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Family Nature Summits: Black Hills Summit has ended
If you would like to join a class that is frozen, please send us a message or email, and we will do our best to accommodate you. 

The Summit Handbook and our pick-a-hike guide are helpful resources! Email [email protected] with additional questions or message us in Sched!

Session availability is subject to change due to weather, availability, and interest. Classes with fewer than 5 participants are subject to cancellation. You are only able to sign up for one class during a time period (including waitlists). We do our best to accommodate waitlists. 

Add/Dropping Classes: All classes with an additional cost have a final add/drop date of July 13. After July 13th, you will be responsible for the cost of the class unless we can fill the spot. Classes with no additional cost can be added/dropped at any time.

Venue: Arts & Culture Van 1 clear filter
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Monday, August 3
 

8:15am MDT

Architects of the Grassland: Explore the Prairie with American Prairie Naturalists
Monday August 3, 2026 8:15am - 11:30am MDT
Step off the beaten path and into the complex, interconnected world of the American prairie. While the grasslands may look like an open expanse at first glance, they are actually a bustling, intricately woven ecosystem shaped by remarkable inhabitants. Join naturalists from American Prairie for an immersive walk in the prairie. On this casual walk, we will journey near a thriving prairie dog town and explore how three keystone species—bison, beavers, and prairie dogs—act as nature’s ultimate architects. You will discuss phenology and other seasonal observations, and the important role of disturbance ecology in shaping the plains. The walk will also discuss historic species loss on the plains, as well as and the work and research underway to help recover the populations and restore ecological processes of the prairie. 
American Prairie is a nonprofit with a mission is to create one of the largest nature reserves in the United States, a refuge for people and wildlife preserved forever as part of America’s heritage. They work with organizations such as the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and National Geographic.


Faculty
avatar for American Prairie

American Prairie

Corrie Williamson is American Prairie's Director of Community Outreach. Corrie works to increase awareness, support, and collaboration for American Prairie's conservation mission, with focus areas including the Advisory Board, neighbor relations, American Prairie Field School, and... Read More →
Monday August 3, 2026 8:15am - 11:30am MDT
Arts & Culture Van 1 Transportation Area

12:45pm MDT

$$ Tour- Wind Cave
Monday August 3, 2026 12:45pm - 3:30pm MDT
This one-hour tour is our least strenuous tour. It is a wonderful sample of Wind Cave. Small amounts of all of the beautiful cave formations - boxwork, cave popcorn, and flowstone - are seen along this 1/4 mile tour. The tour is designed for people with limited time or abilities. It enters and leaves the cave by elevator with 150 steps along the tour route.

Duration: 1 hour
Distance: 1/4 mile (1/2 kilometer)
Total stairs: 150
Difficulty: Moderate; stairs can be steep, slippery and dimly lit. Bending and stooping required.
Description: See boxwork, frostwork, flowstone and cave popcorn along this route.


"...[We] wonder if it will be possible to so describe those wonderful scenes as to represent with even a limited degree of fairness or justice the awe-inspiring grandeur of the entire trip, or the perfection of fragile loveliness formed and preserved as by special miracles in the Garden of Eden..." - Edward C Horn, Mazes and Marvels, 1898
Faculty
avatar for Danny McMurphy

Danny McMurphy

Hike Leader & Cave Expert, Faculty
Danny McMurphy is a lifelong resident of Sullivan, Missouri, where he has raised 4 children, two sons and two daughters, and has 4 grandchildren. He and his wife, Linda, have been married for 56 years. He retired from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – St. Louis District in 2009... Read More →
Monday August 3, 2026 12:45pm - 3:30pm MDT
Arts & Culture Van 1 Transportation Area
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