For
a natural resource to be preserved as a national park, it must have
very special qualities. It was Wind Cave's uniqueness that inspired
President Theodore Roosevelt to designate Wind Cave a national park
on January 9, 1903. In fact, Wind Cave was the first cave to attain
national park status. To fully appreciate its uniqueness, one must
visit its depths.
Whether you are a cave explorer
or touring Wind Cave with a ranger, you will quickly notice that cave passages
are everywhere. A look at the cave map
reveals that Wind Cave is enormous with maze-like passageways on multiple vertical
levels, making it one of the longest and most complex in the world. Its actual
size is unknown, but presently over
121.25
miles [195.13
kilometers] of cave passage have been explored.
Wind Cave
is also famous for its formations. Many people are awed by Wind Cave's magnificent
boxwork, a honeycomb shaped calcite formation
that protrudes from the cave's walls, ceilings and occasionally the floors. Boxwork
is extremely rare and perhaps nowhere else in the world can such a large display
be seen. Other formations, such as popcorn, frostwork, dogtooth spar and flowstone can be found along cave tour routes.
Off the tour route areas, cave explorers sometimes encounter helictite
bushes and gypsum needles. To many visitors,
Wind Cave's rare formations and complexity are a pleasant surprise. It is easy
to understand why the National Park Service strives to preserve and protect Wind
Cave National Park for future generations. |
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