By Mariah Cannon
I feel like Wind Cave National Park is a very underrated and under visited national park because you don’t hear a lot of people talk about it. However, it is so worth a visit if you’re in the black hills of South Dakota. In this guide, I’ll share about the things I did while I was there and some things that should be on your list if you spend a day or two exploring the park.
This park can typically be explored in just one day, therefore the itinerary below will be talking about what you can fit in with one day at the park and some additional add ons if you have more time.
It’s also starting from highway 385 coming from Custer, SD – the most common way to enter the park!
Where is Wind Cave National Park
Wind Cave National Park is located Southwestern South Dakota and is one of many outdoorsy things to do in that part of South Dakota. Compared to other parks, it may seem not as exciting or vast, but it definitely packs a punch!
If you’re coming from Custer, SD you’ll turn left onto US-385/S Centennial Drive and follow that road for about 17 miles and you’ll run right into the Southern entrance of the park. Here there will be an entrance sign to take a photo with and a visitor center to learn about the park and pick out a souvenir!
Things to Know Before you go
- Unlike some other national parks, you do not need to pay an entrance fee while exploring the park.
- If you go on a cave tour, you’ll need to reserve and pay for your time and date in advance via recreation.gov.
- A common thing while exploring caves is to make sure you don’t wear clothes and shoes that have previously been in anther cave. This is to prevent a disease called White Nose Syndrome in bats. It’s a fungal disease that can easily spread to bats and eventually kill populations. You will also walk through sanitation mats before entering the Wind Cave.
- The weather can change in just a few minutes up here, so be sure to bring sun protection, rain gear, and any other exploring essentials you may need.
- Wildlife including bison, elk, pronghorn, deer, and prairie dogs are frequent in this park so keep your eyes peeled for a sighting and remember to always keep your distance between you and the wildlife.
- Service is limited in the park, so be sure to have trail maps downloaded and let someone know when you should return back to service!
Where to Stay Near and in the Park
Hotels/AirBnBs
- The Kleemann House is a gorgeous historical hotel originally built in 1883 and holds a lot of history and still has many original pieces within the architecture.
- Black Hills Ponderosa Place is a cute Inn that also has cabins and is very central to all of the parks and monuments surrounding the area.
- Outpost Adventures is another cute and fun spot to stay while exploring Wind Cave as it has several stays that immerse you in nature, while still having amenities!
Camping
- The only campground in the national park is the Elk Mountain campground, it offers 64 campsites, a mix of RV and tent only.
- Blue Bell campground is in Custer, SD and is a super fun campground for just about everyone and has super clean showers and restrooms!
- Stockade North campground is another great option located in Custer State Park with great access to all of the recreation areas nearby.
What to do in The Park
- Head to the North section of the park and start your day off with sunrise at Rankin Ridge Interpretive Trail – where you’ll hike 1 mile rounds trip to a historic fire lookout – which is also the highest point in this park. The lookout itself is neat, but the views on a clear day are the highlight of the trail! You will be able to see Badlands National Park and Buffalo Gap from the top. Be aware of your surroundings as buffalo and other wildlife actively roam the area! This is the farthest point of interest in the park, if you were to continue on the road out of the park, you would follow highway 87 to Custer and Mt. Rushmore National Monument.
- Begin heading back South to your next stop, Lookout Point and Centennial Trail Loop, a 4.8 mile trail gaining 500 feet of elevation. This trail provides lots of different scenery, gorgeous ponderosa pines, rocky sections, and opportunity for wildlife sightings. This is a good easy-moderate hike that really makes you feel like you’ve seen a good amount of the park.
- After getting some good hiking in, head a bit more South to the visitors center where you can learn about the area and the Lakota and Cheyenne people that first inhabited the area. Fun Fact: The cave itself was a very sacred and powerful area to the Lakota and Cheyenne people!
- And next, the main part of the whole park – the coolest attraction aside from the wildlife – the cave tour itself! There are many different cave tour options, making sure just about anyone can experience the cave in some way! Below are the tour options and the times they run daily from June 7th-August 8th. You will need to reserve your cave tour through recreation.gov. I highly recommend doing it in advance, I lucked out and got a last minute morning of tour, but that isn’t always plausible during the summer months. The Natural Entrance Tour is the one I took and I would totally take it again! It was so beautiful and I feel like the one that really shows you the most of the cave. It’s a little over half a mile round-trip and can be considered moderate due to the amount of stairs you’ll encounter (300).
- If you’re feeling up to it after your cave tour, check out the Wind Cave Canyon trail that takes off right from highway 385 and has great views of the canyon.
- End your day exploring with a bison burger or pizza at Black Hills Burger & Pizza in downtown Custer. The food and service is remarkable here! It’s a place I will visit again and again because its that good!
- Can’t forget about the ice cream! Be sure to walk over from dinner to Horatio’s Homemade Ice Cream for a delicious sweet treat. This is especially good on a warm Summer day. They are open Mid March-mid October.
If You Have Additional Time
- Go for a sunset hike at the Cold Brook Canyon trail in the southern part of the park and it’s a nice easier hike to round out the day.
- Visit the nearby Jewell Cave National Monument and explore the difference in caves even though they’re so close to each other!
- Check out a popular state park in South Dakota, Custer State Park – with massive rock formations, beautiful trees, and amazing lakes!
- You can’t visit the black hills of SD without visiting Mount Rushmore National Memorial, it’s definitely neat to see, but you’ll only need to see it once. I feel like it was a little underwhelming for me. I expected it to be a lot larger and although it still was a massive carving, it was smaller than I thought it would be. So a one and done is perfect for this memorial!
Enjoy this guide to exploring Wind Cave National Park? Be sure to save it for future adventures!
Let’s Get Adventuring!
Mariah 🙂
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