Delta – 01 Tours
To protect staff, visitors and the unique resources of Delta 01, for the foreseeable future starting on June 3,2020, Delta-01 Tours will enter the building’s ground level ‘topside”, but will not enter the elevator or underground portions of the structure. The small size of the elevator and underground space makes physical distancing impossible.
Tour Description
Learn how U.S. Air Force personnel secured and maintained a missile field at the ready inside a once restricted facility during the Cold War. The ranger-guided tour of Delta-01 takes visitors inside the secured fence and features a walkthrough of the grounds and topside support building. To protect the historic facilities and to provide for visitor safety, each tour is limited to six participants and a park ranger. This tour lasts forty-five minutes, beginning and ending at the entry gate to the Delta-01 compound. The tour is moderately strenuous and requires a quarter mile round trip walk. All tour participants must be able to walk and stand unassisted; modern seating is limited on the tour.
PLEASE NOTE: To reduce risk of exposure to COVID-19, the tour will not enter the elevator or underground control center until further notice.
Respiratory protection for staff and visitors: All tour participants will be encouraged to wear a cloth face covering for the duration of the tour. Staff and volunteers leading tours will wear a cloth face covering during the duration of the tour.
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Remember fallout shelters, Sputnik, and the missile gap? Remember duck-and cover-drills, the Iron Curtain, the Red Scare and first-strike capability? The deadly drama underlying the Cold War is relived at Minuteman Missile National Historic Site near Wall where visitors can see how the end of the world could have begun. The site is the first national park in the world dedicated to commemorating the events of the Cold War. Two 1960’s era Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) sites have been preserved for public viewing. Delta-09, an underground missile silo on the edge of Badlands National Park, held a Minuteman II missile that could send a nuclear weapon to the Soviet Union in 30 minutes. Delta-01 control center includes the topside support building and the underground control center capsule.
Visitors have the opportunity to enjoy a ranger-guided tour of Delta-01, located at I-90 exit 127. Tours are by reservation only and limited to 6 people per tour. Self-guided tours are available at Delta-09 missile silo, located at I-90 Exit 116. The visitor center is located at I-90 exit 131 and features exhibits that allow visitors to explore Minuteman’s role in the Cold War. A new park film will make a debut in 2017.
