Flowstone within Jewel Cave
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Cave Bacon - Jewel Cave
Beneath the Black Hills
When planning a trip to the Black Hills, the iconic images are of Mount Rushmore, Sylvan Lake, and the burrows along Custer State Park’s Wildlife Loop. These are the obvious places to stop, and known of which require pre-planning. But be aware that below the Black Hills are some of the longest and most densely packed cave systems in the entire world. To explore any known cave in the Black Hills requires a tour, and tours can fill up quickly, well ahead of a trip. Reserving cave tour tickets is something that is going to need to be done in advance, especially for a summer vacation.
Jewel Cave has over 220 miles of passages mapped to-date, making it the second longest known cave in the United States, and the fifth longest known cave in the world. Through Jewel Cave National Monument, a handful of these miles can be explored along either electrically lit pathways or there is also a lantern tour available in the summer months. For those with a bit more courage, who are 16 or older, spelunking tours can also be scheduled.
Wind Cave is the densest known cave system in the world (with the greatest passage volume per cubic mile), and the sixth longest known cave in the world. Similarly, through Wind Cave National Park, tour options to explore a small part of the cave can be reserved for electrically lit pathways, and there is a candlelight tour option in the summer. Wind Cave also offers spelunking tours for those 16 in age and older.
Walking down the steps into the Natural Entrance of Wind Cave National Park
Impress your tour guide - Stalagtites cling “tight” onto the ceiling and grow downward with drips from the cave ceiling. Stalagmites “might” grow tall enough to reach the ceiling and form from waterdrops hitting the cave floor.
Which Cave to Visit
I’ll give shout-outs to Jewel Cave National Monument and Wind Cave National Park, as these are the caves we have visited. The other caves are listed for awareness if tour availability is limited when you are looking to book.
Jewel Cave
I’ve seen several posts answer the question “Jewel Cave or Wind Cave?” with “Pick Both!” I will whole-heartedly tell you to pick Jewel Cave, if you are only interested in going on one cave tour. The fact that Jewel Cave is a National Monument and Wind Cave is National Park is not related to the status of which one may be better to visit. It’s just that Jewel Cave as a National Monument is protected by the Presidency and Wind Cave as a National Park is protected by Congress. The reason that Congress protected Wind Cave is that it has 95% of the world’s boxwork (see the next section on Wind Cave). Jewel Cave has the shiny cave “crystals” and colorful flowstones, while Wind Cave is pretty monotone. For a geologist, maybe Wind Cave is more special, but I think the majority of people are like me, and will be more impressed with colors, and shinier structures.
I think Jewel Cave is probably the first cave I entered, as my parents brought me here when I was 8. I still remember how amazed I was at the stunning cave bacon. We didn’t have fancy enough cameras at this point in time to take pictures in the dark, but after the tour I bought a postcard with the cave bacon on it, and it hung on my desk all the way through high school. (The image at the beginning of the post is one that we took on our most recent trip.)
Side note - if the cave bacon impresses you, consider visiting Bridal Cave in Camden County, Missouri (a privately owned cave with public tours). This cave has walls and walls of cave bacon. None quite as pretty as the singular structure (which is found along Jewel Cave’s Scenic Tour), but Bridal Cave is the most impressive cave I’ve been in so far.
Jewel Cave structures
Throughout the entire Jewel Cave Scenic Tour, there will be sparkling structures of various colors, shapes, and sizes. I’ve been able to return to Jewel Cave twice so far as an adult, and this cave is awesome! We are hoping to return this summer to check out the lantern tour.
Jewel Cave - Flowstone
Jewel Cave Flowstone
Wind Cave
Wind Cave is not near as colorful as Jewel Cave, but any cave is cool to explore. Wind Cave is protected as a National Park due to having 95% of the world’s known boxwork, this weird honeycomb-ish structure, and it’s everywhere. Boxwork is impressive, just not colorful.
We’ve only been to Wind Cave once, and we took the Natural Entrance Tour. We enjoyed ourselves, but just weren’t as “wow’ed” as we felt in Jewel Cave. I’ve heard from friends that the candlelight tour is also fun, and on a future trip to the Black Hills, I’d love to try it.
