What to Know:
Join park rangers at Wind Cave National Park for one of autumn’s most thrilling wildlife experiences. Bull elk bugle across the mixed-grass prairie and ponderosa pine forests as the fall rut begins, their eerie calls echoing through the hills at dusk.
Meeting point: Wind Cave Visitor Center at 7:00 p.m. Rangers lead a caravan to a listening location selected for the best chances of hearing and seeing elk activity. Programs run approximately 75 minutes.
About the elk bugling programs
Wind Cave National Park’s elk bugling programs run every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday evening from mid-September through early October. The programs are free, family-friendly, and require no registration. Dress warmly in layers. Autumn evenings in the Black Hills can drop into the 40s. Bring binoculars if you have them.
Wind Cave National Park is home to one of the largest natural herds of elk in the region. The fall rut, when bull elk compete for mates with dramatic bugling calls, is one of the park’s premier wildlife-watching opportunities.
