General information about the National Park
The park protects one of the largest and longest caves in the world and in addition the prairie and its inhabitants above.
Current 2024: Due to the renovation of the elevators, it will not be possible to visit the caves in 2024. Everything you need to know can be found on the the park's website.
Number of visitors
In 2023 Wind Cave NP ranked 35th in the visitor statistics of the most visited national parks.
Best time to visit: Spring because of the wildflowers, summer and autumn for hiking.
Our visits:
So far 1 visit: June 2017
Entrance fees and opening hours
- Park entrance free, cave tours cost extra, depending on the tour.
- Covered by the Anual Pass*
- Open 24h daily, however, the roads may be closed at times during the winter.
*The Anual Pass is so to speak the "flat rate" for all Parks managed by the National Park Service. The pass costs a one-time fee of $80 and can be purchased at the entrance to each National Park, National Monument, etc. The pass is valid for 13 months.
The cave
Description: The cave is one of the largest cave systems in the world, with 150mi explored. The special feature are the honeycomb-shaped structures that are everywhere on the cave walls growing. The structures called boxwork consist mainly of calcium. The cave and the prairie above it was the 7th protected area in the USA to be declared a national park.
You can explore the caves on guided tours. These can be booked at the Visitor Center. During our visit in June 2017, we did the Natural Entrance Tour. This is 0.6mi long and takes 1hour and 15minutes. During the tour you have to climb 300 steps. It costs $12/person.
Everything you need to know about the tours can be found at the official webpage .
Our rating: Although this may not be the most spectacular cave to visit in the US, we quite enjoyed our visit here. Especially the boxwork structures, which you don't see very often, were very impressive in their scale. We can highly recommend a visit in any case.
Fun Fact: The cave got its name from the wind that is created by different air pressures. If the air pressure outside is higher than in the cave, a negative pressure is created and air is drawn into the cave. If the air pressure inside the cave is higher, the air is blown out of the cave. This almost gives the impression that the cave is breathing. This effect was demonstrated by the ranger during our tour using a ribbon that was drawn into the cave during our visit (pictured above).
The prairie
Description: Above the huge cave system is one of the last original prairie landscapes in the country. It protects numerous plant and animal species specific to this type of landscape.
Our rating: For a Central European who is not used to such huge open landscapes, this gigantic prairie is impressive. At least that's how we felt. The landscapes are just huge and the icing on the cake are of course the animals that you can discover again and again during the drive.
