Thunderhead Falls

We wanted to hit one more attraction before heading back to the cabin after our first full day in Rapid City, and we had read about an underground waterfall called "Thunderhead Falls".

In 1878, miners were following a quartz vein using hand drills. They decided to blast with gun powder in order to speed the process. What a surprise for them when water came pouring in. This is one of the oldest gold mines open to tourists in the state of South Dakota and is also the only one with a known waterfall inside. The waterfall itself is about 30 feet in height and gushes about 8 cubic feet of water per second.  

This attraction was not as spectacular as the brochure made it out to be, but it was in a beautiful canyon. The sites around the area were amazing, and the waterfall itself was neat, but this stop essentially consisted of walking 600 feet along a stream in a cave, seeing the waterfall, then turning around and walking back out down the same path. We enjoyed the scenery and got some great pictures, and the kids loved playing on the old mining train out front. Overall, this was not a total bust, but it was not our favorite stop on the tour.

A waterfall in front of the mouth of the cavern. It falls into a small pond before flowing into the nearby creek.

The picturesque creek that flows through the canyon.

Walking down the path in the cave, right beside the creek.

There is lighting in the cave, but it is still a little dark. Felicity thought it was safer to be carried.

Grandma and Grandpa pose in front of the falls.

We all posed for a picture, too. Unfortunately Ella was asleep for this stop.

The old train which was used to haul rock from the mines is on display near the parking lot.
The kids enjoyed playing on it a lot. 

Mama and Papa pose for a picture

The girls and Kinsley posed on the train with Uncle Buh's girlfriend, Jihan.

Another highlight of this stop was that we saw a heard of mountain goats. It was kind of neat watching them run along the steep slopes before they disappeared over the mountain. We tried to get a picture of these, but we weren't able to.