Wind Cave National Park
| Wind Cave National Park | |
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IUCN Category II (National Park)
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| Location | Custer County, South Dakota, USA |
| Nearest city | Hot Springs, South Dakota |
| Coordinates | 43°33′23″N 103°28′43″W / 43.55635°N 103.47865°WCoordinates: 43°33′23″N 103°28′43″W / 43.55635°N 103.47865°W |
| Area | 28,291 acres (11,449 ha)[1] |
| Established | January 9, 1903 |
| Visitors | 577,141 (in 2010)[2] |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
Wind Cave National Park is a United States national park 10 miles (16 km) north of the town of Hot Springs in western South Dakota. Established in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt, it was the seventh U.S. National Park and the first cave to be designated a national park anywhere in the world. The cave is notable for its displays of the calcite formation known as boxwork. Approximately 95 percent of the world's discovered boxwork formations are found in Wind Cave. Wind Cave is also known for its frostwork. The cave is also considered a three-dimensional maze cave, recognized as the densest (most passage volume per mi³) cave system in the world. The cave is currently the fifth-longest in the world with 137.02 miles (220.51 km) of explored cave passageways,[3] with an average of four new miles of cave being discovered each year.[citation needed] Above ground, the park includes the largest remaining natural mixed-grass prairie in the United States.
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[edit] Early discovery and exploration
The Lakota (Sioux), Indigenous People who live in the Black Hills of South Dakota, spoke of a hole that blew air, a place they consider sacred as the site where The Lakota first emerged from the underworld where they lived before the demiurge creation of the world.
The first documented discovery of the cave by early explorers was in 1881 by brothers Tom and Jesse Bingham. They heard a sound of wind rushing out from a 10-inch (25 cm) by 14-inch (36 cm) hole in the ground. According to the story, when Tom looked down into the hole, the wind was blowing out so hard that it blew his hat off of his head.[4]
The wind they heard and felt explains the cave's name. The wind moves depending on atmospheric pressure on the surface and inside the cave. When the pressure is higher outside than inside the cave, wind rushes into the entrances; when pressure is higher inside the cave, the wind barrels out of the entrances.[4]
Since the re-discovery of the cave in 1881 by explorers, few people ventured more than a few feet (meters) into Wind Cave, but it wasn't until the early 1890s, when a 16 year old boy named Alvin McDonald began exploring, that Wind Cave was discovered to extend beyond the original hole.
Alvin McDonald's father, J.D. McDonald, was employed by the South Dakota Mining Company to find gold in the cave, but was ultimately unsuccessful. Instead, an opportunity was discovered to send tours into the cave. These early tours explored the cave by candlelight and by crawling through some sometimes narrow passageways.
Like the nearby Jewel Cave National Monument, currently the second longest cave, Herb and Jan Conn played an important role in cave exploration during the 1960s.
[edit] Surface resources
Wind Cave National Park protects a diverse ecosystem with eastern and western plant and animal species. Some of the more visible animals include elk (also called wapiti), bison, black-footed ferrets, pronghorn antelope and prairie dogs. The Wind Cave Bison Herd is one of only four free-roaming and genetically pure herds on public lands in North America. The other three herds are the Yellowstone Park Bison Herd, the Henry Mountains Bison Herd in Utah and on Elk Island in Alberta, Canada. The Wind Cave Bison Herd is currently brucellosis-free.[4]
Several roads run through the park and there are 30 miles (48 km) of hiking trails, so almost the entire park is accessible. The park had an estimated 577,141 visitors in 2010.[2]
The Wind Cave Visitor Center features three exhibit rooms about the geology of the caves and early cave history, the park's wildlife and natural history, and the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps in the park. The 18-minute movie "Wind Cave: One Park, Two Worlds" is shown throughout the day, and slide and video programs are also shown. The center is open year round except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. All cave tours leave from the visitor center.
Elk Mountain Campground, located in a ponderosa pine forest, is about 1.25 miles (2.01 km) from the visitor center. There are 75 sites for tents and recreational vehicles. It is open year round with campfire programs offered in the summer and limited services available in the winter.[4]
[edit] See also
- Wind Cave Bison Herd
- Jewel Cave National Monument
- Lehman Caves
- Mammoth Cave National Park
- Oregon Caves National Monument
- Russell Cave National Monument
- Timpanogos Cave National Monument
[edit] References
- ^ "Listing of acreage as of 12/31/2010". Public Use Statistic Office, National Park Service. http://www.nature.nps.gov/stats/Acreage/acrebypark10cy.pdf. Retrieved 2011-07-04.
- ^ a b "Five Year Annual Recreation Visits Report". Public Use Statistic Office, National Park Service. http://www.nature.nps.gov/stats/viewReport.cfm?selectedReport=SystemComparisonReport.cfm. Retrieved 2011-07-04.
- ^ Bob Gulden (February 18, 2012). "Worlds longest caves". Geo2 Committee on Long and Deep Caves. National Speleological Society (NSS). http://www.caverbob.com/wlong.htm. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
- ^ a b c d Wind Cave brochure, National Park Service, GPO, WDC
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wind Cave National Park |
- "Wind Cave National Park". National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/wica. Retrieved 2011-07-04.
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