Hi there!
The specific cave tours that are offered at Jewel Cave National Monument when you are there will depend on cave access at that time.
It is worth it to do at least one Jewel Cave tour.
I went to Jewel Cave National Monument and did a cave tour, and this is what you need to know about cave tours!
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How much does it cost to do a Jewel Cave tour?
There is no official entry fee collection for Jewel Cave National Monument, but there are fees for the cave tours.
If you have an annual national park pass, then it won’t do you any good at Jewel Cave National Monument, as it gives you no discount on the cave tours.
The cost of a Jewel Cave tour will depend on which tour you decide on.
The cost of tickets for the regular Jewel Cave tours is around $6 to $16 per person.
The adult prices are listed below, and there is a discounted rate for kids.
Number of reviews are at the time I created this list, also indicating the most popular tours.
Here are the best Jewel Cave tours based on popularity:
- The Scenic Tour is $16 per person. (1 hour 20 minutes, 0.5 miles, 734 steps, moderate, 296 reviews)
- The Discovery Tour is $6 per person. (20 minutes, 0.1 miles, 0 steps, easy, 45 reviews)
- The Historic Lantern Tour is $16 per person. (1 hour 45 minutes, 0.5 miles, 500 steps, difficult, 38 reviews)
- The Wild Cave Tour is $45 per person, age 16+ only. (4 hours, strenuous, 7 reviews)
See the current list of tours and fees.
Be sure to read the full description of any Jewel Cave tour you are looking to do to make sure you know what you’re getting into, and so you can be properly prepared for it.
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How to buy tickets for a Jewel Cave tour
The important thing to know is that Jewel Cave tours do sell out.
So planning is best!
In 2023, the best way to buy your ticket for Jewel Cave tours is through the official National Park Service reservation website.
When you are on the national park reservations website for the individual tours, you can go to the calendar availability.
If you click on a certain date, it will tell you how many tickets are left for each tour time. So this can let you know how soon you should book.
If there is still availability of the cave tours, then you can also buy tickets to the Jewel Cave tours when you show up at the Jewel Cave Visitor Center.
The way to buy tickets can always change, so it’s important to check for updated Jewel Cave ticket info from the National Park Service website.
You may also try calling the Jewel Cave visitor center to speak with a park ranger to ask about how the availability of any of the cave tours for the day is looking.
The phone number listed for the Jewel Cave National Monument Visitor Center is 605-673-8300.
👆 This sign for sold out Jewel Cave tours was seen around 12:30pm on an August day in 2021 when the only possible way to buy tickets was in person. In 2023, you can buy tickets online, and it is best to buy Jewel Cave tour tickets online before you go!
Do you need to buy tickets in advance for Jewel Cave tours?
According to the National Park Service:
Advance reservations are recommended, availability of walk-up tickets is not guaranteed.
🦇
The best Jewel Cave tour is the lantern tour?!
If you do the Jewel Cave lantern tour, it’s very likely it’ll leave a lasting impression on you!
Quite literally, you will be using a lantern to light your way through the cave!
The National Park Service calls this tour an “adventurous” tour.
It is called the “historic” tour so you can get a sense of what it may have been like in the past to explore a cave with your own lighting of a lantern.
Although for the purposes of the tour, you are using more reliable modern lanterns!
And since you’re in a group, you have a ton of lanterns. And you also have a guide to know exactly where to go.
But, you can still imagine what it was like to be to be one of the first explorers of Jewel Cave!
Jewel Cave is in mountain time zone!
Jewel Cave is mountain time!
Some of South Dakota is in mountain time, and some of South Dakota is in central time zone.
Can you go inside Jewel Cave without a tour?
So one of the most important things to know about Jewel Cave is that you cannot go inside Jewel Cave without a guided tour.
You cannot go inside Jewel Cave on your own.
So in order to see inside Jewel Cave, you must sign up for a Jewel Cave tour!
Your tour guide will be a national park ranger.
Or at least, in order to see anything meaningful inside Jewel Cave you need a tour. You actually can see a little inside Jewel Canve by going to the Jewel Cave entrance on your own. (You can’t actually go inside, though!)
In order to make a trip to Jewel Cave really worth it, you need to do a cave tour.
Yes, it is a cool experience to walk inside Jewel Cave!
And then the other important thing to know is that Jewel Cave tours do sell out.
So planning is required!
How should you dress for Jewel Cave?
In short, bring a layer or 2, and wear good shoes!
You will want to dress for cooler temperatures for Jewel Cave.
Even if it’s nearing 100F outside (possible in South Dakota in summer!), it is cooler in the cave.
It is said that inside Jewel Cave is consistently in the upper 40s.
The National Park Service says the Jewel Cave temperature is around 49F.
For this reason, you’ll want to bring some extra clothes for the tour.
You will likely want to wear a sweatshirt or light jacket inside Jewel Cave.
You will also want to wear shoes good for walking so your feet can be comfortable as you walk through Jewel Cave!
