With over 180 miles of mapped and surveyed passages, Jewel Cave National Monument is the third longest cave in the world.  While the formations, which are brilliant in color, and consist of winding passages that lure explorers, the cave still contains hidden treasures of scientific potential and discovery.  Discovered by brothers passing through Hell Canyon at the turn of the century, Jewel Cave National Monument provides guided Black Hills cave tours that allow visitors to experience a rich ecosystem completely different from the surface.

Jewel Cave National Monument provides three different guided Black Hills Cave Tours:

Scenic Tour

The Scenic Tour is the most popular tour of Jewel Cave National Monument.  The Scenic Tour route provides an opportunity to visit various cave chambers and passages decorated with calcite crystals and other speleothems. This tour is considered a modern day walking tour and follows a paved trail with electric lighting. An elevator in the Visitor Center is the only entrance and exit to this guided cave tour. The Scenic Tour is listed as moderately strenuous and lasts 1 hour and 20 minutes.  The tour route involves walking up and down 723 stair steps along a 1/2 mile loop, (equivalent to 40 flights of stairs).

Historic Lantern Tour

Step back in to the past and take the Historic Lantern Tour.  Your Park Ranger will be dressed in a 1930s-style uniform, and this adventure gives you a sense of what it was like to tour the cave in earlier days. Visitors enter and leave the cave through the historic entrance using an unpaved trail. The only light is provided by a lantern most tour participants carry and you will visit passages to the Dungeon Room or the Heavenly Room. The tour lasts approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes. The tour route is approximately 1/2 mile long, and includes ~600 steep wooden steps (ladder-like stairs), and requires bending and stooping. This tour is considered strenuous. The age requirement, strictly enforced for safety reasons, is 6 years old or older.

The Discovery Talk is an excellent short visit to Jewel Cave National Monument.

This 20-minute ranger talk is a brief introduction to Jewel Cave's natural and cultural histories. Participants view one large room of the cave. This easy cave visit enters and exits the cave by elevator in the Visitor Center, and involves walking up and down 15 stair steps. The Discovery Talk is wheelchair accessible for people who have trouble negotiating stairs, and the tour is limited to 20 participants.