News from the Friends
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Wind Cave reaches 167 miles of known passage
Wind Cave keeps getting longer. The National Park Service now counts 167 miles of known cave passage, as of 2024. Survey teams add new passage every year. The survey reached 100 miles in 2001, and the park celebrated the 150th mile in 2019. The Friends of Wind Cave National Park have helped that work: we…
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Theodore Roosevelt returns to Wind Cave, thanks to Friends members
Two summers in a row, the Friends of Wind Cave National Park have sponsored a Theodore Roosevelt program at the park, bringing back the president who signed Wind Cave into being in 1903. On July 5, 2025, Roosevelt portrayer Gib Young performed at the park. On August 27, 2026, Kurt Skinner brought the 26th president…
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Cave tours are back after the elevator rebuild
Cave tours at Wind Cave National Park are running again. Tours resumed on January 28, 2025, after a year-long project to replace and modernize the cave’s elevator system, the National Park Service reports. Both elevator cabs were replaced, the shaft was improved and a new lift system was installed. A transformer problem stopped tours again…
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Eric Gabriel is Wind Cave National Park’s superintendent
Eric Gabriel is the superintendent of Wind Cave National Park. National Park Service news releases have named him superintendent since September 2025, and he approved the park’s current rules, the Superintendent’s Compendium, on May 25, 2026. The superintendent leads the park’s staff and its work on the prairie and in the cave. When the park…
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Projects and Dreams
PROJECTS & DREAMS Friends of Wind Cave National Park (FOWC) will apply incoming revenues, unless specifically designated for other projects, to the improvement and preservation of the recently acquired Sanson Ranch addition and for the upgrading of exhibits at the park visitor center. The most recent project funded in part by donations received by FOWC…
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Sanson Ranch Introduced to the Public
Friends of Wind Cave National Park hosted the Sanson Ranch Celebration on July 7, 2012. The event provided participants the chance to experience the newest addition to Wind Cave National Park, the 5556 acre acquisiton of the Sanson Ranch. Park personnel were on hand at the homestead era ranch to share various alternatives (still under…
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Friends and Supporters
Dear Friends and Supporters, Thank you for your keen interest in Wind Cave National Park, a small and oft-time overlooked treasure of this Nation’s National Park system. Please check out our Membership page. Friends of Wind Cave National Park, authorized as a 501-c-3 charitable non-profit organization, can legally function as the conduit for public support of the…
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Leigh Welling, Superintendent of Wind Cave National Park
Update, November 2026: Leigh Welling retired from the National Park Service on June 29, 2024. Wind Cave National Park’s superintendent is now Eric Gabriel. Read more. Wind Cave Superintendent Leigh Welling Superintendent of Wind Cave National Park After a twenty-one and a half-year career with the National Park Service, three and a half of those…
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Most photographed cave in the country?
The Most-Photographed Cave In The Country Is Right Here In South Dakota By Annie|Published February 16, 2021 If you have ever had the pleasure of visiting South Dakota’s Wind Cave, you know that it is a must-see with its many intricate boxworks, passages, and rooms, making it a favorite for professional and novice photographers alike. Can…
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National Speleological Society
The National Speleological Society promotes safe and responsible caving practices, effective cave and karst management, speleology, and conservation. Members are bound together by their love of caves and caving and their desire to learn about the underground wilderness and protect it for future generations. NSS membership offers worldwide caver camaraderie and networking opportunities and access…
News from the park
- Celebrate National Take a Hike Day at Wind Cave National Park
- Elk Bugling Programs and Cave Tours Offered This Fall at Wind Cave National Park
- Theodore Roosevelt Actor Visits Wind Cave National Park
- Three Bats Test Positive for Rabies at Wind Cave National Park
- Wind Cave National Park Plans Temporary Road and Trail Dlosures During Improvement Projects
- Prescribed Fire Planned This Fall at Wind Cave National Park
All Wind Cave National Park news releases (National Park Service)