News Release

Wind Cave National Park institutes cave tour reservation system

Visitors now have the option of buying cave tour tickets in person or by reserving them through www.recreation.gov.

NPS Photo

News Release Date: April 19, 2022

Contact: Tom Farrell, 605-745-4600

WIND CAVE NATIONAL PARK, SD – Visitors to Wind Cave can now reserve cave tour tickets online up to 120 days in advance. Tickets can be purchased through www.recreation.gov, a website used for reservations at thousands of sites across the country.

“We’re very pleased with the feedback we’ve gotten concerning our reservation system. It eliminated the lines of people waiting to buy tickets that we had last year during spring break,” said Superintendent Leigh Welling. “Half of our tickets will still be available for same day purchase, allowing people on the spur of the moment to tour the cave.”  

Tour tickets can be reserved, or canceled, up until three days before the tour. Any unsold tickets would then be available for purchase on the day of the tour. There is no refund for late arrivals or no shows. The park will no longer be taking reservations over the phone for its Candlelight or Wild Cave Tour; they must be made online.

Tours during the summer frequently sell out more than an hour in advance. For more cave tour information, visit: www.nps.gov/wica.