One Of The America's Oldest National Parks Is A Midwest Gem With Unparalleled Cave Adventures

A herd of bison grazing on the prairie. A hiking trail stretching between the walls of a canyon. A candlelit descent into a vast network of cave tunnels that almost seems to breathe. This is South Dakota's Wind Cave National Park. While the landscape, hiking trails, and wildlife watching opportunities above ground are well worth a visit, this is a fantastic national park for underground adventures. Most travel here to see the park's namesake: Wind Cave. Not only are there unpredictable winds flowing through the cave, the tunnel walls' unique rock formations are captivating. This place has been a source of fascination for human beings for a long time. According to a Lakota oral history, it's is an entrance to the spirit lodge, where the first people emerged into the world we know.

The cave is only safe to explore on a tour with a park ranger — but fortunately that's easy to arrange. Wind Cave is one of the National Parks you can get into for free any day of the year, though if you want to go down into the famous caves, you'll need to sign up for a paid tour at the visitor center (or better yet, book in advance to reserve your spot through recreation.gov). Luckily, these tours aren't too expensive. Depending on what part of the tunnel system you want to see and what kind of tour experience you're looking for, you can expect to pay between $14 and $45 per adult visitor.

When you picture cave walls, you probably imagine smooth stone, maybe with stalactites and stalagmites. Wind Cave is different. It is known for a kind of jagged honeycomb pattern known as boxwork, but throughout the caves, you'll find all kinds of fascinating rock formations like frostwork and popcorn — and there's a lot of cave to explore. Wind Cave is among the longest known cave systems in the world, but unlike most massive caves, it isn't spread out over a long distance. Instead, it descends deep down into the earth. As Chief of Interpretation at Wind Cave National Park Tom Farrell explained to USA Today, "We've got 167 miles of cave crammed under 1.2 square miles on the surface."

If you're interested in seeing interesting rock formations, your best bet may be the quick Garden of Eden tour, which takes you to some of the most striking parts of the cave without making you do too much legwork. To experience the remarkable winds that blow through the tunnels, making them seem to breathe, you should try the Natural Entrance tour. For an almost otherworldly journey down into the dark, consider a tour lit only by candlelight. If you really can't get enough of exploring Wind Cave, you should book the four-hour, adults-only Wild Cave Tour, during which you'll have to crawl and climb after your park ranger guide, decked out in helmets and knee pads.

As fascinating as the journey down into Wind Cave is, don't overlook the parts of this park that exist above the ground. This is a fantastic national park to avoid crowds and admire wildlife. Although Wind Cave is among the smallest national parks, there is plenty of wildlife to admire along the park trails. If you head to the Bison Flats area of the park, you'll actually find animals hard to avoid. Bison herds are a common sight here, and in some cases, there may be so many that they block your way as you try to safely drive or hike through the park. If you're up for a hard, steep route, try the East Bison Flats Trail for a view of the entire prairie below to see the herds from above.

The meadows and prairies of this national park are exceptionally beautiful, and while many national park trails are only for experienced hikers, at Wind Cave, there are routes for people with a wide range of hiking abilities. If you come to Wind Cave in the springtime, you'll get to see the park bursting with wildflowers, but if you explore the Elk Mountain in the fall for an easy forest walk around sunset, you might get to enjoy the calls of elk. If you're up for a challenge, consider taking the Sanctuary Trail to the Highland Creek Trail, which will take you right through a prairie dog town.