Wind Cave National Park

"Wind Cave" redirects here. For the Italian cave see Wind Cave (Italy).

Wind Cave National Park
IUCN Category II (National Park)
Location	Custer County, South Dakota, USA
Nearest city	Rapid CityNearest city: Rapid City
Coordinates	43°34′0″N 103°29′0″W / 43.566667°N 103.483333°W / 43.566667; -103.483333Coordinates: 43°34′0″N 103°29′0″W / 43.566667°N 103.483333°W / 43.566667; -103.483333
Area	28,295 acres (114 km²)
Established	January 9, 1903 Established: January 9, 1903
Visitors	591,049 (in 2006)
Governing body	National Park Service

Boxwork

Bison grazing on prairie grasses

Wind Cave National Park is a United States national park 10 miles (16 km) north of the town of Hot Springs in western South Dakota. Established in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt, it was the seventh U.S. National Park and the first cave to be designated a national park anywhere in the world. The cave is notable for its displays of the calcite formation known as boxwork. Approximately 95 percent of the world's boxwork formations are found in Wind Cave. Wind Cave is also known for its frostwork. The cave is also considered a three-dimensional maze cave, recognized as the densest (most passage volume per mi³) cave system in the world. The cave passed Hölloch cave in Switzerland on February 11, 2006 to become fourth-longest in the world with 119.58 miles (192.45 km) of explored cave passageways. The cave's current length is 131.04 miles (210.89 km), with an average of four new miles of cave being discovered each year. Above ground, the park includes the largest remaining natural mixed-grass prairie in the United States.

Early discovery and exploration

The Lakota people, Indigenous People who live in the Black Hills of South Dakota, spoke of a hole that blew air, a place they consider sacred as the site where The Lakota first emerged from the underworld where they lived before the demiurge creation of the world.

The first documented discovery of the cave by early explorers was in 1881 by brothers Tom and Jesse Bingham. They heard a sound of wind rushing out from a 10-inch (25 cm) by 14-inch (36 cm) hole in the ground. According to the story, when Tom looked down into the hole, the wind was blowing out so hard that it blew his hat off of his head.^[1]

The wind they heard and felt explains the cave's name. The wind moves depending on atmospheric pressure on the surface and inside the cave. When the pressure is higher outside than inside the cave, wind rushes into the entrances; when pressure is higher inside the cave, the wind barrels out of the entrances.^[1]

Since the re-discovery of the cave in 1881 by explorers, few people ventured more than a few feet (meters) into Wind Cave, but it wasn't until the early 1890s, when a 16 year old boy named Alvin McDonald began exploring, that Wind Cave was discovered to extend beyond the original hole.

Alvin McDonald's father, J.D. McDonald, was employed by the South Dakota Mining Company to find gold in the cave, but was ultimately unsuccessful. Instead, an opportunity was discovered to send tours into the cave. These early tours explored the cave by candlelight and by crawling through some sometimes narrow passageways.

Like the nearby Jewel Cave National Monument, currently the second longest cave, Herb and Jan Conn played an important role in cave exploration during the 1960s.

Surface resources

Wind Cave National Park protects a diverse ecosystem with eastern and western plant and animal species. Some of the more visible animals include elk (also called wapiti), bison, black-footed ferrets, pronghorn antelope and prairie dogs. The Wind Cave bison herd is one of only four free-roaming and genetically pure herds on public lands in North America. The other three herds are in Yellowstone National Park, the Henry Mountains in Utah and on Elk Island in Alberta, Canada. The Wind Cave herd is currently brucellosis-free.^[1]

Several roads run through the park and there are 30 miles (48 km) of hiking trails, so almost the entire park is accessible. The park had 850,000 visitors in 2003.

The Wind Cave Visitor Center features three exhibit rooms about the geology of the caves and early cave history, the park's wildlife and natural history, and the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps in the park. The 18-minute movie "Wind Cave: One Park, Two Worlds" is shown throughout the day, and slide and video programs are also shown. The center is open year round except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. All cave tours leave from the visitor center.

Elk Mountain Campground is located about 1.25 miles (2.01 km) from the visitor center. It is open year round. Located in ponderosa pine forest, there are 75 sites for tents and recreational vehicles. Campfire programs are given in the summer. There are limited services in the winter, but the campground is open.^[1]

See also

• Jewel Cave National Monument
• Lehman Caves
• Mammoth Cave National Park
• Oregon Caves National Monument
• Russell Cave National Monument
• Timpanogos Cave National Monument

References

External links

• Media related to Wind Cave National Park at Wikimedia Commons
• National Park Service website - Wind Cave National Park

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