Spelunking Through South Dakota

Did you know that many of the world’s largest caves are found in the United States? The third largest is in South Dakota – Jewel Cave National Monument.

Jewel Cave got its blinging name because of the calcite crystals that cover the walls and ceilings of the cave and shimmered in the lantern light of the cave’s first discoverers. The calcite crystals remain today, but electric lights have replaced lanterns in most areas. However, I chose to take the Historic Lantern Tour to explore the cave in much the same way the original discoverers would have experienced it.

It looks like the place where Indiana Jones may have found the Crystal Skull, but Jewel Cave is a national treasure in itself. And it’s constantly growing. Exploration of the cave system continues and it’s believed that only a fraction of it has been discovered. Cave explorers spend as long as four days underground and the furthest explored areas of the cave take about 11 hours to reach. So far, 180 miles have been discovered, but explorers are adding about 3 miles to that each year. All of this sits below just 3 square miles of land area. Exploration isn’t something just for space or remote jungles. It’s at our back door and under our feet!

Tickets for the cave tours often sell out in the morning, so I was careful to get there just after they opened. In the high season people sometimes have to wait hours between getting their tickets and taking their tour. Much to my delight there was still room on all the tours – even those starting in a few minutes. I was torn between the Scenic Route and the Historic Lantern tours. Most people take the Scenic Route and enjoy its paved walkways and electricity. The Historic Lantern Tour not only requires you to carry a lantern, but there is no paved walkway. There are a few railings and stairs throughout, but there are also rocks to scramble over, tight spaces to squeeze through, and few places where you can stand upright.

Only five of us were the early birds that snagged tickets for the first lantern tour of the day. Due to our small group we took the Dungeon Route instead of the more popular Heavenly Route. I have no idea what the difference is, but our guide kept saying how lucky we were to come on that day and get to do the Dungeon Route. I think it might be a slightly longer route so we got more time to explore.

This brief (3 minutes) POV video gives some background on Jewel Cave and a quick look at the Historic Lantern Tour. You’ll see a new friend we made along the way. Watch to the end to see five tech-savvy millennials that can’t figure out how lanterns work.

I LOVED this tour and consider it one of the highlights of my trip through the Dakotas. To be honest, I was apprehensive about booking this more difficult tour. What if it’s hard? What if everyone is more fit than me and I can’t keep up? What if there are bats? Okay, well, that last one was true. And as far as guided National Park tours go, this one was pretty hard. But I also think it was a lot more fun than walking on a sidewalk.

My only regret for the day was that I put on clean clothes that morning. Note to self, crawling around in caves is dirty.

Go. Live.