On a normal tour you walk on paved paths put down by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression. There are tours where you can crawl into small spaces with a light on your head.
Tour sizes are relatively small. During the summer there are 11 regular tours a day. We did some quick math and estimated that no more than 500 people a day get to go into the cave. Tours are first come, first served. The park opens at 8 and if you want to see the cave don't get there after 9 AM.
On the normal tour you walk down 150 steps into the cave. To get out you ride an elevator. While there can be bats in the cave, according to the Park Service the bats seem to prefer the elevator shaft. If they go into the cave it is only for a short period of time.
The cave network is vast. There are multiple layers or floors. The normal tour walks through the bottom layer. There are no stalactites or stalagmites. There are interesting crystal formations that look like intricate lattice work.
After our cave exploration we checked out Custer State Park. It has enough acreage to support roaming wildlife like Bison and Elk. In fact we saw some as we approached the park entrance. We believe these may actually be part of a rancher's herd.
Whether they are wild or part of a ranch the animals stopped traffic in both directions. There is a large herd of Bison at Wind Cave. We saw some of those too.
There is a cloud layer over us today in Custer. The park is 2,000 feet higher than the town, but we managed to get in a hike around Sylvan Lake. We pictured it as a typical, all access, loop path. Not so much.
Top picture shows Jan testing out her new hip. Bottom shows you what we climbed over to make the circle.
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