When we were in South Dakota a few years ago we wanted to tour Wind Cave National Park but we ran out of time. We decided to make it a priority this time!
Before our tour, we wandered around the exhibits at the visitor center. Chris spotted this display on root systems. We had no idea roots were SO deep!
I was fascinated by the beautiful handwriting on the hotel register from the 1890s:
We signed up for the Natural Entrance Tour. Near the natural entrance there is a small hole where cool wind flows out from the cave - this is where Wind Cave was discovered. Once inside, you immediately go down a LOT of steps. I think it was around 150 steps down as soon as we entered the cave.
Wind Cave is known for its boxwork formations. Approximately 95 percent of the world's discovered boxwork formations are found in Wind Cave:
Time to go down even more! There are approximately 300 steps down on the Natural Entrance Tour (to exit, you take an elevator to the top).
White-nose syndrome can affect the bats around the Black Hills so we had to decontaminate our shoes when we exited the cave:
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