Historic marker · Wind Cave National Park
A memorial to the young explorer who mapped miles of Wind Cave.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Wind Cave Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Wind Cave National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this place
Wind Cave and Visitor Center“You're approaching Wind Cave and its visitor center. The reason to go underground is boxwork: thin blades of calcite that stick out from the walls and ceilings in a honeycomb pattern.”
Plays as you drive up to Alvin McDonald Grave in the Parkwolf Wind Cave Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Alvin McDonald’s grave is marked by a bronze plaque set into a stone on the hill above Wind Cave’s natural entrance. It’s reached by a footpath and short climb, about 200 yards north of the visitor center. I’d add it if you’re curious about the people behind the cave’s early exploration; this is a simple memorial stop, not a cave tour or an overlook.
McDonald moved to Wind Cave with his family in 1890. Over about three years, he explored roughly 8–10 miles of passages, guided visitors and kept a journal. He worked by candlelight and laid string to mark a way back through the cave—small details that make this brief stop more interesting than the marker alone.
In 1893, McDonald took cave samples to Chicago’s World’s Columbian Exposition. He died of typhoid fever that December, aged 20; it’s believed he contracted the illness during that Chicago trip. For more context, the nearby visitor center’s lower exhibit room has photographs, mementos and part of his journal.
Wildlife
600 sightingsBisonMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
59 sightingsElkMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
258 sightingsPronghornMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
14 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
128 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
26 sightingsGolden EagleMost seen around noonSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Wind Cave. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyPrairie Vista Nature Trail1 mi · 36 min · 0.1 mi awayA one-mile loop past the Natural Entrance and prairie waysides.
EasyWind Cave Canyon Trail3.6 mi · 2 hr · 0.7 mi awayAn easy former road beneath limestone cliffs, with nesting birds overhead.
EasyElk Mountain Nature Trail0.7 mi · 45 min · 1 mi awayShort prairie-and-pine loop; listen for elk bugles in autumn.
ModerateLookout Point Trail and Centennial Trail Loop4.8 mi · 2.5 hr · 1.6 mi awayPrairie dogs, creek bridges and one steep climb on a 4.8-mile loop.
ModerateCentennial Trail: Norbeck to Highland Creek6 mi · 2.8 hr · 1.6 mi awayA six-mile one-way mix of prairie, ponderosa forest and creek crossings.
ModerateCold Brook Canyon Trail2.8 mi · 1.5 hr · 1.8 mi awayA short prairie walk with canyon cliffs and a prairie dog town.
ModerateEast Bison Flats Trail7.4 mi · 4 hr · 2.5 mi awayOpen prairie, a steep canyon dip, and broad Buffalo Gap views.
EasyRankin Ridge Nature Trail1 mi · 1 hr · 4.5 mi awayA short ridge loop with a fire tower and wide plains views.
Sight · At the trailheadWind Cave Natural EntranceA ten-inch opening with air you can feel moving.
Sight · 0.1 mi awayWind CaveGet underground to see boxwork that’s rare elsewhere and abundant here.
Picnic area · 0.1 mi awayWind Cave Picnic AreaA picnic stop with a 150-yard walk to the natural entrance.
Visitor center · 0.1 mi awayWind Cave Visitor CenterStart here for the cave tour and its prairie-side story.
Campground · 0.9 mi awayElk Mountain CampgroundA pine-and-prairie base near cave tours, with seasonal elk bugles.
Sight · 1 mi awayMinnelusa FormationA short walk to striped rock layers if geology’s your thing.
Sight · 1.5 mi awayDeadwood SandstoneA quick stop to read Wind Cave's Cambrian rock layers
Sight · 1.9 mi awayBeaver Creek BridgeA 1929 arch bridge designed to rise from Beaver Creek Canyon’s walls.Parkwolf’s Wind Cave ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
