Best trails in Wind Cave National Park
Wind Cave National Park is one of America's oldest national parks, located in the southwestern corner of South Dakota. The park is known for its massive underground Wind Cave, filled with formations called boxwork and frostwork. The park also features vast prairies and pine forests rich in wildlife such as bison, elk, and pronghorn antelopes.
Top trails
Visitor info
There are no entrance fees to enjoy the trails, scenic drives, and visitor center at Wind Cave National Park. All cave tours have associated fees and are not covered by the Federal Interagency Passes. Campground fees may be reduced by Senior and Access Interagency Pass holders.
There are no fees to drive through or hike in the park. Fees are only charged for cave tours.
Join millions of people who enjoy our National Parks with the "America the Beautiful" National Park & Federal Recreational Lands Pass, otherwise known as the Interagency Annual Pass. The pass is valid for a year's worth of visits from the month of purchase at more than 2,000 federal recreation sites across the country.
Wind Cave National Park does not charge an entrance fee, but the Interagency Access Pass allows pass holders to receive a 50% discount on other park amenities, such as camping.
The Visitor Center is accessible to visitors using mobility equipment or strollers and has wheelchair accessible restrooms. Orientation films include closed captioning.
Ranger-led cave tours have a wheelchair accessible option, and ASL interpreters are available by reservation. Please contact the park at least 2 weeks in advance to make a reservation for interpretation services.
Additional information about accessibility at Wind Cave National Park can be found on their website: https://www.nps.gov/wica/planyourvisit/accessibility.htm.
The Visitor Center is accessible to visitors using mobility equipment or strollers and has wheelchair accessible restrooms. Orientation films include closed captioning.
The Picnic Area north of the visitor center is wheelchair accessible with packed, level paths and surfaces.
The campground has 2 individual wheelchair accessible camping sites (B2 and D3).
Service animals must be on-leash throughout the park.
Trail reviews for Wind Cave National Park
Beautiful evening hike in Wind Cave National Park. Mixed grass prairie, rolling hills, and wildflowers made for a delightful time.
Super easy hike in the elk mountain campground in wind cave national park. Dog friendly and fenced off so no bison encounters. Great early evening way to get in your steps with fresh air and good views.
A very well marked trail in Wind Cave National Park. A couple of ascends and descends to mix it up, including a couple miles across a prairie dog filled wide open plain. Not much for tree coverage so I suggest doing this in late fall or spring/early summer. Bring water!
- easy parking on gravel road - gravel packed sand one way and bigger rocks the other way - amazing views overall of entire Wind Cave National Park
Great easy trail that leads through a prairie dog field. We saw tons of prairie dogs, a grouse, and a buffalo on our short 1-hour hike. We had the trail mostly to ourselves which was a great way to connect to the sacred land at Wind Cave.
Beautiful loop, I recommend starting the trail from the lookout side of the trail and end on cascade, there are so many prairie dogs, a few bison, a nice creek, not a very strenuous hike just a nice long length. Definitely recommended if you’re gonna pick one hike in wind cave park.