail. This formed a 5-mile loop. Going this way will give you a good overview of park, including leading you past several meandering streams, through tall pines, and across rolling prairies. Be on the lookout for wildlife throughout. In addition to bison, which could cross your path at any time, you’ll pass through two large prairie dog towns, and a number of spots with significant nesting bird populations. The prairie dogs are a particular joy to watch.
Pro tip: when you enter a prairie dog town you will be greeted by dozens of dogs screaming to each other in a seemingness endless chorus. As long as you keep moving that will continue. Instead, if you sit still for a long time the prairie dogs will eventually calm down and some may even approach you for a closer look. Separately, while there, don’t get too close to their holes. I say this out of respect for them, and also out of care for your well being. Once off the path, you are more likely to run into Prairie Rattlesnakes, who also enjoy prairie dog towns.
Photography
Photography in the cave is likely difficult as both tripods and flash photography are prohibited. However, plenty of photo opportunities exist above ground. In addition to plentiful wildlife, I really enjoyed shooting the contours and colors of the landscape.
Also, don’t forget to look at your feet as you walk. This area of the Black Hills is filled with beautiful rocks, including lots of rose quartz. While it’s tempting to grab a piece, always leave no trace, and only take photos.
Where to Stay
There is one small (61 site) established campground in the park, Elk Mountain. Sites are reserved on a first come served basis. In addition, backcountry camping is permitted in the northwestern part of the park. A free permit can be picked up in the visitor center.
There are several established campgrounds outside the park to check out as well, including several in Custer State Park as well as KOA sites in both Hot Springs and Mount Rushmore.
If you are looking for a motel or a lodge, the closest town to Wind Cave is Hot Springs. There are some cool things to do in town, but to be honest I wouldn’t choose to stay there on a future trip for more than one night. Instead, consider setting up a basecamp in the town of Custer or one of the lodges in Custer State Park.
Nearby Places to Explore
10 minutes to the south of park entrance is the town of Hot Springs. I got a kick out of the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, which is an active archeological dig (indoors) containing at least 1,200 mammoth bones. The site was discovered by a developer in the 1970s who was bulldozing a hill in order to make apartments. Can you imagine what he thought when he first found all those giant bones? If you are traveling with kids, in July and August the museum offers a Junior Paleontologist program for them to participate in “digging”.
30 minutes to the north is the entrance to Custer State Park and the beautiful Pinnacles Highway. Highlights of the park for me included Slyvan Lake, which is a great place to swim and stay (there is both a lodge and a campground there). The park also has several half day mountain hikes I really enjoyed, including Black Elk Peak and Little Devil’s Tower.
Continuing North, you’ll arrive at Mount Rushmore, which needs no introduction, and an hour and half past there is the town of Spearfish. Hiking up to the Spearfish Falls is easy and beautiful. If you want more of a challenge you can extend the hike further to see two additional falls.
30 minutes west is Jewell Cave National Monument. Unfortunately, like Wind Cave, the cave itself is closed in 2020 due to Covid-19. Hopefully by the time you are reading this guide it is open again.
Beyond Jewell, continuing onward into Wyoming, is Devil’s Tower National Monument, a strange geological feature, rising 867 feet straight up out of the prairies. The Tower has long been sacred for many Native Tribes, and is also famous in current popular culture today for many reasons, including for its role in the final scene of Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Lastly, while in the area make sure to at least drive through the Badlands National Park. (For detailed recommendations on visiting the Badlands check out my guide: here.)
Personal Reflection
As part of my project, it’s been important to me to photograph each park in a way that captures something “essential” about it. Therefore, for a park with the name “Cave” in the title, it seemed obvious to me that I needed to photograph inside the cave.
Unfortunately, before going to South Dakota, I read on the official website that the cave was closed. Should I even go if I can’t photograph what I want I wondered? After debating it for a while, I grudgingly decided to go for a few reasons. Firstly, I’d already be in the area so it wouldn’t be that inconvenient. Second, it’d be hard to return anytime soon. Third, during the first weeks of June 2020 a lot of parks that had been closed for months were beginning to open up each day. Maybe, once I got there things would miraculously open there too.
Upon getting to the park, I headed to the visitor’s center, hoping a ranger would tell me something encouraging. Unfortunately, not only was it closed but I couldn’t find any rangers. Despite that, I got out of my car to see if I could find any more information. Sure enough, taped to the door was a typed sign (in small font) letting people know the cave was indeed still closed. As an addendum, the note added that the rangers had no idea when the cave would open again. It wasn’t just Covid-19 and the impossibility of letting people into the “small” and “confined” spaces while social distancing was necessary. No, more fundamentally, the elevator down had broken in 2019 and they “didn’t know” how long, or maybe even “how”, to fix it.
I know that on an adventure it’s almost guaranteed things will not go according to plan. But sometimes, it’s still hard for me not to be mad about it at first.
Unable to go in the cave, I decided to try to make the best of it, and instead just explore above ground for a day instead.
I’m so thankful I did. Freed of any time pressure or need to capture “the essence” of the park, I simply walked by myself and explored at a leisurely pace without real plan or purpose.
While on the trail, I sat beside a stream in the shade for a while. Later, I discovered what looked like a cave entrance up in some nearby cliffs. Upon getting closer, I saw literally thousands of swallows flying in and out of it as they tended to their nests in the rocks. (In the picture below you can see their nests and heads popping out of many of the nests).
Later, I sat for over an hour in the midst of a prairie dog town, watching and listening to the creatures investigate me, care for their young, and play with each other.
The truth is, I wouldn’t have seen any of this had the cave had been open. Or even if I had, I probably would have been in a hurry (or too tired) to slowly take it in the way I did.
The experience was a good reminder to me to have equanimity when things don’t go accordingly to plan. Of course I was disappointed and frustrated. Obviously, I don’t get the cave photographs which are important to the project I’m working on. However, because things didn’t go according to plan I also got to experience a lot of unexpected joy and beauty too.
I hope you have a wonderful time at Wind Cave National Park (and that the cave opens up soon too). As you read this and explore the park for yourself, please let me know if you have any suggestions on how to make it even more useful for others. Until then, happy exploring!