If you’ve any plans to see South Dakota’s Wind Cave National Park, readjust your hard hat and listen up. Wind Cave tours will shut down May 1 and not reopen until the park’s elevator system is replaced.
Wind Cave tours courtesy CCC workers
Each year, 130,000 visitors take the elevators down into the third-longest cave in the U.S. Initially visitors had a tough slog, as there was no elevator system until the 1930s. In that decade, Civilian Conservation Corps workers built the elevators, and staircases as well. The latter must have been quite a sight, as workers carried tire innertubes filled with concrete to where it was needed. It was a 9-year project to get it done.
The original CCC-built elevator system has never been rebuilt, but was cobbled together over the years. Some original parts of the system are still in use. As it has aged, the system has become cantankerous. In 2016, elevator problems forced visitors to use the cave’s Walk-in Entrance. Wind Cave tours were limited, allowing views only as far as the Post Office Room. That meant going down—and climbing back up—155 steps. It was a trip equivalent to taking the stairs down and up in a 15-story building. In 2019, the cranky elevator system completely shut down tours because of mechanical problems.
Still reasons to visit the park
On May 1, it’s “out with the old, in with the new.” Wind Cave tours will cease on that date. Still, “We’re excited to finally be able to completely rebuild the old elevators, including replacement of the cabs, motors, cables, and electrical equipment,” said Park Superintendent Leigh Welling. “We appreciate everyone’s patience while we improve access to the cave and remind you that there are still many things to do at the park.”
While guests won’t be able to go into the cave itself, Welling says there will be “Ranger-led talks and hikes. We have new exhibits being installed in the visitor center this spring that include several interactive stations, a walk-through cave, and a prairie diorama. These exhibits are truly beautiful and tell a more current and accurate story of this land.”
Wind Cave tours should resume this fall, if all goes well with the elevator “remove and replace” project.
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Thank you, Russ and Tina! 🙂 This sounds like a fascinating place. Thank you for highlighting even though their elevator will not be working for a while. 🙂 Safe travels! 🙂
We visited the Caves many years ago. It’s well worth it if in the area doing Custer SP and those dudes carved up on the side of the mountain.
They made our country great!..Devil’s Tower too!..Nice campground.
Hope that;s not too political…..(;+)………………….
An elevator that old definitely needs to be replaced. I doubt that it had the continuous oversight nor the mechanical quality that other old elevators have enjoyed, such as the famous Empire State Building that has very active elevators.
155 steps ? What is the vertical distance? Im guessing around 75 ft. That short distance is probably why it’s lasted so long