As we continue to explore things to do around our new home in the Black Hills of South Dakota, it’s clear we have a lot to learn about caving!

We took a guided tour within Wind Cave National Park a couple years ago that introduced us to the expansive cave networks under the hills and taught us about some unique cave features that are only found in this part of the world. Based on that experience, we tagged a few other cave systems in this area to explore at a later date.

That later date finally arrived when my parents came out to visit. It was the perfect excuse to cross another major cave off of our local bucket list – Jewel Cave National Monument.

With over 220 miles of mapped and surveyed passages, this underground wilderness appeals to human curiosity. Its splendor is revealed through fragile formations and glimpses of brilliant color. Its maze of passages lures explorers, and its scientific wealth remains a mystery. 

https://www.nps.gov/jeca/index.htm

We had to do a bit of pre-planning for this visit as you have to reserve a guided tour time in advance on Recreation.gov. I booked us a morning slot on the Scenic Tour, which is an 80-minute, half-mile route through several cave chambers and passages.

After taking the elevator from the staging area down into the cave, we followed our guide to some larger chambers where he explained some of the main features in this cave, including boxwork, cave popcorn, flowstone, and stalactites/stalagmites.

I thought some of the geological features looked oceanic. You might notice in the photos below how certain features look similar to coral (or, at least they do to me!).

A couple other favored features included the beautiful calcite crystals, which are the “jewels” of Jewel Cave, and the long ribbon drapery called the “cave bacon.” As you can see in the photos below, both fitting names!

The Scenic Tour offered a great introduction to this cave and was a reasonable amount of time and information for our first visit. Based on our experiences, I’d recommend both Wind Cave and Jewel Cave to anyone interested in exploring these incredible underground areas of the Black Hills.

Personally I’m looking forward to learning more about the cultural significance of these caves and the history of caving exploration in this area, which continues today.