Vore Buffalo Jump Traditional Geocache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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The cache is located about 100 feet from a maintained trail and the rim of a large sinkhole and is about 100 feet from a parking area. The terrain is moderately sloping and broken after leaving the parking area and is primarily covered with prairie grasses, clover, a few yucca plants and low-growing shrubs. The elevation is 3,894 feet above sea level.
The cache is a an official geocache plastic box containing a log book and pen and some Vore Buffalo Jump post cards and various trade items. Visitors to the cache are encouraged to take one post card. The cache overlooks the "driveline" used by the Indians to funnel the bison into the trap.
The sinkhole contains what may be the most important of the late-prehistoric Plains Indian archaeological sites. For three hundred years (1500 to 1800 A.D.) the sinkhole was used by a number of different Plains Indian tribes as a pit trap or buffalo jump. Over the period of use Indians drove thousands of bison into the trap in order to procure the meat and hide supplies they needed during the harsh prairie winters.
The site is owned by a non-profit corporation, the Vore Buffalo Jump Foundation, but it is largely undeveloped. Beginning in 2009 the Foundation has established an admission charge to the site itself, but geocachers are welcome to use the parking area and find the cache without charge as it is outside the fenced area of the archaeological site. Visitation is encouraged because education is a major goal of the Foundation. In the summer there are paid interpreters to greet visitors and explain the site to them and a small excavation unit is open for observation and interpretive purposes.
The Vore site is literally a stone's throw from Interstate Highway I-90 (they had to re-route the highway 200' further south to avoid it), but there is no direct access from the Interstate. However, there is paved access via the former US Hwy 14 which runs on the other (north) side of the sinkhole. West-bound Visitors - Visitors coming from the east should take I-90 Exit 205, one mile west of the Wyoming-South Dakota border. Proceed west on the access road (formerly US Hwy 14) through the community of Beulah for about 4 miles. The Vore Site parking area is on left (south) just past a small hill.
East-bound Visitors - Visitors approaching from the west on I-90 may access the Vore Buffalo Jump by taking I-90 Exit 199. Turn left (north) and pass under the interstate, then turn right (east) on the access road (formerly US Hwy 14). The Vore Site is about 3 miles east on the right (south) of the access road.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)