Boxwork in Wind Cave National Park
Wind Caves Boxwork visible on the Natural Entrance Tour
There are some other cave features beyond boxwork, but they don’t have the same colors present as in Jewel Cave.
Other Private Options
The only cave options that I have toured in the Black Hills are Jewel Cave and Wind Cave, and I would always promote the National Park Service over private tours, but for anyone that hasn’t been able to obtain tours and finds everything booked, any cave tour is better than no cave tour. Private cave tour options are available at Rushmore Cave, Black Hills Caverns, and Wonderland Cave. You can google them to find more information.
How to Book a Tour at Jewel Cave and Wind Cave
“Crystals” from Jewel Cave
Although a small number of people may successfully obtain walk-in tours, typically exploring a cave takes a bit of pre-planning, especially for caves within the National Park System.
Go to the official websites for the National Parks: Jewel Cave or Wind Cave. On the top black bar of either website, click on “Fees.” From here, there will be different tour options listed, with more information on each option that can be displayed from a dropdown. We’ve done the Scenic Tour in Jewel Cave and the Natural Entrance Tour at Wind Cave. The lantern / candlelight tours require guests to be 8 or older, and spelunking requires visitors to be 16 or older.
To purchase tickets, click on the links through Recreation.gov - the link will be on the website. Jewel Cave tickets are available 30 days in advance, and Wind Cave tours can be purchased 120 days ahead. And don’t trust this blog, which is written at one point in time. Check those National Park websites now to see what the current options for booking, as this may change in the future. After you book tickets, either take a picture of the tickets so they are in your phone photo library, or print them out and store the tickets with your trip planning materials. You will need these tickets on the day of your tour, and you should have WIFI while at the Visitor Center, but what if it doesn’t work? Things just stored in my email make me nervous, as I want my trips to go as perfect as possible.
Example of the passageways which will need to be navigated through on the Wild Caving tours (age 16+ only). The scenic tours have large well-lit halls to walk through, and they are not scary, I promise.
What to Wear
No matter how hot or cold it is outside, it’s going to be the same temperature inside caves pretty much anytime of the year. For the caves in the Black Hills, this is going to be about 50 deg F. This feels nice and comfortable just about anytime of the year - air conditioned in the summer and warm in the cold winters. I’d suggest bringing a wind resistant rain jacket (which I would suggest anytime you visit the Black Hills), and that should be enough to stay warm. Shorts or pants - your choice. Closed toed shoes are going to likely be a requirement of any cave you tour.
Now as much as I care about your own comfort… I actually care about bats more. And most likely as you plan summer vacations, bats are either at the bottom of the list, or something you don’t even know you should be thinking about, which is fair - I’ve learned more as we’ve toured more caves.
There are three different types of bats which live in the United States (little brown bats, northern long-eared bats, and tri-colored bats). Their populations have declined by more than 90% since 2018. This has been due to the spread of White-Nose Syndrome, which is lethal to bats. This is a fungal infection that results in bats consuming energy twice as fast as non-infected bats, which greatly impacts their ability to hibernate successfully during the winter.
White-Nose Syndrome can be transferred by clothing that people wear (shoes, jackets, pants, shirts, socks, etc.) while on cave tours. For the fate of our mosquito-eating friends, please ensure that whatever you plan to wear into a cave while in the Black Hills, or anywhere in the world, has never been underground on another cave tour.
For anyone planning on visiting more than one cave, instead of using a common jacket, wear a different sweatshirt for each tour, and pack a couple of different pairs of pants. Buy some cheap closed toed shoes at Target, and have you kids wear their old worn tennis shoes in one cave and new shoes in a second cave. Enjoy the caves under the Black Hills, but please consider how to care for the bats that make these caves their homes, as you plan for your trip.
Touring Jewel Cave in 2012
Other Things Nearby
Hike at Sylvan Lake Trailheads
Visit Mount Rushmore
Swim at Hippie Hole
Explore Waterfalls along Spearfish Canyon
Visit Devils Tower National Monument
Explore Badlands National Park
Visit Minute Missile National Historic Site
More from NatureImpactsUs.com
To see additional hikes I’ve written about around the country, click on a pin, and then click on the hyperlink. Use two fingers to zoom in and move around within the map.