Along with narrow steps, you’ll be walking on the natural cave floor which means that the ground isn’t always completely flat. For this reason, you’ll want to be sure you wear good shoes (not sandals) for your Jewel Cave tour.
More specifically, the National Park Service also says:
For safety reasons: sturdy, low-heeled, rubber-soled shoes such as sneakers, tennis shoes, or hiking boots are required to take part in an Historic Lantern Tour.
Due to the uneven, rocky terrain of the cave, open-toed shoes and close-toed sandals (including Crocs, Teva footwear, and KEEN hiking sandals) are prohibited.
Also, for the health of the bats, you are asked not to wear shoes you have worn in other caves.
It’s also best to bring as little as possible to the cave tour. (So don’t bring a backpack for example.)
Also while we are talking about what to wear, we will also talk about what not to wear on your next cave trip after Jewel Cave!
Take a full-body picture of yourself when you are inside Jewel Cave!
This way, you will know what NOT to wear the next time you go inside a cave!
And you are also asked to not wear the shoes you wear in Jewel Cave in any other caves of the future.
It is said that your shoes may be carrying disease harmful to bats that can be tracked into other caves.
There’s a disease that’s deadly to bats is called white-nose syndrome. (This doesn’t affect humans at all.)
White-nose syndrome is thought to have been mostly spread from cave to cave by humans who have entered a cave with the fungus and then tracked it into another cave.
This is why it’s best not to wear the same shoes (or even clothes) that you wore into Jewel Cave into any other cave in the world.
The most serious park I went to, Craters of the Moon National Monument, didn’t want you wearing ANYTHING into the Craters of the Moon caves that you wore into any cave in the last 15 years!
It was literally a question that was asked upon entry to the park!
So, by taking a picture of yourself, you’ll know what you wore into Jewel Cave so you’ll know what not to wear to another cave!
If you are going to both Jewel Cave and Wind Cave, consider bringing 2 pairs of shoes with you to South Dakota.
Save the bats!
Jewel Cave tour offerings can change
It seems to be a thing across national parks that elevators for cave tours get broken.
When I made a visit to Jewel Cave in 2021, there was an elevator that was broken, and this meant that not all cave tours were offered.
Elsewhere, when I went to Wind Cave National Park, there was also an elevator broken that limited cave tours.
And while on a Jewel Cave tour, there was a kid who asked about broken cave elevators because when he went to Carlsbad Caverns National Park there was a broken elevator. Why are elevators always broken at cave national parks? 😆 Not his exact words, but that was basically the question! (I’m not sure when he went there.)
As for the Jewel Cave elevator, there were estimates that it would be fixed the following month so hopefully you won’t have that problem in 2023!
But to know the current Jewel Cave tours that are offered, you can check the National Park Service website for updates. And it can be good to check in the days leading up to your Jewel Cave visit too, in case there are any other alerts to be aware of.
That said, even with the limited cave tours in Jewel Cave available, I was happy about the cave tours that were available!
While not all cave tours were offered, there were some cave tours available.
There were 2 Jewel cave tours offered, and I did both of them.
My favorite walk inside Jewel Cave was the historic lantern cave tour.
The National Park Service calls this the “adventure cave tour.”
You are holding a lantern as your only light to guide your way through the cave!
And that’s a little bit about doing a Jewel Cave tour!
I did Jewel Cave tours in August 2021. Your experience may vary!
Above ground: Things to do in Jewel Cave National Monument
More for your South Dakota road trip: Best places to visit in South Dakota
More national parks with caves:
- Wind Cave National Park
- Mammoth Cave National Park
- Craters of the Moon National Park National Monument
HAPPY DOING A CAVE TOUR IN JEWEL CAVE NATIONAL MONUMENT PARK!
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Here are some ideas for a classic South Dakota road trip going from east to west!
After you go to Badlands National Park, you can head west to Wall Drug and then onwards to Mount Rushmore!
You've made it to the Black Hills, where you'll find Custer State Park.
While you're in the area, you can also go to Wind Cave National Park and/or Jewel Cave National Monument and/or the Mammoth Site!
Drive the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway on your way west out of the Black Hills and South Dakota as you continue your epic road trip to Devils Tower National Monument and Wyoming!
Then, onwards to the best places to visit in Wyoming with your grand finale of Wyoming being one day in Yellowstone National Park!
Read more for your South Dakota road trip: Best places to visit in South Dakota
Check the reviews at partner websites included below!
How to save money on your trip
I tend to use booking.com or hotels.com to look for the cheapest hotels. You can also try the expedia hotels site (good for car rentals too) or see if you like any of the vrbo vacation rentals or cabins!
Rapid City hotels will put you in the major city of the Black Hills.
Custer hotels will put you in a small town near Custer State Park!
Keystone hotels will put you in the gateway town for Mount Rushmore.
Wall is the major gateway town for Badlands National Park. I've stayed at the Super 8 in Wall.
Or, you can go camping in South Dakota!