Wind Cave National Park facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Wind Cave National Park
IUCN Category II (National Park)
Skyway Lake
Wind Cave National Park Location in South Dakota Show map of South Dakota Wind Cave National Park Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	Custer County, South Dakota, US
Nearest city	Hot Springs, South Dakota
Area	33,847 acres (136.97 km²)
Established	January 9, 1903; 122 years ago (1903-01-09)
Visitors	489,399 (in 2024)
Governing body	National Park Service
Website	Wind Cave National Park

Wind Cave National Park is an amazing American national park located about 10 miles (16 km) north of Hot Springs in western South Dakota. It was created on January 9, 1903, by President Theodore Roosevelt. This made it the sixth national park in the U.S. and the very first cave in the world to become a national park!

Wind Cave is super special because of its unique calcite formations. You'll find cool shapes called boxwork and frostwork here. In fact, about 95% of all the boxwork formations ever discovered in the world are right here in Wind Cave!

This cave is also known as a "breathing cave" because air constantly moves in and out of it. It's one of the densest cave systems on Earth, meaning it has a huge amount of passages packed into a relatively small area. Wind Cave is the sixth longest cave in the world with over 168 miles (270 km) of explored passages (as of 2025). It's also the third longest cave in the United States. Even though it's close to Jewel Cave, another long cave, scientists don't think they are connected.

Above ground, the park protects one of the largest remaining natural mixed-grass prairies in the United States. It's also where the southern part of the South Dakota Centennial Trail begins.

Why is it called Wind Cave?
A Look Back: History of Wind Cave
Where is Wind Cave National Park?
Animals and Plants
- Endangered Species
Climate and Changes
Exploring the Park
Geology: How the Cave Formed
- Unique Cave Formations
Gallery
See also

Why is it called Wind Cave?

The cave's name comes from how its passages "breathe". This happens because air is always flowing into or out of the cave to match the air pressure outside.

When the air pressure outside the cave is higher than inside, air rushes into the cave.
When the air pressure inside the cave is higher than outside, air rushes out of the cave.

Imagine a big cave with only a few small openings – it will "breathe" much more noticeably than a small cave with many large openings.

Western South Dakota often has quick weather changes, which means the air pressure can change fast. If a big storm was coming on the day the Bingham brothers found the cave, the air pressure would have been dropping quickly. This would cause the higher-pressure air inside the cave to rush out of all its openings, creating the strong wind that gave Wind Cave its name!

A Look Back: History of Wind Cave

Native American Connections

Long before European settlers arrived, the Lakota, Cheyenne, and other Native American tribes knew about Wind Cave. They traveled through and camped around the area. While there's no record of them going deep inside, the Lakota people, who lived in the Black Hills, considered the cave a very sacred place.

They called it Washun Niya, which means "breathing hole." For the Lakota, this was the special spot where their ancestors first came out of the underworld to live on Earth. Their stories tell of Tokahe, the first human to emerge from the cave, marking the beginning of their journey in this world. Wind Cave was a huge part of their traditions and culture.

The areas around the cave were also like a "supermarket" for native people. They provided lots of resources for survival, especially during winter. The cave and surrounding lands were perfect for setting up camps and hunting, as many animals sought shelter there.

Changes to the Land

Sadly, the Lakota people eventually lost control of their ancestral lands, a common story for many indigenous groups across the country.

In 1851, a treaty was signed between the Lakota and the U.S. government.
Another treaty in 1868 reduced the size of Lakota land in the Black Hills.
In 1874, General George A. Custer explored the area and wrongly reported a lot of gold. This led to miners invading the hills, even though it was against the treaty. The government didn't do much to stop them.
By 1875, the Lakota's right to the land was taken away.
When the Dawes Act was passed in 1877, the land was opened to settlers, and the Lakota people were effectively removed from their traditional home.

First Discoveries by White Americans

The first recorded discovery of the cave by white Americans happened in 1881. Two brothers, Tom and Jesse Bingham, heard a strong wind blowing out of a small hole in the ground, about 10 by 14 inches (25 by 36 cm). The story goes that when Tom looked into the hole, the wind was so strong it blew his hat right off his head!

