September 2019

Most people that visit Wind Cave National Park only see the underground labyrinth that makes up the caves for which the park is named and not the spectacular ecosystem that lies above ground. As for us, the exact opposite was true. The cave tours had been halted due to maintenance problems with the elevators that take people down for the cave tours so we were forced to spend the day above ground…and what a great time we had!  The landscape was beautiful and the wildlife abundant, resulting in a thoroughly enjoyable day there with our friend Andrea from Connecticut.

We decided to drive the loop trail around the perimeter of the park, stopping for wildlife viewing, hiking and a picnic along the way. The prairie dogs that live all throughout the park are so cute and we saw a lot of them throughout the day.

Shortly after entering the park Andrea and I decided to take a 3-mile hike at Cold Brook Canyon, through a ponderosa forest and open prairie, crossing a prairie dog town. After about 5 minutes into our hike we came upon this huge bison blocking our path. I tried to scare him away but he just kept coming closer so we had to turn around. That was a first for me!

We settled for hiking a couple of miles on the East Bison Flats trail, across rolling prairie hills. It was good to stretch our legs and thankfully we didn’t run into any more bison.

As we drove along the dirt Red Valley road we saw this handsome Pronghorn.

And then herds of bison all round us. So fun!

We also saw two coyotes and of course, more prairie dogs.

Once back on the paved, and very winding, park road we spotted these bighorn sheep right next to the road. Andrea was taking pictures from the car : )

It was a really fun day with lots of animal sightings. We will have to return though when the elevators are working so that we can see the caves for which the park is named.