Rangers at Wind Cave National Park will be offering virtual tours of the Natural Entrance route this fall along with programs to listen for the bugle of the Rocky Mountain elk.
“The project to replace the Wind Cave elevators is proceeding very well with completion expected in early December,” said Acting Park Superintendent Rhonda Schier. “In the meantime staff are offering virtual tours of the cave with a visual experience in the visitor center auditorium. These programs are excellent opportunities to see cave formations like boxwork and frostwork, learn about geology, and experience the tour route while the elevators are being modernized.”
The virtual tour was developed using Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging program) technology. Lidar uses lasers to determine the range to objects. In this case, operators took 239 scans with 4.6 billion measurements along the tour route over four weeks in 2020 and 2021 to develop a realistic representation of the cave.
Rangers will lead virtual tours at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. Funding for the Lidar project came from the National Park Service Midwest Region Accessibility Program. Funding also came from the Black Hills Parks and Forests Association and the Friends of Wind Cave National Park who are non-profit partners of the park.
Park staff are also offering programs to listen for the high-pitched whistle of the rocky mountain elk that heralds the arrival of fall and the elk’s mating season.
Beginning Wednesday, September 11, rangers will give a brief interpretive program about elk before leading a caravan to a nearby pullout to listen for them. These one-hour programs are offered Monday, Wednesday and Saturday evenings through Monday, September 30. Participants meet at the Wind Cave visitor center front lawn at 7 p.m. and are encouraged to bring a flashlight, a camp chair or blanket to sit on, and to dress warmly.
The park visitor center will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through September 28. Beginning Sunday, September 29, the visitor center will close at 4:30 p.m. For more information, visit the park’s website at nps.gov/wica or call (605) 745-4600.