Wind+Cave+National+Park

By chance B.

One of the world's longest caves is concealed beneath a rolling prairie of black hills.

** Location/size/distance **
Wind Cave is located in South Dakota. The size of the park is 28,295 acres. The distance from Wind cave to Oskaloosa IA. is 748.97 miles.

Park hours
Wind Cave is open year round. The visitor center is open daily, but not for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Years Day.

Climate
In winter the high is 35.6ºF and the low is 10.7ºF with average precipitation of 6.0in. and average snowfall of 1.8in.In spring the high is 57.9ºF and the low is 32.2ºF with average precipitation of 9.3in. and average snowfall of 2.0in.In summer the high is 77.8ºF and the low is 58.2ºF with average precipitation of 12.4in. with no snowfall. In fall the high is 62.5ºF and the low is 34.9ºF with average precipitation of 5.1in. and 0.4in. of average snowfall.



History
The first recorded discovery of wind cave was in 1881 by Tom and Jessie Bingham who were interested by the cave's whistleing noise. In 1890 The South Dakota mining company establshed a claim at wind cave, J.D McDonald was hired to manage the claim. The mining wasn't successful, so J.D started making money on cave tours and by selling cave formations. J.D's son Alvin spent lots of time going through and making maps of the cave, and he also kept a diary. In his diary Alvin wrote that he gave up finding the end of wind cave. In Jan. 3, 1903 President Theadore Roosevelt signed a bill making wind cave a National park.

Facts
The first cave to be turned into a national park was wind cave. Bison at wind cave can wiegh a ton, run 35 miles per hour, they are very terratorial, and can outrun you if you get to close. Rocky mountian elk can wiegh between 700-800 pounds and were put in the park in 1914 and 1916.

Things to see
Wind cave has lots of things to see. There are different types of bats like the Eastern red bat or the silver haired bat. There are bears, foxes, wolves, skunks, weasels, flying squirrels, prairie dogs, Elk, Bison, mountain lions, bobcats, rabbits, and porcupine. And of course there is the rare boxwork formation to see.

Things to do
Wind cave has lots of things to do. You can go on cave tours like the candlelight tour where you have to have non-slip soles on your shoes and no sandals. It is a long rugged trail were you carry a candle bucket. You crawl on your hands and knees with only the candielight to see.

Resources
[|**http://wind.cave.national-park.com/**] [|**http://www.nps.gov/wica/index.htm**] [|**http://www.mapquest.com/**] http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Bison_emerging_from_the_woods.jpg http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pronghorn_Wind_Cave_NP.jpg