Exploring Jewel Cave National Monument on the Scenic Tour

Looking for more things to do near Jewel Cave National Monument?
Head north to Custer State Park where you can paddle and swim in Sylvan Lake or hike to the top of Black Elk Peak.

CURRENT INFO

General information and updates about Jewel Cave National Monument are available on the National Park Service Website. Reservations for the Scenic Tour and other cave tours are available through the recreation.gov website. If you’re planning a trip to Jewel Cave National Monument and the Black Hills of South Dakota, I recommend the book Moon South Dakota’s Black Hills: With Mount Rushmore & Badlands National Park by Laural A. Bidwell.

GOOD TO KNOW

• Jewel Cave National Monument is free to enter. You can park and hike the trails at no cost.
• The Scenic Tour costs $16 per person for adults. Tickets for children ages six through 15 cost $8, while children five and under cost $1. This is the tour we took, and it gives the best introduction to the highlights of Jewel Cave.
• Cave tour costs are not covered by the America the Beautiful pass or other national parks passes.
• I recommend reserving your tour in advance. Reservations are available to book a couple of months in advance through the recreation.gov website. Be sure to arrive 30 minutes prior to the start of your tour to pick up your tickets.
• If you do not have advance reservations, arrive early to secure one of the limited first come, first served spots.
• More adventurous tours include the Historic Lantern Tour and the Wild Cave Tour. Age restrictions and other considerations apply.
• For those with limited mobility, the Discovery Tour offers the chance to see inside Jewel Cave with minimal walking.
• Restrooms and drinking water are available in the Visitor Center.
• Pets are not allowed on trails or cave tours in Jewel Cave National Monument.
• Wear shoes or boots with good traction and extra layers. Jewel Cave is 49 degrees Fahrenheit year round, and closed shoes are required.
• Always follow Leave No Trace principles. In fact, you will not be allowed to bring many items into the cave with you. No backpacks, walking sticks, food, drinks, or gum is allowed. You can bring a phone or camera to take photos, but no tripods, selfie sticks, or monopods are allowed.

HIGHLIGHTS

The sheer scale of Jewel Cave boggles the mind. It’s one of the longest caves in the world, and any visit here reveals only a tiny fraction of its treasures. But what treasures they are! Underneath a deceptively dull exterior hide layers of delicate calcite crystals. Flowstone formations and stalactites and stalagmites hide in tucked away corners of vast caverns. Jewel Cave may not be as showy as one might expect from the name, but there are new delights around every corner. Join the Scenic Tour to discover them for yourself.

THE KIDS’ TAKE

We experienced two cave tours on our trip to South Dakota, one at Jewel Cave and the other at Wind Cave National Park. I recommend both if you have the time, but of the two, it’s safe to say that Jewel Cave held the most allure for the kids. Crystals! Soda straws! Cave bacon! We saw all these formations and more. As always, don’t forget to grab a Junior Ranger booklet in the visitor center and allow extra time for the kids to complete it and earn their badges.

Although he’s been on other cave tours, being down in the depths of Jewel Cave made six-year-old T a little nervous at first. There are emergency phones located throughout the tour should you need a ranger to come fetch you, but fortunately T felt better as the tour progressed. Before taking kids on the tour, make sure they are comfortable walking and standing for almost an hour and a half, including lots of stairs. It’s also important to listen when the ranger is talking, and no running is allowed.

If your kids aren’t up for the full Scenic Tour, try the 20-minute accessible Discovery Tour instead. Or, for a more adventurous experience, check out the Historic Lantern Tour. Those 16 and older who are prepared to crawl through the mud can join the much more strenuous Wild Cave Tour.

WHILE YOU’RE HERE

Located just a half hour’s drive west of Custer State Park, Jewel Cave is a great addition to any trip to the Black Hills. Our family spent eight nights at nearby Bismarck Lake Campground, which makes a great home base for exploring Jewel Cave National Monument, Wind Cave National Park, and more. Take some time to explore above ground, with a hike through Sunday Gulch, swim time at Sylvan Lake, or a longer trek to the top of Black Elk Peak.

Jewel Cave isn’t the only well-known cavern in the region. South Dakota is also home to Wind Cave National Park, which is located 32 miles southwest of Jewel Cave National Monument. If you have time, I recommend taking a tour of each, as there are distinct differences. Wind Cave features extensive boxwork, a rare calcite formation, while Jewel Cave showcases calcite crystals and some more recognizable cave formations, including stalagmites and stalactites.

If you can only do one, well… how to choose? Our family was more enthralled by the features at Jewel Cave, but those who’ve visited other cave systems, such as Carlsbad Caverns or Mammoth Cave, may want to check out Wind Cave for a totally new experience.

We headed for Jewel Cave in the mid-afternoon, hoping to arrive in time to explore the visitor center and allow the boys to work on their Junior Ranger booklets. Unfortunately, Jewel Cave was fresh out of Junior Ranger booklets. I guess this would have been a good time to print ours in advance. As an alternative the boys were given the option to earn their Junior Ranger cave scientist badges. Score! We took a seat to learn more about cave formations and cave creatures (think bats) before our tour.

Tours at Jewel Cave National Monument begin directly from the visitor center. Unlike Wind Cave National Park, where a short paved path leads to the historic elevator building, at Jewel Cave modern elevators depart from within the visitor center itself, whisking visitors smoothly and serenely into the depths of the cavern.

We emerged from the elevator into a small vestibule. Nothing too unusual until, that is, we stepped through the door at the end of the vestibule and into another world. We were now within an immense cavern, and while no “jewels” came immediately into view, there were definitely some hidden gems to be found.

The ranger leading our tour pointed out a variety of formations as we made our way through the caverns, starting with the ones which give Jewel Cave its name. Cracks in the rock walls revealed glittering crevices encrusted with pale pink or ice white crystals. These crystals are amazingly abundant, but are usually hidden behind a dull rocky exterior. Strange, bulbous mounds covered the walls, hiding the riches within.

Calcite crystals possess a fragile beauty, and are too delicate to have any practical use. Thankfully, this means that Jewel Cave held no value for miners, and made it a prime candidate for preservation as a national monument. Keep an eye out for boxwork. While not nearly as abundant in Jewel Cave as in nearby Wind Cave, you’ll spot some of it along the Scenic Tour.

There’s more to Jewel Cave than crystals. Our ranger guide pointed out beautiful examples of stalactites, stalagmites, and flowstone. Soda straws, a type of hollow stalactite, were another intriguing sight. And then came the perennial favorite — cave bacon! Who doesn’t love seeing a beloved breakfast food immortalized in stone?

Throughout the Scenic Tour, I was impressed by the modern walkways and stairs that allowed us to easily traverse the cave. The amount of work that it must have taken to create this underground infrastructure is incredible. At one point, a platform with benches allowed us to take a seat while our guide gave further insight into the cave’s history and geology.

As the tour drew to a close, we found ourselves back at the elevator bank, ready for our quick trip to the surface. We had just enough time for the boys to finish their Junior Ranger cave scientist booklets and claim their patches before the visitor center closed. Oh, and “adopt” a bat stuffie from gift shop. We named him Radar, and he’s now a cherished member of the kids’ plush menagerie. But most exciting of all were the wonders we experienced in Jewel Cave, giving us memories to treasure for for years to come.