#10 of 10 sights in Wind Cave
Sight · Wind Cave National Park
A quick roadside geology stop for layered Permian limestone.
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
Gobbler Pass and Minnekahta Limestone“Up ahead is the Gobbler Pass area, with the Minnekahta Limestone geology stop nearby. For a quick look, find the gray-to-purplish rock with thin layers and folds; caves rarely form in this limestone.”
Plays as you drive up to Minnekahta Limestone 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
Minnekahta Limestone is the gray-to-purplish rock exposed in road cuts near Wind Cave's southern boundary. It is Stop 2 on the park's seven-stop self-guided geology drive. From the visitor center, leave by the south end of the parking lot and turn right onto US 385 South; the stop is 3.6 miles away. Parking for cars and buses or RVs is listed, but the exact turn-in is unclear. Use a designated parking area and skip the stop if you can't pull fully off the road.
The limestone is thinly bedded and slabby. Look for its prominent layers and folds, and notice the gray-to-purplish colors in the cut.
This rock dates to the Permian. Its thin beds would not support a cave ceiling, so caves rarely form in it. Compare it with Pahasapa Limestone at the Natural Entrance, the first stop on the geology drive.
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
ModerateEast Bison Flats Trail7.4 mi · 4 hr · 0.1 mi awayOpen prairie, a steep canyon dip, and broad Buffalo Gap views.
ModerateCold Brook Canyon Trail2.8 mi · 1.5 hr · 1.5 mi awayA short prairie walk with canyon cliffs and a prairie dog town.
EasyWind Cave Canyon Trail3.6 mi · 2 hr · 2.4 mi awayAn easy former road beneath limestone cliffs, with nesting birds overhead.
EasyPrairie Vista Nature Trail1 mi · 36 min · 2.4 mi awayA one-mile loop past the Natural Entrance and prairie waysides.
EasyElk Mountain Nature Trail0.7 mi · 45 min · 3.2 mi awayShort prairie-and-pine loop; listen for elk bugles in autumn.
ModerateLookout Point Trail and Centennial Trail Loop4.8 mi · 2.5 hr · 4.2 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 · 4.2 mi awayA six-mile one-way mix of prairie, ponderosa forest and creek crossings.
Visitor center · 2.4 mi awayWind Cave Visitor CenterStart here for the cave tour and its prairie-side story.
Sight · 2.5 mi awayMinnelusa FormationA short walk to striped rock layers if geology’s your thing.
Sight · 2.5 mi awayWind CaveGet underground to see boxwork that’s rare elsewhere and abundant here.
Sight · 2.6 mi awayWind Cave Natural EntranceA ten-inch opening with air you can feel moving.
Historic marker · 2.6 mi awayAlvin McDonald GraveA memorial to the young explorer who mapped miles of Wind Cave.
Picnic area · 2.6 mi awayWind Cave Picnic AreaA picnic stop with a 150-yard walk to the natural entrance.
Campground · 3.2 mi awayElk Mountain CampgroundA pine-and-prairie base near cave tours, with seasonal elk bugles.
Sight · 4.1 mi awayDeadwood SandstoneA quick stop to read Wind Cave's Cambrian rock layersParkwolf’s Wind Cave ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
