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Wind Cave National Park
Things To Do
 
Cave Tour in the Assembly Room

NPS Photo by Mike Landrum

Cave Tour in the Assembly Room

The Visitor Center open daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Days. The Visitor Center contains three exhibit rooms featuring cave exploration, cave formations, early cave history, the Civilian Conservation Corps, park wildlife, and resource management. An 18-minute movie; Wind Cave: One Park, Two Worlds; is shown throughout the day.

Cave Tours are offered daily throughout the year except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. The cave temperature is 53 degrees at all times of the year. A jacket or sweater and good walking shoes are recommended.

All cave tours leave from the visitor center. Stop in at the visitor center for information, cave tours, exhibits, slide and video programs, maps, books, backcountry permits, Golden Age and Golden Access Passports, and Parks Passes. The visitor center and the cave are accessible to people with disabilities, please inquire at the visitor center.

Wind Cave National Park protects two very different worlds; one deep within the earth, the other a sunlit world of many resources. Exploring any of the 30 miles of hiking trails, one of the three nature trails, or just hiking cross-country gives visitors the opportunity to experience the amazing prairie and forest worlds of the park.

Living within the park are many different types of animals. Driving the park roads or hiking the trails provides the opportunity to see bison, prairie dogs, pronghorn or many of the different birds living here.

Elk Mountain Campground is located among rolling hills, prairie and ponderosa pine forest.  While camping visitors have a unique opportunity to view the plants and animals of the southern Black Hills. The campground is open all year.

Pearly Gates within Wind Cave
Pearly Gates within Wind Cave
Description of Cave Tours
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Hiking at Wind Cave National Park
Hiking at Wind Cave National Park
Experience the major habitats of the park by hiking any of the trails.
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Elk Mountain Campground
The campground is opened all year.
Elk Mountain Campground is located among rolling hills, prairie and ponderosa pine forest.
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Hiking Rankin Ridge
Hiking Rankin Ridge
Back-country camping provides a great opportunity to see the park. Permits are free.
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Bull elk in the park.  

Did You Know?
A Rocky Mountain bull elk weighs between 700 - 800 pounds. Rocky Mountain elk were introduced to the park in 1914 and 1916.
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Last Updated: January 21, 2008 at 15:22 EST