For several years, not many people explored deep into Wind Cave. Then, in 1889, the South Dakota Mining Company hired Jesse D. McDonald to look after their claim on the cave site. They might have been hoping to find valuable minerals, or maybe they planned to open the cave for visitors from the start.

No valuable minerals were found, so the McDonald family began preparing the cave for tourism. Jesse hired his son Alvin (who was 16 in 1890) and later Alvin's brother Elmer to explore and help develop the cave. Alvin loved the cave and kept a diary about his adventures. Other family members and workers also helped explore the cave between 1890 and 1903.

By February 1892, the cave was open to visitors. A tour usually cost $1.00 (which would be about $30 today!). Early tours were tough; visitors explored by candlelight and sometimes had to crawl through tight spaces.

Later, in the 1960s, Herb and Jan Conn played a big role in exploring and mapping Wind Cave, just like they did for the nearby Jewel Cave.

Where is Wind Cave National Park?

The park is in an undeveloped area of Custer County, South Dakota. The closest town is Hot Springs, South Dakota, which is in Fall River County, South Dakota.

Animals and Plants

A bison scratching against a park sign.

Wind Cave National Park is home to a wide variety of plants and animals from both eastern and western parts of the country. You can see many different kinds of wildlife here, including:

The Wind Cave bison herd is very special. It's one of only four wild, genetically pure bison herds living on public lands in North America. The other three are in Yellowstone Park, the Henry Mountains in Utah, and Elk Island in Canada. The Wind Cave bison herd is also free of a disease called brucellosis.

Endangered Species

Whooping Crane
Black-footed ferret

Two animals found in the park are on the endangered species list: the black-footed ferret and the whooping crane. The whooping crane population at Wind Cave National Park needs help to survive and grow on its own.

Climate and Changes

Wind Cave National Park is located in the Great Plains, an area that has seen temperatures rise over the years. The average temperature increase across the plains has been about two degrees Fahrenheit (about 1.1 degrees Celsius), with some places seeing even higher increases. This warming trend is expected to lead to drought-like conditions in the area, which could affect the park's plants and animals.

Exploring the Park

The park has several roads and about 30 miles (48 km) of hiking trails on the surface. In 2018, over 656,000 people visited the park! More than 109,000 people took a tour inside the cave in 2015.

The Wind Cave visitor center is a great place to start your visit. It has three rooms with exhibits about:

The geology of the caves and early cave history.
The park's amazing wildlife and natural history.
The work of the Civilian Conservation Corps, a group that helped build many parks during the Great Depression.

If you want to stay overnight, Elk Mountain Campground is about 1.25 miles (2 km) from the visitor center. It's located in a ponderosa pine forest and has 75 sites for tents and RVs. The campground is open all year, with campfire programs in the summer.

Geology: How the Cave Formed

A geological map of the park.

The Wind Cave system is made up of three main levels, all found within the top 250 feet (76 meters) of a type of rock called Pahasapa Limestone. This limestone formed long ago in an ancient inland sea. You can find chert, gypsum, and anhydrite inside the limestone, which tells us there were times when the sea dried up a lot.

When sea levels dropped, the limestone began to dissolve, creating a landscape with cracks, sinkholes, and caves. Later, red sands and clays filled in some of these open spaces. Any spaces that weren't filled got coated with shiny crystals called dogtooth spar. Over millions of years, more layers of rock formed on top.

Later, during a period of mountain building called the Laramide Orogeny, the land lifted up. This caused the water level to drop, draining the cave system and making it even bigger. Today, the water level is about 490 feet (150 meters) below the surface.

Unique Cave Formations

Wind Cave is famous for its unique formations:

Boxwork: This is a type of calcite formation that looks like a honeycomb or a maze of thin fins. It was first discovered here! These fins were once cracks filled with gypsum and anhydrite. Over time, the surrounding rock wore away faster than the calcite, leaving these amazing box-like structures sticking out.
Frostwork and Cave Popcorn: In the lower parts of the cave, you can see boxwork mixed with delicate, needle-like frostwork and bumpy cave popcorn formations.
Helictite Bushes: These twisted, gravity-defying formations were also first found in Wind Cave.
Moonmilk and Calcite Rafts: You might also spot soft, white moonmilk on many surfaces and thin, floating calcite rafts on water in the lower cave levels.