We Visited All 63 U.S. National Parks

When visited:            July, 2007

Date Established:     January 3, 1903

Park ranking:            60 out of 63

Why to go:                Where else would you see Boxwork

Why not to go:         If you don’t like caves

Forgive me for not remembering much about Wind Cave – it was almost 20 years ago and part of our 7 week cross country trip with our three sons.  Unfortunately, only one of the three remember the cave at all – and mostly for the cave popcorn.  But they were there 😊!

Visited Wind Cave in July, 2007

You can reach Wind Cave in a little over an hour from Rapid City, South Dakota – we did it as a day trip and part of Custer State Park which is about 30 minutes away.  We saw a herd of approximately 100 bison, prairie dogs, turkeys and antelope in the park. 

Wind Cave was the first cave to be designated as a US national park by President Roosevelt in 1903.  The cave is most famous for its boxwork which are calcite formations.  Approximately 95 percent of the known boxwork formations are found in the cave.

Boxwork in Wind Cave

There are several cave tours available including the Garden of Eden, Natural Entrance, Fairgrounds and Candlelight and Wind Cave tours.  We purchased our tickets for the Garden of Eden tour.  It was a brief walk to the entrance of the cave among the rich smell of juniper and mesquite.  In the cave, we definitely saw much boxwork, flow stone and cave popcorn – highlighted by a ranger with his flashlight.  Boxwork resembles a cardboard cutout series of webs on the ceiling of the cave.  It is created when calcite fills the cracks in the rocks.  Eventually the calcite becomes harder than the rock over millions of years.  Over time, the rock erodes leaving just the calcite – or the Boxwork!

Wind Cave has a very small natural entrance which makes the wind more noticeable when air is forced into or out of the cave.  Winds can be very strong. According to the NPS, because the cave is so large – it has its own air pressure system.  As the surface pressure changes from high to low and vice versa so does the cave’s pressure – this forces air in and out known as cave breathing.  The cave averages wind speeds of 15 mph so hold on to your hat.  Hence the name!

So, in summary, I don’t have much to add to what is already on the NPS site regarding this national park.  We don’t have many family photos to share and unfortunately for Wind Cave it was a bit lost in a whirlwind of national park, national monuments and state park visits.  Hence, it’s low ranking.  But there’s always popcorn!

Cave Popcorn in Wind Cave

Near Wind Cave are some amazing sites – please consider visiting Sylvan Lake via the Needles Highway and we visited the Mammoth site which the kids loved to see the excavation of the mammoth bones where 53 Colombian and 3 wooly mammoths had been found when we visited. 

Of course, there is Mt. Rushmore which is best seen at night during the lighting ceremony – which was one of our more memorable park experiences on this trip.  And don’t forget Jewel Cave National Monument if you love caves! All of this can be coordinated through a stay in Rapid City.  Also nearby is Badlands National Park, but that is for another post.