Travel Secrets by V

Jewel Cave is the third longest cave in the world with 192.99 miles of mapped passageways.  Unlike other caves that mostly contain stalagmites an stalactites, the majority of the formations you will see are are calcite crystals also known as dog-tooth spar. And they cover about 80-90% of the walls inside the Jewel Cave. Since they look like jewels and will give you the impression that you are inside a giant geode. As a result, the entire cave glitters from all these crystals.  Making it a magical place. Personally, I think it looks like a beautiful fairy garden, it’s just missing the fairies. You won’t see another cave in the world like this one, it is truly unique.

A breathing organism

Jewel Cave is actually a breathing cave, when the temperature changes, the cave inhales and exhales much like a living organism. It feels like walking inside a living breathing mountain. Overall, it is estimated that the cave holds 8 billion cubic feet of air which means that it could potentially be up to 5,000 miles long. Consequently, no one has found the exit yet. Since there are miles of cave that have not been discovered or mapped out yet, Jewel cave could someday become the longest cave in the world.

How were the Jewel Caves Created?

About 345 million years ago this area was a sea. Sediments and shells accumulated on the bottom of this ocean and created limestone. Over time the sea dried up and refilled numerous times. As a result, every time it dried up, some parts of the seabed crystallized into gypsum. Eventually the gypsum created pockets within the limestone. When the seas filled up again, the gypsum washed away the limestone. Then around 60 Millions years ago, after the Laramide orogeny which caused the uplift of the black hill, the weather changed and brought a lot of rain. Eventually the water found it’s way into faults and cracks in the rock and filled the pockets in the rock below with water.

How did the water dissolve the limestone?

During the Laramide orogeny a lot of plants died and decomposed into the soil. This created soils that are very rich in carbon dioxide. When the water runs through this soil, it turns the water into carbonic acid. As this acid runs through the cracks in the rocks it dissolves the limestone and picks up calcite from the remains. When the cave was filled with acidic water it dissolved the limestone and the area was saturated with calcite. Eventually the cave drained all the water and left walls covered with thick calcite. This calcite formed the crystals that we see today. Once the acid reaches a chamber with air, it loses the carbon dioxide, much like soda, and becomes water again. Without the carbon dioxide, the water can’t hold the calcite in liquid form so the calcite deposits in stalactites, stalagmites, draperies or popcorn.

How were the Jewel Caves Discovered?

Found by Frank and Albert Michaud in the summer of 1900. As they were riding in the valley, they heard a whistling sound. The sound was wind blowing out air from a cave. It was too small to enter so the next day they returned with dynamite and enlarged the way in. Inside they saw walls covered in crystals. They thought these crystals were quartz. Quartz means there is gold nearby and they thought they were going to be rich. Sadly these crystals were not quartz but instead, it was just a lot of well preserved spar crystals. Unfortunately, Spar crystals are worthless.

When they realized they weren’t going to get rich with gold they tried to turn it into a tourist attraction. So in 1902 they opened the Dancing Club but there wasn’t enough people in the area to make it a success. News of the place eventually reached President Theodore Roosevelt and he proclaimed it a National Monument on February 7, 1908. Beginning in 1933, the National Park service started managing Jewel Cave. But it wasn’t until 1939 when they first started offering tours of the site. Until 1959 less than 2 miles of passageways had been discovered.

Mapping the Jewel Cave

In 1959 a geologist named Dwight Deal wanted to explore the Jewel Cave. Back then people were only allowed to explore caves in groups of three so he asked two of his friends, rock climbers Herb and Jan Conn. They weren’t too thrilled at the idea and agreed to do it once. However, it was the beginning of a new passion. Herb and Jan Conn spent the next 22 years mapping the Jewel Cave. In their first two years exploring the cave, they mapped out 15 miles of passageways. After they discovered the scenic route in 1961, Herb designed the lighting system and it is still in use today. By 1979 Herb and Jan Conn had mapped more than 64 miles of passages inside the Jewel Cave. They retired from caving in 1980.

First Jewel Cave Tours

The Michauds sold their claim to the government for about $750. Even though it became a National Monument in 1908. The National parks didn’t start to administer the park until 1933 and tours weren’t offered until 1939. Once Herb and Jan Conn started mapping the Jewel cave, the National Park Service took interest in develop ping additional tour routes.

The park installed a 300 ft elevator in 1965 to give tourists easier access to these tours and it’s still in use today. Surprisingly, it will take you 240 ft down into the ground in 30 seconds. It’s located in the visitors center. It took almost 6 years to build. Along with the elevator they built platforms and staircases along a half mile loop. The Scenic tour opened in 1972 and it is the same scenic tour that tourist visit today.

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