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Wind Cave National Park's Cave Tours Halted Due To Faulty Transformer

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Compiled from NPS releases

Published Date

April 29, 2025

New exhibits can be found in the visitor center at Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota/NPS

It's been not quite two months since a year-long project to upgrade the elevators at Wind Cave National Park was finished, but the elevators now have been shut down by a faulty electrical transformer.

A park release Tuesday said the transformer failed on Sunday. It's not known how long it will take to replace the equipment or when cave tours will resume. In the interim, rangers will be offering virtual tours of the Natural Entrance Tour using Lidar technology. Check the park website for updated program times. Park staff say the virtual tour is an excellent option for individuals with mobility issues to experience the cave.

The park's elevators have a long history of failure. Prior to be idled throughout 2024 for upgrades, they were shut down in August 2023 by a malfunction; in July 2019 mechanical issues with the elevators also halted cave tours, and; in 2016, elevator issues limited tours at the park in South Dakota, with visitors only allowed to enter and exit the cave via the Walk-in Entrance and proceed only as far as the Post Office Room.

While the elevators currently are out of operation, the park has new exhibits in the visitor center that tell the story of the land and the people who have lived on it. The park visitor center is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with extended hours as summer approaches.

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