Tour many caves in the Black Hills

Cave Tours

Those who believe that the frontier has vanished have only to look beneath their feet! Circling the Black Hills like a racetrack, a belt of Paha Sapa limestone laced with underground caverns comprises the second-longest cave system in the world. Of the 72 known calcite crystal caves in the world, 68 of them are right here in the Black Hills.

Cave tours offer a visitor experience unlike almost anything else in nature. Within the short span of an hour, you are taken into a cool, exotic world where dripping water, sparkling crystals and decorated corridors revel the unseen wonders of our Underground Wilderness. Eight "Show Caves" accommodate visitors, with lightning, stairs, railings and smooth trails.

Black Hills caves are renowned for their abundance of rare formations, exquisitely decorated rooms and passages and their maze-like interconnections. Some of the most common and easily recognized formations are stalagmites, column, spiraling helicopters, flow-stone, ribbon-like draperies frost-work, box-work and cave popcorn. Prevalent are translucent calcite crystals that line the wall, floors and ceilings. Wind Cave is well know for the box- work in the cave, box- work is an unsual cave formation compsed of thin calcite forms. Black Hills Caverns is made up of 2 different types of limestone (coeymans & manlius) from different periods in early Earth's history. Beautiful Rushmore Cave is the home of the Big Room, which contains more stalacities in one room on a tour route than any other tour in the Black Hills.

Most tours are around one-half mile in length and take about one hour. Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns  involves some strenuous climbing.  Some caves offer candlelight and spelunking tours. Temperatures down in the caves are pleasantly cool --about 50 degrees-- so a light jacket or sweater and comfortable walking shoes are encouraged.

Wild Caves
The Paha Sapa (Black Hills) Grotto of the National Speciological society identifies more than 75 named and mapped caverns in the Hills. Left wild and underdeveloped, these caverns continue to fascinates serious cavers. Cave explorers continue to map and name undiscovered passages in the far reaches wild cave,  Jewel Cave and Stagbarn Crystal Cave, too.


 





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