WIND CAVE NATIONAL PARK, S.D. — The wait for park rangers, who have been out of Wind Cave Tours for nearly two years, is about to end.
“It’s a lot of fun to be back in the cave,” said Tom Farrell, the Chief of Interpretation for Wind Cave National Park.
Wind Cave was vacant for many months as the COVID-19 pandemic put tours at the park on hold for a while, but that wait is coming to an end on Saturday.
It’s been about 21 months since park rangers have been able to give tours of the cave, but after all that time, new CDC guidelines, safety measures – and repairs to the elevators – it’s good to be back.
For those looking to visit the cave, you must arrive at the Visitor Center early.
Tours of the seventh largest cave in the world will start at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. daily until more tours are available in mid-May. Masks are required and tour sizes are at half capacity, but that isn’t discouraging park rangers.
“With a smaller group, there’s more interactions between the ranger leading the tour and the visitors themselves; it’s probably a little bit quieter too but we’re just excited to be back in the cave because we’ve been out for so long, it’s just nice to be back down there,” Farrell said.
Cave visitors will also be asked to walk on a mat filled with hydrogen peroxide to help kill any white-nose syndrome bacteria that can kill the bat population.
“We don’t want to spread it out to other areas,” Farrell said.
Resuming a cave exploration that’s been surely missed.
Looking for more news and information? NewsCenter1 Media Group has you covered go to NC1.TV today for all of your Western South Dakota and Wyoming news today.
