South Dakota Cave's N Things!
So with my Wyoming coffee in hand I started off Day 2 of my road trip adventure! Shortly into the western boarder of South Dakota, there is the Black Hills National Forest and oh was it a JOY to drive through! The first true stop of the trip was just inside the forest at Jewel Cave National Monument.
So what is in Jewel Cave National Monument one might ask? No surprises in this title, Jewel Cave. As of me writing this article in 2025 Jewel cave is the 5th longest mapped cave in the world! But they are mapping more and more of it every year! Frank and Albert Michaud, two local prospectors, discovered the cave in 1900, when they felt cold air blowing out of a small hole. Like a really small hole... so they "naturally" decided to get some dynamite and blast it open! They found a space covered with calcite crystals. Turns out while calcite crystals are pretty they are not a thing to mine.... annnnnd try as they might to make it a tourist attraction there venture failed... and they had to sell the land back to the federal government.
While there are many indigenous groups that walked the land above Jewel Cave there is no evidence that this cave was of cultural or spiritual significance possibly due to the small size of the original, pre-dynamited entrance. The cave tour, lead by an amazing park ranger, was informative and highlighted the beauty of the cavern and the structures inside of it!
The next stop on my route was to Wind Cave National Park! But half the trip is the Journey so I stopped in Custer for an amazing lunch at Black Hills Burger & Pizza Co. Then off to get fuel and supplies at South Dakota Outdoor Shop, where the staff was amazingly helpful.
I took the long way to wind cave and drove through Custer State Park's Wildlife Loop Road. This was a JAW DROPPING drive with rolling hills, filled with Buffalo, donkeys, pronghorn, and my new favorite animal the prairie dog. WARNING: prairie dogs may cary the plague, do not feed the prairie dogs, do not walk up to them, and for those of you who travel with your animals DON'T let your pets run and play with them! No one wants the plague ya'll! I did take SO MANY photos of them and there adorableness!
After a few more hours of driving (this would have been much shorter if I had not stopped pulling over to watch the prairie dogs) I reached my destination and got to take my much valued National Park Sign Photo Op!
I arrived at the Wind Cave Visitors Center in time for my ranger led cave tour. If you want to visit this cave make sure you get your tickets before hand through recreation.gov.... cause they were sold out other wise. My park ranger was amazing and gave us lots of information about the cave!
This cave was of cultural significance to the indigenous peoples, specifically, the Lakota. The original entrance was the small hole (seen below) which is to small to go into. The cave is a "breathing cave" and the Lakota oral tradition speaks of how the first bison and humans emerged from this deeply spiritual place.
How to you go on a cave tour of a place with an opening that size you might ask? Well there is an entrance and stairs now. The main geologic formation of interest in the cave is boxwork. "Boxwork is made of thin blades of calcite that project from cave walls and ceilings, forming a honeycomb pattern. The fins intersect one another at various angles, forming "boxes" on all cave surfaces."[ 0 ]
The cave tour was excellent and I got to learn a lot about the area! After the tour I explored the sunny side of the park and was met with some amazing scenery and Wildlife!
I noticed that the wind and clouds were picking up, so I made my way to the Elk Mountain campground which was my home for the night! I got set up and just as I was finishing cleaning up from dinner the rain and fog rolled into the park. Setting the night scene as something far more likely to be found in the smokey mountains.
[ 0 ] https://www.nps.gov/wica/learn/nature/wind-cave-geology.html
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