We Came To South Dakota For The Badlands And Black Hills But Wind Cave National Park Ended Up Being The Kids’ Favorite Place We Visited
Wind Cave National Park gets a little lost in the shuffle sometimes when people talk about what to see in South Dakota. Between the famous Badlands and one of the best state parks in the United States in nearby Custer State Park, it can be hard to stand out among the wealth of attractions that this part of South Dakota offers.
Wind Cave isn’t as big as Mammoth Cave (although it is 3rd longest in the US) and it doesn’t have the massive chambers that Carlsbad has. But Wind Cave is unique and we found the cave tour fascinating. And the scenery above ground was a pleasant surprise as well, with great hiking trails and some of the best wildlife viewing we had in South Dakota.
These are 6 reasons we loved visiting Wind Cave National Park and can’t wait to go back.
Reasons Why Visiting Wind Cave Is Worth It
1. One Of The Most Unique Cave Systems In The World
Unlike most of the other caves I have been to in my life, Wind Cave is not carved out by water running through it. Instead, the cave system was caused by fractures in the rock and then water seeping through the fractures. Think more like a huge block of Swiss cheese that you get to walk through.
It is actually one of the oldest and largest cave formations in the world- 149 sq miles of known cave in 1.25 sq miles of land and goes about 500 ft deep. That’s one laaarge block of Swiss cheese.
2. Most Boxwork Formations In The World
Because of its unusual origins, Wind Cave has more boxwork formations than any other cave in the world. In fact, it has more than all of the other caves in the world put together (per the NPS website). So that makes it bucket list worthy right there.
Umm… What Is Boxwork?
It has a lot to do with how the cave was formed by rock fracturing and then water percolating through the rock. Our ranger explained it as if someone made a brick wall and then took away the bricks, leaving the mortar behind. I thought that was a great way to look at it and it made a lot of sense to the kids.
You can learn more in depth about the geology of the cave and the boxwork formations at the Visitor’s Center before or after your tour. There were some great exhibits on it if that is your thing. Otherwise, I found the tour to be detailed enough for the lay person and especially for kids to learn the how and why without going too much into it.
Because the cave passages are pretty narrow, even on the standard tour, and there aren’t any giant, cavernous rooms in the cave, it was unlike anything we had done before. So the TripAdvisor reviewer that was disappointed that Wind Cave wasn’t like Mammoth Cave is technically correct, but we thought that was more like a feature instead of a bug.
3. Wind Cave Has Beautiful Scenery Above Ground Too
Above ground, the park was pretty spectacular too. At first I thought I was overly impressed because it was our first day in South Dakota and I was enamored with the prairie (and the prairie dogs!) but I still thought it was a beautiful place when we returned on the last day of our trip too.
Even after having seen Custer State Park, the Badlands, Theodore Roosevelt Park, and having driven approximately 9 thousand miles around North and South Dakota, I still thought Wind Cave was absolutely worth a stop. (Just kidding, we only did about 1500 miles in 10 days, but it felt like so much more on our long days).
There isn’t any one particular viewpoint or hike in Wind Cave National Park that makes it stand out. It was more that I really liked the rolling hills, the varied environments (prairie, pine forest, cave), the lack of crowds, and we got some great wildlife photos. The small size of Wind Cave made it a little easier to explore as well and feel like you really got to see it.
4. Fantastic Wildlife Viewing
There were cute prairie dogs, less cute coyotes, and even the stereotypical “bison crossing the road while a tourist got way too close” scene. We saw far more bison here than in Custer State Park, although I know that has more to do with luck. Because we could easily pull off at viewpoints and sit for awhile almost by ourselves at many of them, we tended to linger and look longer so we saw more.
5. A Less Crowded National Park
We found Wind Cave National Park to be a lot less crowded than Custer or the Badlands so it was easier to park at pulloffs and trailheads, even on weekends. (It was fall, but we also did Custer and the Badlands in this same trip and found them way more busy than Wind Cave.)
The people were mostly at the Visitor Center waiting for the cave tours and not many seemed to get out on the trails. Even the easy Prairie Vista Trail that loops around right next to the Visitor Center only had a couple of people besides us on it.
6. IT’S FREE!!!
Unlike many national parks, there is no entrance fee for Wind Cave. The only fee is if you take a cave tour. So go hike and wildlife watch to your heart’s content without spending a dime.
Final Thoughts
We weren’t sure what to expect at Wind Cave and were pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed it. The cave tour was fantastic and the hiking and wildlife viewing above ground were just the icing on the cake. We can’t wait to go back because we thought visiting Wind Cave was totally worth it.
Happy Trails! – Amanda
