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Wind Cave National Park

One of the world's longest and most complex caves and 28,295 acres of mixed-grass prairie, ponderosa pine forest, and associated wildlife are the main features of the park. The cave is well known for its outstanding display of boxwork, an unusual cave formation composed of thin calcite fins resembling honeycombs. The park's mixed-grass prairie is one of the few remaining and is home to native wildlife such as bison, elk, pronghorn, mule deer, coyotes, and prairie dogs.
 
Caver surveying in Wind Cave

Learning About the Cave

Right now there could be cave explorers discovering a new room or passage in Wind Cave. Find out more about the geology, unique formations, the places in Wind Cave, and the people who find them.
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Fire burning through pondorosa pines at Wind Cave National Park

Fire Ecology

Perhaps the most significant ecological change that people have initiated in the Black Hills has been the suppression of wild fires.
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Early cave tour in Wind Cave. William Jenning Bryant in center of picture with a child. Tour guide Kate Stabler on the far right.

History

American Indian stories dating back centuries speak of a "hole that breathes cool air" in the Black Hills. Cowboys came across a breathing hole in 1881 and the exploration of Wind Cave began. In 1903 Wind Cave became the first cave anywhere in the world to be designated a national park. Cave explorers are still finding new rooms and passages in Wind Cave, the fourth longest cave in the world.
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Ranger and a group of school children working together during an environmental education program

Education Programs

The environmental education programs at Wind Cave National Park help students discover relationships between the mixed grass prairie, the ponderosa pine forest, water, the cave, the plants and animals that live in these environments and themselves.  Find out more about these and other education programs at Wind Cave National Park.
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Write to

Wind Cave National Park
26611 U.S. Highway 385
Hot Springs, South Dakota 57747

Phone

Visitor Information
(605) 745-4600

Fax

(605) 745-4207

Climate

Climate and weather are not the same! Climate is a general term used to express broad patterns - for example, South Dakota's climate is sunny with warm summers and cold winters. Weather applies to specific movements of air masses, levels of precipitation, and temperature fluctuations at specific times of year--for example, today's weather is partly cloudy.
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Communities Surrounding Wind Cave National Park
Note: The times listed below are approximate driving times to the park.
Pringle, SD (13 min. ) Pop. 125
Hot Springs, SD (15 min. ) Pop. 4,129
Buffalo Gap, SD (25 min. ) Pop. 164
Custer, SD (27 min. ) Pop. 1,860
Oral, SD (37 min. )
Smithwick, SD (41 min. )
 Oelrichs, SD (43 min. ) Pop. 145
Fairburn, SD (44 min. ) Pop. 80
Edgemont, SD (46 min. ) Pop. 867
Hermosa, SD (50 min. ) Pop. 315
Keystone, SD (54 min. ) Pop. 311