Above · 33,851 acres of prairie and ponderosa pine
Wind Cave is two parks.
We help care for both.
Below · 167 miles of mapped cave
Park budgets cover the essentials. We fund what they can’t: ranch roads on the prairie, survey gear underground, and a digital tour that brings the cave up top.
Get involved
Four ways to be a Friend
Membership starts at $20 a year. Pick the way that fits you.
Join
From $20 a year
Single, family, supporting, business and lifetime memberships. Join online.
Youth
Bring the kids
Junior Ranger days, bluebird box workshops and youth projects.
Give big
The 1903 Society
Gifts of $1,000 to $5,000, named for the year the park was created. Legacy gifts from $5,000.
Friends news
Today at the park
- The park: open 24 hours today
- Wind Cave Visitor Center: open 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM today (Late Fall, Winter and Early Spring Hours)
Park alerts
- Information Natural Entrance Tour Route Closes For Season October 1, 2026
- Information Centennial Trailhead Parking
Ranger programs
- November 17, 09:00 AM: National Take A Hike Day
From the National Park Service, updated every 2 hours. Hours and seasons · Cave tours and tickets · Alerts and conditions
Park news (National Park Service)
Get Friends news by email
Work days, events and park projects.
Above ground
Ranch roads, and a cave brought up top
The 5,555-acre Sanson Ranch addition holds a late-1800s ranch, and Road 266 now leads to it. The Lidar virtual cave tour we helped fund brings the cave to the surface in the park visitor center.
Phase 1 complete
Road 266 to the historic Sanson Ranch
We supplied the gravel, riprap and culverts. The National Guard did the work on about a mile of road.
Complete · the cave, brought up top
Lidar digital tour of the cave
We helped fund the Lidar virtual cave tour now shown in the park visitor center, with the Park Service’s Midwest Region Accessibility Program and the Black Hills Parks & Forests Association.
Below ground
Mapping a cave that keeps getting longer
Survey teams add new passage every year. We buy the gear they need to keep going.
Watch
Take a tour of Wind Cave
South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s Dakota Life visits the park, above ground and below. Two more videos show cavers exploring and surveying the cave.
Help lead the Friends
The next chapter needs new hands
We’re looking for new board members, and for the next generation of members and volunteers who’ll take this group into its next 20 years.
Join the board
[N] open seats · meets [HOW OFTEN] · [TERM LENGTH] terms. Skills we need: [e.g. grants, finance, events, web].
Start here, lead later
Come to a work day, take on one project, and grow into a leadership role with us.