Natural Entrance - Jewel Cave National Monument

When Frank and Albert Michaud discovered the natural entrance to Jewel Cave in Hell Canyon in 1900, they filed a mining claim that described the opening as too small for human entry. After enlarging the opening with dynamite, the brothers and their friend Charles Bush entered the cave. Their plan to mine the "jewels" from the cave fell apart when they learned the minerals were nearly worthless calcite. They then planned to open the cave to tourists and built a trail in the cave. The lack of tourists stymied this plan and the Michaud family sold their mining claim to the government for about $750.

A national monument protecting the cave was established on February 7, 1908. A private group began tours again in 1928. The park service began administering the monument in 1933 with park rangers from Wind Cave National Park working at the monument during the summer. In 1935, a Civilian Conservation Corps camp was established at Jewel Cave. Among other projects, the 25 men of the CCC built a three-room cabin, an 800-foot long trail to the entrance that included a stone stairway. Ranger Elwood Wolf and his wife, Shirley, lived in the cabin full-time from 1941 until 1943. Other rangers lived and worked in the cabin until the new visitor center complex was opened in 1972.

The natural entrance road is located about one mile west on US-16 from the road to the Jewel Cave National Monument visitor center. This short road ends in a loop that includes parking and a picnic area. A short gravel path leads up to the restored 1935 Ranger Cabin. The cabin is open to the public during the summer months as part of the Historic Lantern Tour.

I happened to be at the cabin when a ranger arrived to eat lunch before conducting a tour and was invited inside. After taking some pictures and talking with the ranger about the Jasper Fire and our evolving understanding of a healthy forest, I proceeded down the route of the old CCC trail to the gated cave entrance. The surface of the trail has been upgraded to a concrete sidewalk, but the original stone stairway is still in use.

The Jasper Fire started on August 24, 2000 and caused the monument to be closed for about ten days. During that time, the fire burned 90% of the monument surface and over 83,000 acres across the Black Hills. The forest today is much more open than it was in 2000 and is more likely closer to its natural density, as measured in trees per acre, today than it was before the fire. I visited in August 2017, seventeen years after the fire.

Gravel path from the paved parking area to the cabin

Restored 1935 Ranger Cabin

 

The other end of the cabin

Evidence of the 2000 Jasper Fire

Meeting area for Historic Lantern cave tours

More evidence of the Jasper Fire

 

Office end of the cabin

Kitchen door at rear of cabin

 

Fireplace in the office

This wood stove is not original to the cabin, but would be similar to what was used

Bedroom

Sink in the bedroom (lantern shelving is not period)

Trail

A series of steps leads down the hill

Hell Canyon with US-16 on the far side

Another view of Hell Canyon

 

Western Chipmunk (Neotamias umbrinus)

CCC stairway

Stonework retaining wall

 

Benches for a ranger talk 

Burned bark

The only poor surface on the trail

 

End of the trail...

...and entrance to the cave

Gate across the entrance allows bats free access

Return the same route

Ranger Cabin from the trail

Entry to Jewel Cave National Monument is free. Cave tours require a fee of $4 to $31 per adult depending on the tour. Prices are reduced for children and seniors. Some tours have a minimum age requirement. Tickets for the current day tours are sold at a kiosk outside the visitor center on a first-come, first-served basis.

The monument website is https://www.nps.gov/jeca.