Flashlights are required equipment when touring some passageways.
South Dakota's Jewel Cave enjoys the distinction of being the world's second largest cave system, outdone only by Kentucky's Mammoth Cave. Due to the dedication of experienced cavers who continue to explore and chart the massive formation, Jewel Cave's current mapped length is 151.21 miles. The most recent additions to the mapped area came as a result of 16 hours of exploration on June 27, 2010. Exploration continues, promising yet more discoveries.
Initial Discovery
In 1900, brothers Frank and Albert Michaud--accompanied by their friend Charles Bush--stumbled upon a natural opening among some of the rocks of the Black Hills of South Dakota. A burst of cool air and the sound of wind whistling through the opening captured their attention. Intrigued, the men made a bigger entrance by setting off a charge of dynamite, creating an opening that led into a large cavern. The spectacular, gleaming calcite crystals filling the cavern inspired the brothers to develop the cave and surrounding area into a tourist site.
Status and Ownership
Jewel Cave became a National Monument in 1908 when President Theodore Roosevelt stepped in to help protect the site's natural beauty. Ownership of Jewel Cave changed hands several times later. In the same year in which the cave received national monument status, the United States government purchased the site from Frank and Albert Michaud for the sum of $750. In 1933, the property changed hands again when the National Park Service bought it.
Developments
Managed by a company called the Jewel Cave Corporation, early commercial tours ran from 1928 through 1939. Further development of the site by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930s included the installation of sewage and water lines along with features such as hiking trails, a campground, cabin and the addition of stone steps leading to the entrance of the cavern. More modern developments include the mapping of miles of previously unknown passageways and research involving bats, geology, airflow and microbial DNA. Airflow studies of the strong winds barreling through the cave in areas lying far from the natural entrance led to parts of the cave receiving creative names like Exhaust Pipe and Drafty Maneuver.
Features
Jewel Cave offers a bounty of geological treasures, including a multitude of natural formations such as stalactites and stalagmites and the abundant jewel-like calcite crystals that inspired its name. Detailed mapping of the cave over a period of 21 years by Herb and Jan Conn led to the introduction of many miles of passages, some of which are now available for public touring. The degree of difficulty encountered by the Conns led them to dub some of the passages with such names as The Misery and Contortionist's Delight.
Touring Jewel Cave
Visitors can take advantage of a variety of guided tours through the caverns, including short walking tours of up to 20 minutes in duration intended for the inexperienced cave explorer. Tours featuring gradually increasing degrees of difficulty--suitable for advanced cavers--range from moderately strenuous to extremely strenuous. The fourth and most challenging tour requires hikers to wear headlamps as they crawl through narrow passages and scale steep rock walls, working their way to hidden underground rooms inaccessible in any other manner.
Tags: Jewel Cave, calcite crystals, changed hands, Frank Albert, Ownership Jewel, Ownership Jewel Cave, South Dakota
