Natural Entrance Tour of Wind Cave

Got up early to stand in line for tickets to the guided cave tour at Wind Cave National Parks. This was one of the main attractions recommended by earthtrekkers.com. Advanced timed ticket ($8 for seniors) were sold out at recreation.gov, the Park reserves 50% of the tickets for same day purchases. One has to be there 30 minutes before the Visitor Center opens as tickets tend to go fast. I was there an hour early but there was already a line. Chatting with the folks in line made the waiting go faster; I enjoyed hearing where they were from and where they have been.

Above: wait area for the tour group to gather at the start

Original natural entrance to the cave, we could hear and feel the wind at the small entrance. We went down the cave through another entrance, down some stairs.

Boxwork on the ceiling of the cave and other formations...

The tour was short and not very exciting. We came back up through an elevator.

Wind Cave National Park, SD

Running out of time trying to catch up documenting my adventures. From here on, I may just put captions on photos to remember where I was and what happened!

Drove to the Wind Cave National Park for tickets for the cave tour in the afternoon (see next post). Wanted to hike where I can see wildlife; the park ranger recommended a couple of trails; decided on Cold Brook Canyon Trail.

Met a fellow hiker at the start of the trail. He's from New Zealand but touring the US, we chatted a bit but he was a fast hiker and went ahead. Encountered at least two prairie dog towns ...

This prairie dog was making loud chirping noises to warn others of the stranger walking in their territory ...

A solitary bison, a good distance from the trail ...

with droppings and hoof prints marking where it (or other bison) had been ...

After the hike, I parked at a pull-out off the main road to heat up some lunch. There was a herd of bison on the hillside--what a view. Other vehicles also stopped to take photos.

Why did the bison cross the road?

To check out that human eating in her RV! The above photos were taken from the driver seat. I quickly closed my windows before the curious bison decided to stick their head inside. That was quite the experience!

Note: I stayed at the Elk Mountain Campground just outside of the Wind Cave National Park. It's very affordable: with the senior pass, it was just $12 a night. No electric but there was water nearby and decent bathrooms (no showers). The big negative was the lack of cell coverage, this was true for most of the area. I ended up parking my RV outside the Wind Cave National Park Visitor Center to use their wifi. They had spacious lots designated for RVs.

Mt Rushmore National Memorial, SD

Could not pass up visiting Mt Rushmore while I was in the area. The drive through the Black Hills, while scenic, was rather steep and curvy. The day was also getting hotter. As I got closer to Mount Rushmore, the sculpture of the four presidents became visible.

This place was clearly designed for a large number of visitors judging from the parking areas, operated by a conssessionaire. While admission to the Memorial was free, it cost $10 to park. I was directed to a parking area for small RVs. From there it was a short walk to the Memorial itself.

It was around lunch time and I was hungry. Decided to have a bite at the Carvers' Cafe. They had outside seating with great views of the mountain but because of the heat, I opted to sit inside. The tall windows offered filtered views of the sculpture. The food was typical fast food, I had a bowl of chili which was actually quite good.

After lunch, I wandered around the park, saw the outdoor amphitheater, and found the visitor center that was located further in and a level down from the main walkway. It was worth spending time at the Lincoln Borglum Visitor Center (Borglum was the scupltor who oversaw the construction of the Memorial). Exhibits covered the history of the Memorial, how the sculpture was constructed. There was a movie but I did not have time to watch it as I wanted to visit the Sculptor's Studio.

I hiked the Presidental Trail, a one mile loop paved trail with a lot stairs up and down. The trail took me to the base of Mount Rushmore; I could see a few people off on an unpaved rocky trail that got them closer on the mountain. I continued on through areas of ponderosa pines and caught views of the sculpture from different perspectives.

I found the Sculptor's Studio and sat in on the last half of a ranger presentation on how Borghum made and modified the scaled down models to carve the mountain, as well as the lives of the workers who did the carving.

I spent more time at Mt Rushmore than anticipated, it was that interesting! Did not stop at turnouts to check out wildlife on the way to Elk Mountain Campground near Wind Cave National Park since I did not want to arrive at the campground in the dark.

Sunrise in the Badlands, SD

Woke up at 5 am this morning in order to catch the sun rise over the Badlands from the rim. The views were well worth getting up early!

Left the rim early, to start the drive towards Wind Cave National Park, with a planned stop at Mt. Rushmore along the way. Encountered these other early risers at the junction where the dirt road met Highway 240!

Badlands National Park, SD

We spent the whole day in the Badlands National Park.

But before leaving Wall early morning, I checked out the National Grasslands Visitor Center there to learn about grasslands habitats and watched an interesting documentary on the black footed ferret. The species was almost extinct; a small group of ferrets was discovered and re-introduced to the Badlands area. These cute looking animals are now self sustaining but the population is small and they are still endangered.

Black footed ferrets' eat mostly prairie dogs, which appeared to be abundunt in the Badlands. We saw many prairie dog hills on the grasslands as we drove towards the Badlands NP. We got up close and personal with a few during a stop at a visitor center. These look like they were used to human visitors as they came close to us. There were even a couple of albino prairie dogs.

The Badlands landscape was amazing. We stopped at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center where I had my National Parks passport stamped, got a map and looked at the exhibits. It was rather crowded at the Center. We drove the scenic loop road (Highway 240), stopped at overlooks and hiked a few trails. And of course, took a lot of photos.

Late afternoon, we made our way to the Wall rim located just outside the national park, and found dispersed camping (on marked sites) on the rim. It was a great location to watch the sun set over the Badlands.