Road Trip Adventure- Wind Cave

As promised, this week we are going inside Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. This little gem is separated from Custer State Park by just a cattle guard. Eastern tallgrass and western shortgrass prairies mingle with Rocky Mountain and boreal forests here, all on top of the largest cave system in the US. Enjoy another story from the road.

I was looking forward to visiting Wind Cave NP, even before I learned just how extensive the cave system is. I was even more excited when I got to the visitor center and saw black-footed ferret on display. Shortly after crossing the cattle guard from Custer State Park, I saw a little weasel run halfway across the road, then turn around and run back. In the visitor center, I immediately recognized the black-footed ferret as the little critter I saw. I was excited because that little guy is one of the rarest mammals in North America. 

Black-footed ferret (NPS photo)

Thought to be extinct, wildlife managers recently began reintroducing the black-footed ferret after a colony was found in Wyoming. They began a captive breeding program and ferrets were reintroduced in several locations in the west, including Wind Cave, but only four colonies are considered self-sustaining. Threats the ferret include habitat loss, loss of prey (prairie dogs), and diseases such as plague and canine distemper.

Moving on to happier topics, I was delighted to learn the National Park Service offered a variety of cave tours. All tours are ranger-led, because with over 100 miles of known passages any many more miles yet to be entered, they don’t want a bunch of people roaming around unattended. I volunteered to enter the cave last and act as our caboose. 

Wind Cave's largest natural entrance

The tour I chose was the “Natural Entrance” tour, because it is shortest and most frequently offered. The cave’s largest natural opening is a very small hole that only a child could fit into. We entered the cave through a door a few feet away from the natural opening. It was put there in the early 20^th century when what is today’s national park was then a private homestead. The cave has many different formations, but the most impressive is the rare boxwork formation. Boxwork is thought to form from mineral deposits left behind when water seeps into cracks in the rock, remaining even after the rock erodes or dissolves away. At the end of our tour, I was proud to report that we didn’t lose anyone. 

Boxwork, a rare cave formation

Close-up of some of Wind Cave's intricacies

Inside Wind Cave

Back above, I enjoyed the panorama of Black Hills, prairie, and pine forest. I even saw a few bison lazing the day away. 

Lazy bison

I also noticed some clouds, and remembered how Wind Cave got its name. In the early 20^th century a young boy was roaming the prairie when he heard a rushing noise. He located the cave’s natural opening. The noise he heard was wind rushing out. It blew the hat off his head. He thought it was a cool trick, so he brought his friends the next day. Instead of blowing his hat away, the wind sucked the hat into the cave. The direction of the wind is based on air pressure, and the wind was blowing in when our tour began, a sign of storms in the area. Not long after we left the park, we had a thunderstorm. The cave was true to its word. 

A storm's a-brewin'

Watch this video of a park ranger and Lakota Sioux member telling the story of her people’s emergence from Wind Cave. 

This week's information on black-footed ferrets comes from US Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency overseeing implementation of conservation plans for endangered and threatened terrestrial species. National Park staff frequently request that visitors report sightings of certain animals. Mount Rainier wants us to report mountain lion and bear sightings. Olympic wants us to report fisher sightings. Wind Cave wants us to report black-footed ferret sightings, which I did. The rangers were excited to hear about my sighting because ferrets haven't been seen in the area where I saw mine. Citizen science at its finest!