Hiking the Prairie Vista Trail in Wind Cave National Park
Distance: 0.9 miles / 1.4 km
The Prairie Vista Trail, also called the Prairie Vista Nature Trail, in Wind Cave National Park is a short and easy loop trail around the hilly prairies surrounding the visitor center and the Wind Cave Natural Entrance.
That said, the Prairie Vista Trail can most similarly be compared with the Elk Mountain Nature Trail, as the two are the only pet-friendly trails in Wind Cave National Park.
For all these reasons, including the very short distance, the Prairie Vista Trail is the most popular day hike in Wind Cave National Park, and it’s one that I recommend checking out either before or after a scheduled cave tour.
U.S. National Park Pass
There is no entrance fee to visit Wind Cave National Park.
However, entrance fees are collected at Badlands National Park and Devils Tower National Monument, which is why I recommend purchasing your National Park pass in advance before traveling to the Black Hills.
Prairie Vista Trailhead Parking
Parking for the Prairie Vista Trail is located in one of two places.
First, and most obvious, parking for the Prairie Vista Loop can be found at the Wind Cave Visitor Center, as beginning from the Wind Cave Natural Entrance is the most popular way to start the loop.
Alternatively, parking can be found just up the road at the Wind Cave Visitor Center Picnic Area, which is generally the much less crowded place to begin the loop.
Either way, the Prairie Vista Loop passes both the visitor center and the picnic area, making neither a better location to start the hike than the other.
Google Maps Directions: Prairie Vista Trailhead (Visitor Center) / Prairie Vista Trailhead (Picnic Area)
Hiking Checklist - Wind Cave
Here is a complete list of must-have things that you will want for any hike in Wind Cave National Park.
Hiking the Prairie Vista Trail
Walking to the Trailhead
When beginning the Prairie Vista Trail from the Wind Cave Visitor Center, go through the front entrance, walk downstairs, and then take the doors that exit outside toward the Wind Cave Natural Entrance.
This is where the doors exits the Wind Cave Visitor Center to head toward the Natural Cave Entrance.
The pavilion on the right is where Wind Cave Natural Entrance Tours meet prior to taking the elevator down just ahead.
Once at this point, I recommend walking over to check out the map of explored passages in Wind Cave, as it’s truly incredible how much has been explored and how much is yet to be discovered!
Prairie Vista-Wind Cave Visitor Center Junction
This is where the path exiting the Wind Cave Visitor Center meets the Prairie Vista Loop for the first time.
From here, hikers have the option to go either way to begin the trail, but I recommend going straight to check out the Wind Cave Natural Entrance first.
Wind Cave Natural Entrance Elevator
This is where the Natural Entrance Tours descend into Wind Cave, which can be booked using the link below.
Book Here: Wind Cave Natural Entrance Tours
Wind Cave Natural Entrance
This is the Wind Cave Natural Entrance, which I recommend stopping to read all about—especially if you aren’t planning on taking the Natural Cave Entrance Tour.
I say this because learning and understanding what the Natural Cave Entrance is all about is one of the best things to do in Wind Cave National Park, especially when considering how much exploration was done in Wind Cave prior to the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) installing elevators in the 1930s.
Prairie Vista Trailhead
Just steps after the Wind Cave Natural Entrance, the Prairie Vista Trail reaches the official trailhead, with another located a short distance ahead at the Visitor Center Picnic Area.
Wind Cave Visitor Center Picnic Area
About 0.1 miles (0.2 km) after the visitor center, the Prairie Vista Trail passes directly through the Wind Cave Visitor Center Picnic Area, the alternative trailhead where hikers can park to begin the loop.
Once here, go straight across the picnic area to find the alternative trailhead next to the restrooms.
Prairie Vista Trailhead
This is the alternative Prairie Vista Trailhead at the Wind Cave Visitor Center Picnic Area.
After the picnic area, the Prairie Vista Trail leaves the busiest areas of the park behind to begin climbing up the hill to the east of the visitor center.
This hill and the one on the return side of the loop are as steep as the Prairie Vista Trail gets.
This is the top of the steep ascent—meaning that from this point until the loop starts to return to the visitor center, the Prairie Vista Trail remains relatively flat.
Much like the Yuccas found across the Southwest U.S., such as those along the Akali Flat Trail in White Sands National Park, Wind Cave has its own native species, known as the Great Plains Yucca.
That said, visitors in Wind Cave National Park can expect to see the Great Plains Yucca flower in the late spring/ early summer months.
Similar to the trail guides for the Rankin Ridge Trail and the Elk Mountain Nature Trail, visitors are encouraged to follow along with the signs throughout the Prairie Vista Trail—hence the name Prairie Vista Nature Trail.
However, unlike these other adventures, the points of interest on the Prairie Vista Trail are posted along the loop, instead of a separate trail guide.
The one thing I hope these photos show more than anything else is that there is very little shade on the Prairie Vista Trail, which is true for most of the day hikes across the open prairies in Wind Cave National Park.
This is why I highly recommend hiking the trail in a hooded sun shirt, as one will certainly be useful here and for countless other adventures across the Black Hills in western South Dakota.
This split in the trail simply leads to another stop on the interpretive trail.
That said, go right to continue around the Prairie Vista Loop, or go left to check out the next stop on the nature trail.
Once back on the main loop, the Prairie Vista Trail begins its descent back toward the Wind Cave Visitor Center and the Natural Cave Entrance.
While the Prairie Vista Trail is short, both the ascent and descent up the hill above the visitor center are fairly steep, which is why some hikers may want to carry trekking poles, especially if you plan to hike elsewhere in Wind Cave National Park or the Black Hills, like the Little Devils Tower Trail in Custer State Park—one that I could not recommend more!
This is the final stop on the interpretive trail before the Prairie Vista Loop returns to the paved path from the beginning.
Prairie Vista-Wind Cave Visitor Center Junction
After roughly 0.8 miles (1.3 km), the Prairie Vista Trail reaches the same split shown at the beginning of this article, with the Wind Cave Visitor Center located to the left and the Natural Entrance to the right.
If, at this point, you still hadn’t visited the Wind Cave Natural Entrance by beginning from the picnic area, I could not recommend walking over to check it out more, even if you also want to walk inside the visitor center when at this junction.
