Plan A Field Trip

Caves are mysterious, dark, and packed with wonders to discover! They are home to many interesting formations (speleothems) and unusual life forms. Wind Cave National Park is excited to be part of your school's continuing efforts towards excellence. The National Park Service has a strong tradition of education and we are proud to promote parks as classrooms. To assist local educators with their curriculums, we have designed previsit lessons which will help students discover what caves are, how speleothems form, what might live in a cave, and what Wind Cave is like.

Wind Cave National Park offers educational tours or field trips of the cave throughout the year. These tours last about 1 1/2 hours. We have designed previsit activities for to help you and your students prepare for the trip. The information is helpful in providing background information for you and your students to better understand the unique features of Wind Cave. For educational groups to reserve and obtain a fee waiver please call, 605-745-1132.

If you would like to schedule a field trip to the cave we suggest that you contact the park early and be flexible in scheduling as all group reservations are done on a first-come, first-serve basis. Please review all rules and responsibilities and safety messages with your students before arriving at the park.

The park's Environmental Education program is offered in late April and early May only. The program allows students and teachers to discover relationships between the mixed-grass prairie, the ponderosa pine forest, the cave, the plants, and the animals that live in these unique habitats, and themselves. Students generally spend most of the school day at the park, with the program lasting 4 to 5 hours. The program includes required pre- and post-visit activities.

All of the park's educational programs are designed to reinforce classroom studies and can be adjusted to coincide with particular school subjects. There are no fees to participate in the environmental education programs. There are fees for cave tours, however if your field trip relates to the resources of the park fee waivers may be available.