While I had visited several National Parks prior to 2010 (Grand Canyon, Sequoia, Yosemite among them) My introduction to South Dakota was being met in South Dakota by a herd of Buffalo blocking the road! In Wind Cave National Park, I later learned that Wind Cave was sacred to the Lakota Sioux, and involved in one of their creation stories. I fell in love with the free ranging buffalo herds in that park and Custer State Park. It was this that inspired me to go on a tour of National Parks in 2013, coming across a gem in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, with more buffalo and history of one of our more legendary presidents. Each park I visited (a total of 9 in 2013) was unique, and had many wondrous things to do and visit.
Sincerely,
Wind Cave National Park
One of the country’s oldest national parks, Wind Cave combines rare mineral wonders underground with beautiful mixed-prairie habitat aboveground. Take a ranger-led tour to explore the unusual formations below the Earth’s surface, including cave walls that look like frost, textured honeycombs and even popcorn. You can also hike through some of the park’s 34,000 acres of wildlife habitat to see prairie dogs, pronghorn, elk and one of the last remaining herds of free-roaming, genetically pure bison in the country.
State(s): South Dakota
Established: 1903
“Having lived most of my life in big cities on the southern coast, I believe it important to preserve the opportunity for people to visit places of beauty and of importance to our national heritage. I feel our national parks, forests, and monuments must be preserved to enable everyone to experience that beauty and heritage. ”
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