The Visitor Center At Wind Cave National Park

Wind Cave National Park only has one visitor center, but it’s a hub of activity for the park.

The visitor center is open daily except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Days. Their hours are 8 AM – 4:30 PM with extended hours in the spring, summer, and fall. You can call the center to confirm their current hours.

The visitor center is where you must go to purchase tickets for all the cave tours in the park. All cave tours are ranger-led only and they begin and end at the visitor center. Advanced reservations are available for a very limited number of tours, but most tour tickets are sold on a first-come, first-serve basis.

 

You must purchase tickets the day of the tour at the visitor center. During the spring, summer, and fall seasons many cave tours sell out in 1-2 hours in advance so plan on heading into the park early to purchase tickets. We got there about 30 minutes before the visitor center opened to purchase our tickets to the Fairgrounds Tour (which we really enjoyed).

If you don’t get a ticket for the time you want there are still plenty of other things to do while your waiting for the next tour. The Prairie Vista Loop trail is only 1 mile long and begins at the visitor center. The Elk Mountain Interactive Nature Trail is an easy 1 mile loop located just minutes from the visitor center.

 

The park has plenty of other hikes if you have a longer wait as well. We enjoyed the Rankin Ridge Interpretive Trail which is a one mile loop and takes you to a fire tower and the highest point in the park.

If hiking isn’t your thing, there is plenty to do in the visitor center itself. There are multiple exhibit rooms ready to be explored inside. Wander around the exhibits to learn about Wind Cave and the prairie that surround it.

 

Displays in the upper exhibit room discuss the local native people, bison, other wildlife in the area and the prairie. The cave exhibit room is all about Wind Cave itself from how it was formed to the history surrounding it.

If you still have time to kill after checking out all the visitor center displays head on over to the auditorium that shows the park film, One Park, Two Worlds. 

A gift shop is located inside the building full of all the souvenirs you may want to purchase to remember your visit to the park. Passport stamps can also found in the bookstore.

 

An information desk is located to the left right when you walk inside the center. Rangers are there to answer any questions you may have about the park and provide maps and brochures for tours and hikes. Junior Ranger booklets and badges for your little ones may be picked up here as well.

Restrooms, trashcans and water are also available at the visitor center. There is a nice size parking lot able to fit any size vehicle. There are plenty of spots to sit outside as well to hop on Wi-Fi while you wait for your cave tour to begin.

 

The visitor center at Wind Cave National Park is very nice and a great introduction to the park. Purchase tickets, talk to rangers and just soak up all the information on the park you can with their many great exhibits.

 

I also threw in a bunch of prairie dog pictures at the end of this post, because well I took them while we were visiting and they were cute and I didn’t have anywhere else to post them.