Wind Cave Activities

The Visitor Center open daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Days. The Visitor Center contains three exhibit rooms featuring cave exploration, cave formations, early cave history, the Civilian Conservation Corps, park wildlife, and resource management. An 18-minute movie; Wind Cave: One Park, Two Worlds; is shown throughout the day.
Cave Tours are offered daily throughout the year except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. The cave temperature is 53 degrees at all times of the year. A jacket or sweater and good walking shoes are recommended.

All cave tours leave from the visitor center. Stop in at the visitor center for information, cave tours, exhibits, slide and video programs, maps, books, backcountry permits, Golden Age and Golden Access Passports, and Parks Passes. The visitor center and the cave are accessible to people with disabilities, please inquire at the visitor center.
Wind Cave National Park protects two very different worlds; one deep within the earth, the other a sunlit world of many resources. Exploring any of the 30 miles of hiking trails, one of the three nature trails, or just hiking cross-country gives visitors the opportunity to experience the amazing prairie and forest worlds of the park.

Living within the park are many different types of animals. Driving the park roads or hiking the trails provides the opportunity to see bison, prairie dogs, pronghorn or many of the different birds living here.

Hiking

Imagine walking across a prairie and viewing scenery similar to that seen by Black Hills pioneers in the 1890s. Such landscapes can be seen from the 30 miles of hiking trails in Wind Cave National Park.
From these trails you can view one of the best examples of mixed-grass prairie in the United States. Seventy-five percent of the park is mixed-grass prairie and the balance is ponderosa pine forest and riparian habitat.
Backcountry Camping
Backcountry camping offers an opportunity to learn firsthand about the plants and the animals of the prairie and forest. The backcountry camping area is located in the northwest part of the park. All backcountry campers must obtain a free Backcountry Use Permit at the visitor center or at Centennial Trail access points. Information gained from backcountry permits help park rangers protect the resources while allowing for use of the backcounty of Wind Cave National Park.