Scenic Tour - Jewel Cave National Monument

The Scenic Tour is the most popular tour of Jewel Cave. The guided tour lasts 80 minutes with entry and exit via the elevators in the visitor center. The tour route passes through various cave chambers and passages along a concrete trail with steel stairs and handrails. The route includes a total of 723 stairs  along a ½ mile loop that returns to the elevator at a lower level than the start. The path and many formations are illuminated by electric lights. The tour is rated moderately strenuous due to the number of stairs.

The cave temperature is 49 degrees, so a sweater or light jacket is recommended. In addition, close-toed low-heeled, rubber-soled shoes or hiking boots are highly recommended. Clothing, shoes, and even cameras that have been in other caves outside the Black Hills are not allowed in order to help prevent the spread of White-Nose Syndrome that is killing bats across the country.

Additional information from the park service website:

During the Scenic Tour, you will see two types of calcite crystals known as nailhead spar and dogtooth spar, which are the "jewels" of Jewel Cave. In addition, you can view boxwork, cave popcorn, flowstone, stalactites, stalagmites, draperies, and a long ribbon drapery called the cave bacon. 

Each Scenic Tour allows for a maximum of 30 participants. It is common for all Scenic Tours to sell out before noon daily during the summer months and holiday weekends. Tour times vary by season. In collaboration with Black Hills Central Reservations, Jewel Cave National Monument offers advanced ticket sales for Scenic Tours scheduled on the hour. Advanced ticket sales can be made for dates that are over 48 hours in advance and up to 90 days into the future. Advance ticket purchases can be made online at www.blackhillsvacations.com or by phone at 844-245-6179. Please be advised that advanced ticket sales are administered by Black Hills Vacations.

NOTE: Same Day Tours are available at Jewel Cave National Monument; tickets for same day tours are available on-site, in person, on a first come first served basis on the day of the tour. Cave tours can and often do sell out daily. Visitors are advised to come in the morning to purchase tickets for any time during the same day.

Tickets for the scenic tour are $12 per adult and $8 for youth age 6 to 16. The tour is not recommended for children age 5 and under. Each tour participant must be able to navigate all 723 stairs without assistance. A maximum of 30 participants are allowed on each Scenic Tour. The number of tours and the start times vary by season. I took the tour in August 2017.

Elevator air lock in the cave

Overhead

One of several viewing platforms

One of the views from the platform

Typical stairs, but not on this tour

Another view from the platform

Tour route down from the platform

Looking back at the elevator airlock room

Dogtooth Spar

A closer look at some Dogtooth Spar

Cave formations tinted black by manganese dioxide

Cave Popcorn

Looking back at a set of stairs

Passageways form along faults in the limestone

View inside a geode

More calcite crystals or cave "jewels"

Trace minerals color the formations

Boxwork

More boxwork

A broken formation reveals its structure

A cave chamber

Flowstone

Active flowstone

Flowstone tinted by iron oxide

Jellyfish formations

Stalactites

Flowstone

More stalactites

Jellyfish and flowstone

Stalctites

Cave Egg

Repaired stalctite

Flowstone over Nailhead Spar

More mineral patterns above a chamber

Overhead view

Stalagmite

Nailhead Spar

Formations inside formations

Manganese dioxide coats this Dogtooth Spar 

Cave Bacon

Further up the Cave Bacon

More mineral patterns

Different types of lighting 

Another viewing platform

The lower elevator airlock

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.