South Dakota
Wind Cave tours suspended again, but officials hope to solve elevator problems for good this time • South Dakota Searchlight
HOT SPRINGS — Long-lingering elevator problems at Wind Cave National Park will prevent cave tours this summer at the southwest South Dakota attraction, but park officials hope a replacement elevator system will be a permanent solution.
The park recently announced that cave tours will be suspended beginning May 1 to accommodate the work.
The elevator system, which provides access to the cave for approximately 130,000 visitors annually, has been problematic for several years due to its aging components.
According to Tom Farrell, chief of interpretation at Wind Cave, many repairs have taken place over the years, and the existing system includes parts dating back to the 1930s. This will be the first complete rebuild, and the work is expected to continue into the fall.
Consistent elevator issues
Over the past five years, Wind Cave tours have been canceled on several occasions due to the park’s faulty elevator system.
On June 29, 2019, Wind Cave’s elevators became nonoperational. At the time, funding was not available for complete replacement, so the park made repairs.
After the first company hired could not complete the work, the park hired a consultant team and the project went out for bids a second time. Elevator Repair Service Inc., of Houston, Texas, secured the bid, began work in June 2020, and completed the repair work that November.
Endangered designation raises further alarm about bats in Black Hills
Park officials considered conducting cave tours through an alternate walk-in entrance, but ultimately decided against it, because the route includes a descent of 155 stairs.
“In the middle of the summer, we just didn’t think we could do something like that in terms of the amount of visitation that would be coming in,” Farrell told the Rapid City Journal at the time. “And if we had a medical emergency down there, we’d have to haul people up 155 stairs.”
Even after the elevator repairs, the park was unable to offer cave tours due to the coronavirus pandemic. The visitor center remained closed.
After an 11-month closure, Wind Cave reopened its visitor center to the public in February 2021, and cave tours resumed that March.
Since the 2021 reopening, the elevator system has operated sporadically due to consistent maintenance problems.
Once funding was secured for a complete overhaul of the elevator system, PKD Incorporated of Texas was hired for the work. The cost is just under $2 million with funding coming from a national account funded by fees collected at parks across the country.
“We’re excited to finally be able to completely rebuild the old elevators, including replacement of the cabs, motors, cables and electrical equipment,” said Wind Cave National Park Superintendent Leigh Welling.
Shift to surface programs
During the cave’s closure, park rangers will focus on aboveground programming.
“We appreciate everyone’s patience while we improve access to the cave and remind the public that there are still many things to do at the park,” Welling said.
Those include ranger-led talks and hikes, and new exhibits being installed in the visitor center this spring that include several interactive stations, a walk-through cave and a prairie diorama.
Rangers will also offer virtual tours of the cave in the visitor center auditorium. The program will use LIDAR technology to give a tour of the Natural Entrance tour route. LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to create a 3D scan or map of a place.
The staff at Wind Cave stress that the park is more than just a cave and has many other surface activities such as hiking and wildlife viewing.
“We are two parks in one,” said Farrell.
The park covers 53 square miles, has more than 30 miles of hiking trails and is home to bison, elk, deer, pronghorn, coyotes, prairie dogs and other wildlife.
The Black Hills Parks and Forests Association is the official nonprofit partner of Wind Cave whose retail store and main offices are located inside the visitor center.
Executive Director Patty Ressler said the organization has been preparing for the cave closure.
“We will have cool new products available at the park store and will be planning additional educational programming to help supplement what the park will already be doing,” Ressler said. “Visitors should still plan to visit Wind Cave and have a great park experience.”
Financial impact
The suspension of cave tours means a loss of tour fees for the park. During the 2018 summer season, before the current run of elevator problems began, the park took in nearly $700,000 in tour fees.
Local economies are also impacted. A 2023 National Park Service report showed that 607,418 visitors to Wind Cave National Park in 2022 spent $52.7 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 741 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $75 million.
Hot Springs is about 10 miles from the park’s visitor center. The Hot Springs Area Chamber of Commerce is bracing for impacts from the cave closure.
“There was a significant impact on area visitation the last time the elevators went down,” said Hot Springs Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Olivia Mears. “Although we appreciate that this time there will be new, modernized elevators installed, it is still very disappointing that cave tours will not be available.
Mears said the chamber plans to promote other things the park has to offer, but anticipates a detrimental impact on visitation.
South Dakota’s Secretary of Tourism Jim Hagen is aware of the park’s prolonged elevator saga and is looking forward to a future when it no longer causes disruptions.
“Even though there will be no underground cave tours this summer, we will take this short-term pain for much-needed, longer-term gain,” Hagen said.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – Students at South Dakota Mines heard Wednesday from retired four-star general Maryanne Miller about her journey to the highest ranks of the U.S. military.
Miller is a retired four-star U.S. Air Force general. She is the only member of the Air Force Reserve ever to be promoted to this level.
