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Jewel Cave National Monument – reviews, photos

11149 US Hwy 16, Custer, SD 57730
605-673-8300
Website
Jewel Cave is home to the second longest cave in the world.
more of cave formations
some of the formations
cave
42 visitor photos
Ranked #3 of 21 attractions in Custer
4.5 of 5 stars 77 Reviews
Type: Caverns/ Caves, National Parks
Activities: Group tours/day tour, Group tours/walking tour, Hiking
Owner description: Jewel Cave National Monument is home to the second longest cave in the world. Offering an assortment of cave formations and recreational...... more » Owner description: Jewel Cave National Monument is home to the second longest cave in the world. Offering an assortment of cave formations and recreational opportunities, many visitors are truly amazed by this underground wilderness. Most impressive is the fact that exploration and discovery continue to take place at this significant natural resource. As part of the National Park Service, the Monument offers four different types of cave tours: Scenic Tour (1 hour and 20 minutes), Discovery Tour (20 minutes) Historic Lantern Tour (1 hour and 45 minutes), and Wild Cave Tour (3 to 4 hours). Furthermore, an array of surface programs are also available during the summer months, which include guided nature hikes, patio talks, and special events.Reservations for cave tour tickets are strongly encouraged and can be made up to seven days in advance. Participant limitations often cause "full" tours during the summer season, and limited tour times occur in the off-season. For this reason, interested guests are encouraged to visit the Monument online or call the visitor center for specific information or helpful travel suggestions. « less
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77 reviews from our community

Visitor rating
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RTSeattle
Seattle, WA
Contributor
11 reviews
24 helpful votes
“Loved It!”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 12 September 2007
11
people found this review helpful

We took the Scenic Tour (1 1/2 hours touring the cave) and had a great time. We had our little kids with us and were worried that it might be too much walking for them, but it was easy and fun. The tour stays on either a paved walkway or a raised metal walking path, including some 700+ stair steps, but there was so much to see and it was all so interesting and exciting that we didn't really notice the walking. Our tour guide was terrific - full of funny stories and interesting information about the cave. This was a highlight of our trip and we all highly recommend it! Do bring a sweater along as they suggest - we were glad we had ours.

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lifeisbeautiful
colorado, USA
Contributor
12 reviews
30 helpful votes
“Good if u r a splelunker .. can be skipped if not”
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 30 May 2006
9
people found this review helpful

Jewel Cave National Monument is truly impressive for the facts surrounding it, for its geology, intricacy, exploration stories and densiity of the cave passages. But this is all what u can read up and still go WOW.
For what u see (in the Nature Scenic Tour), it is a dry cave, with not many formations and so most of the time u r walking in passages(paved for u with staircases et al) or stopping in huge cave rooms all of which r not too decorated with formations. But there is one room called formation room true to its name and pretty nice.
If u have time and even a wee bit of curiosity after this review, and 9 bucks pp to spare, go for it. If u r worried that u will be missing something but don't have the time or resources to do it, stop worrying and instead plan to go to Luray caverns in Virginia. That was our first cave tour and the 3 other caves after that haven't come even a close second.

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Jewel Cave National Monument
11149 US Hwy 16
Custer, SD 57730
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