You are here

Home » Elk Bugling Programs Offered This Month At Wind Cave National Park

Elk Bugling Programs Offered This Month At Wind Cave National Park

Share
By NPT Staff - September 1st, 2017

Rangers at Wind Cave National Park will be offering tours to listen for elk bugling through September/NPS

Rangers at Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota will be leading programs this month to listen for the bugle of the Rocky Mountain elk. The elk’s high-pitched whistle heralds the arrival of fall and the mating season. 

Throughout the month of September, rangers are giving brief interpretive programs about elk before leading a caravan to a nearby pullout to listen for them. These programs are offered Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday evenings through September 30. Participants meet at the Elk Mountain Campground Amphitheater at 7 p.m. and are encouraged to bring a flashlight, a camp chair or blanket to sit on, and to dress warmly.

“Fall is a wonderful time to tour the park and enjoy our wildlife or the cave,” said Wind Cave Superintendent Vidal Dávila. “The call of a bugling elk is definitely one of the Black Hills’ more unique wild sounds. If you’ve never heard it before, we encourage you to come out and listen for it.”

Fall ranger programs also include Natural Entrance and Garden of Eden Tours of Wind Cave throughout the day. Participants are encouraged to bring a light coat or sweater and good walking shoes. The Natural Entrance Tour lasts approximately 75 minutes and involves 300 stairs, most of which are going down. The Garden of Eden Tour lasts one hour and involves 150 stairs.

The park visitor center is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. through September 23, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. September 24 through October 7, with tours at 9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. Visitor Center winter hours begin October 8 and are from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with tours at 10 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m.

Add comment

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.