She spoke about finding greatness and living a life of fulfillment. Her stories came from her time in the Air Force and as a volunteer for Saint Teresa of Calcutta’s Missionaries of Charity.
“We so much get focused on what is our next step in life, what’s the next career move, how do we make ourselves better in our career, and we forget about how do we make ourselves better as a human being,” Miller said. “Because they have to go tandem. If it’s not tandem, you’re going to get off track.”
Miller was commissioned in 1981 and rose through the ranks before becoming a four-star general in 2018. She was the only woman serving as a four-star officer in the military at the time. She retired in 2020 after serving for almost 40 years.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2026 KOTA. All rights reserved.
South Dakota
USDA to offer distaster assistance to South Dakota agriculture producers impacted by winter storms
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering financial and technical assistance to South Dakota farmers and livestock producers who may have been impacted by the recent winter storms.
“I encourage impacted producers to contact their local USDA Service Center to report losses and learn more about program options available to assist in their recovery from crop, land, infrastructure, and livestock losses and damages.” said Richard Fordyce, Production and Conservation Under Secretary.
FSA’s Emergency Conservation Program and Emergency Forest Restoration Program can assist landowners with financial assistance to restore damaged land and conservation structures or forests.
“Our staff will work one-on-one with landowners to make assessments of the damages and develop methods that focus on effective recovery of the land.” said Jessica Michalski, Acting NRCS State Conservationist in South Dakota.
For more information about the disaster assistance program, click here.
Copyright 2026 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.
South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden, left, and Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen unveil a plaque for retired U.S. Navy Capt. E. Royce Williams in the Hall of Honor at the Capitol in Pierre on March 25, 2026. (Photo by Meghan O’Brien/South Dakota Searchlight)
PIERRE, S.D. (South Dakota Searchlight) — There’s a new name in the South Dakota Hall of Honor at the state Capitol building.
One-hundred-year-old South Dakota native and retired U.S. Navy Capt. E. Royce Williams was celebrated at a Wednesday ceremony where a plaque honoring him was unveiled, although Williams did not attend.
“In spite of being outnumbered and facing incredible danger, Captain Williams engaged the enemy with courage and skill,” said Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden. “Our state has always had a strong tradition of service, and Captain Williams is the very best of that tradition.”
President Donald Trump awarded Williams the Medal of Honor, the country’s highest military honor, at the State of the Union address earlier this year. The medal honors actions by Williams that had been classified for decades.
“His story was secret for over 50 years, he didn’t even want to tell his wife, but the legend grew and grew,” Trump said during the speech in February. “But tonight, at 100 years old, this brave Navy captain is finally getting the recognition he deserves.”
On Nov. 18, 1952, over Korean coastal waters during the Korean War, then-Lt. Williams, from Wilmot, South Dakota, led three F9F Panthers against seven Soviet MiG-15s. He disabled three enemy jets and damaged a fourth.
The Soviet jets, according to the U.S. Naval Institute, were “superior to the F9F in almost every fashion.” The mission was the only direct overwater combat between U.S. Navy fighters and Soviet fighters during the Cold War.
Williams, one of 11 Medal of Honor recipients from South Dakota, now lives in California. The Hall of Honor at the South Dakota Capitol is located in the hallway that visitors enter immediately after going through security.
Ski Maine, Where Skiing’s Main Street Ends
Showers and falling temperatures across Maryland Friday
Woman struck, fatally injured, while walking on the Lodge Freeway, state police say
Think you’re middle class in Massachusetts? Here’s the income range
Over 840,000 Minnesotans Assist Aging Loved Ones, Shaping Their Daily Lives
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Indiana Members Credit Union announced as new anchor tenant at Bottleworks District
Video: Will ICE Change Under Its New Leader?
DHS shutdown breakthrough comes at cost for Republicans as funding fights nears end
Rubio joins crucial G7 talks as Iran war set to dominate second day
A surprise resignation could open the door for an independent to win a Montana Senate seat
Video: Savannah Guthrie Says She Believes Her Mother Was Taken for Ransom
-
Detroit, MI1 week agoDrummer Brian Pastoria, longtime Detroit music advocate, dies at 68
-
Science1 week agoHow a Melting Glacier in Antarctica Could Affect Tens of Millions Around the Globe
-
Movie Reviews1 week ago‘Youth’ Twitter review: Ken Karunaas impresses audiences; Suraj Venjaramoodu adds charm; music wins praise | – The Times of India
-
Science1 week agoI had to man up and get a mammogram
-
Sports6 days agoIOC addresses execution of 19-year-old Iranian wrestler Saleh Mohammadi
-
New Mexico5 days agoClovis shooting leaves one dead, four injured
-
Business1 week agoDisney’s new CEO says his focus is on storytelling and creativity
-
Texas1 week agoHow to buy Houston vs. Texas A&M 2026 March Madness tickets