Is Wind Cave Open Year-Round? Weather, Hours, and Closures

Wind Cave is one of the most unique national parks in America —there’s nothing quite like the rare boxwork formation you’ll find here! You can visit Wind Cave year-round, but if you’re looking to tour the cave, you’ll need to visit the park during specific hours.

Activities on the surface of Wind Cave are available 365 days per year, 24 hours per day. Cave tours are only offered at set times, and tickets are required. Cave tours run every day except on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.

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My name is Ash, and I’m a former park ranger. I’m here to make sure you don’t miss out on anything during your trip to South Dakota, including a tour through Wind Cave!

I’ve got a lot of information for you about visiting Wind Cave year-round, including the hours, closures, and weather you can expect while you’re here.

Is Wind Cave National Park Open Year-Round?

The surface of Wind Cave National Park is open 365 days per year, 24 hours per day. This means that if you want to go wildlife watching before sunrise, you will be able to get in, and if you want to go stargazing at midnight, you’ll be able to get out.

Getting into the cave is another story! If you want to actually tour through Wind Cave itself, you’ll need to take a guided tour. These tours are offered year-round but only during specific times of the day.

Things you’ll want to consider before you visit Wind Cave National Park are:

• The visitor center has limited hours, and cave tours only run during these hours
• The campground doesn’t always have running water
• The roads through the park may close due to snow or ice
• Trails may be closed due to construction or unsafe conditions

Closures of this nature are common year-round, so let’s discuss what may be closed even if the park itself is open.

Operating Hours for Wind Cave National Park

Wind Cave Guided Tours

Although the surface of Wind Cave National Park is beautiful, there is really only one reason to visit this national park — to see the cave!

Wind Cave is covered in a rare formation called boxwork, which you likely will not see in such large quantities in any other cave. This alone makes a tour through the cave a must-do.

Guided tours are required to see the cave, so you’ll need to purchase a tour ticket. I recommend trying to purchase your ticket in advance on recreation.gov. If everything is sold out on recreation.gov, you can still purchase your tour ticket at the visitor on the day of.

Cave tours are offered throughout the day, typically sometime between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. The schedule changes depending on the season — you can view the current cave tour schedule here.

Cave tours do not run on Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year’s Day, but they run every other day of the year as long as the elevators aren’t broken. The elevators do break down sometimes :(

Wind Cave Visitor Center Hours

Wind Cave National Park has one visitor center, and it is open year-round except on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Open hours are typically from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., but you can see the current schedule here.

You’ll want to make your way to the visitor center at one point or another because that’s where you’ll book all the park’s guided tours. You can book a tour online too, but you’ll still need to swing by the visitor center to catch your tour.

You can also go to the visitor center to get information about anything else the park offers, like hiking trails, backcountry camping, and more.

Wind Cave Entrance Station Hours

Wind Cave National Park doesn’t have entrance stations — this park actually doesn’t collect entrance fees! You can enter the park and explore at any time, as long as the roads aren’t closed due to inclement weather.

The park doesn’t collect entrance fees because you do have to purchase a ticket if you want to tour the cave. You can see the current cave tour prices here.

Common Closures in Wind Cave National Park

Wind Cave Campground Closures

Wind Cave has one in-park campground, the Elk Mountain Campground. This campground is open year-round, but the running water is usually turned off from October-May.

To find out more about making a reservation at this campground and what to expect, you can learn all about camping in Wind Cave National Park here.

Common Road Closures in Wind Cave

Like everything else in this park, all park roads are open year-round but can close temporarily during inclement weather, especially during the winter.

Backcountry roads (NPS 5 and 6) are especially susceptible to these closures because they aren’t paved — they get muddy and slippery after rain and snowstorms. The park doesn’t maintain these roads during the winter.

Road closures due to weather normally don’t last more than a few days. Be sure to check the current conditions before you drive to the park for the day.

Common Trail Closures in Wind Cave

Wind Cave is famous for its cave tours, but there are many fantastic hiking trails around the park that you don’t have to pay for in order to access.

Luckily, all of the park’s hiking trails are available year-round too! However, just like the park roads, trails might close after rain or snowstorms.

Bison and elk commonly roam around the surface trails of Wind Cave, so be sure to keep a safe distance from the animals. Sometimes the park will close hiking trails in order to protect the wildlife, so be sure to stop by the visitor center or check the current conditions to make sure your favorite trail is open!

What is the Weather Like in Wind Cave National Park?

Even though Wind Cave is open year-round, weather patterns can be different each day, even during the same season. If you plan on spending most of your time touring the cave, the weather won’t matter much — the cave stays 54 degrees year-round. But if you plan on exploring the surface, you’ll want to keep the weather in mind.

Take a look at the average highs and lows (in degrees Fahrenheit) and precipitation levels (in inches) at Wind Cave National Park:

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg High (F)	37	42	50	61	71	81	89	88	78	66	50	40
Avg Low (F)	11	15	21	32	42	51	57	55	45	34	23	14
Avg Snow (“)	6.6	5.9	7.4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6
Avg Rain (“)	0.4	0.6	0.9	1.8	2.9	3	2.3	1.8	1.2	1	0.5	0.5

Winter in Wind Cave

Wind Cave is a lot slower in the winter than in the other seasons. Although most activities and roads throughout the park are open year-round, winter snowstorms can cause temporary closures.

However, winter is still a great time to visit because crowd levels are low, cave tours are available, and the whole landscape is covered in beautiful snow!

Spring in Wind Cave

Visitation at Wind Cave starts to increase in the spring; the park’s wildlife starts to roam around more frequently, crowd levels are a bit higher, and the temperatures warm up.

Spring rainstorms can cause muddy conditions and may prompt temporary road and trail closures, but otherwise, you can expect the roads, hiking trails, and other activities to be open for the season. The weather is much more comfortable during spring than the winter, but the park still hasn’t reached its summer peaks in temperature and crowd levels, making this a great time to visit the park!

Summer in Wind Cave

Summer is the high season in the park, which means that everything is open and operating on extended hours. It’s extremely crowded and busy at this time, and temperatures are usually in the high 80s or 90s.

If you’re visiting in the summer, expect to be hot on the surface and cool in the cave. You’ll still want to bring a jacket on your cave tour!

Autumn in Wind Cave

Fall in Wind Cave is one of the best times to visit, as everything is open, and there are even some unique opportunities like wildlife viewing—certain animals, like the local elk, are especially active during these months. The temperatures aren’t too hot or cold, crowd levels start to drop off, and of course, cave tours are still up and running!

The park usually doesn’t get any snow during the fall and only gets a little bit of rain, so closures are rare (although there still might be a couple of rainy days).

So now you may be asking yourself, when is the best time to visit Wind Cave?

There are a lot of variables to think about when planning your trip to the park. Click here to see my specific recommendations for the best times to visit Wind Cave.

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