black hills Caverns

We%26#39;re going to the black hills this summer %26amp; was wondering if anyone has been to the Black Hills Caverns %26amp; what you thought of it? We are trying to find a good cave that even the kids would like. Thank you for any input!

black hills Caverns

I love caves, but we didn%26#39;t have time to tour this one when we were here. There are so many to choose from in the Black Hills. The website considers the tour moderate. (IMO, all of the ones I saw weren%26#39;t bad--the only one that I heard was challenging was Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns).

If you are looking to find the best cave to tour, I%26#39;d recommend Jewel or Wind Caves, which are both operated by NPS. These were more enjoyable over the privately owned caverns. I feel the park rangers really do a superior job when it comes to leading the tours. They provide very infomative histories and information on the formations.

Jewel Cave is the 2nd longest cave in the world and has lovely formations, including popcorn, stalactites, stalagmites, cave bacon, and crystals. Wind Cave, though not as long, is known for a formation called boxwork. It has the largest concentration of boxwork of any cave. Boxwork resembles spiderwebs and is amazing to see.

The kids will love either cave, as the rangers really get them involved. We had a ranger in Wind Cave that allowed the kids to ';lead'; the group. Of course, he was right up there with them. The ranger at Wind told an interesting story about a girl who got lost in the cave many years ago.

As long as your kids aren%26#39;t too young (i.e. toddler age), they will do well in either cave. The tours are about 2 hours, and while not strenuous, a toddler would probably get tired.

Have a great time!

black hills Caverns

Thank you for your input.

Does anyone else know anything about Black HIlls Caverns? Our kids are 9 %26amp; 11 %26amp; we%26#39;re hoping to go to a cave that%26#39;s interesting to them, not boring.

Windy,

What do your kids find interesting? Have they been to other caves? Are there any specific things in a cave you are looking for? To me, all caves are interesting, but some people have no interest in seeing one. Knowing the interests might help us in assisting you.

As I said before, Wind %26amp; Jewel really are the best in the area and really do cater to kids more than privately owned ones as a whole. The rangers are phenomenal. The tours are longer than what you will find at Black Hills Caverns. We toured 2 of the privately owned caves in the Black Hills, and honestly, there was no comparison between the tours offered by them and NPS.

Hopefully someone with some direct experience will respond, but if not, you really can%26#39;t go wrong with the 2 main ones in the hills.

They have never been to a cave before, so we were looking for one that you didn%26#39;t see the same thing over %26amp; over %26amp; want one that has an interesting tour guide. Do you need to get to Wind or Jewel Cave early in the day to make sure you get a tour?

thanks!

Both Wind %26amp; Jewel really fit the bill of what you are looking for. The rangers are well educated, and to be honest, I%26#39;ve never had one that disappointed me yet as far as quality and knowledge. As for seeing the same things over and over, the rangers will show you different formations and explain them. After which, your kids might enjoy looking for the different types and being able to identify them. The histories provided by the rangers are excellent also.

Wind Cave has a unique formation called boxwork that is seldom seen in caves. Boxwork resembles spider webs. It has the largest concentration of boxwork of any cave, so that, in itself, is unique.

As for tour reservations, I don%26#39;t think you will need them at Wind Cave. They seemed to have more tours available. However, I%26#39;d strongly recommend advance reservations for visiting Jewel Cave. Other than a small visitor%26#39;s center, there are no surface activities. We visited on a rainy summer day and found ourselves waiting for close to 2 hours to get on a tour. Thank heavens for the Junior Ranger Program to keep our daugther entertained! I have to say that our tour was well worth the wait, however! There are some fantastic formations at Jewel.

For more information on both caves, be sure to visit nps.gov, and go to the South Dakota section. You will find detailed descriptions of available tours for each cave.

Feel free to ask more questions!

I took my son at age 9 to both Wind Cave and Jewel Cave and he was most interested in Jewel Cave. The ranger let him and 2 other kids be ';leaders'; right behind the ranger. My kid loved this.

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