Underground tours of Jewel Cave are scheduled to resume Saturday/Kurt Repanshek file

After months of work to improve the trail system inside Jewel Cave, underground tours at the national monument in South Dakota will resume this coming Saturday in conjunction with the kickoff of National Park Week.

The work that began last fall included removal of existing sidewalks, stair treads, guardrail and handrails, installation of new guardrails and handrails, stair treads, concrete sidewalks, lighting upgrades, and other improvements throughout the Scenic Tour route.

The not-quite-90-minute ranger-led tours of the cave are scheduled to resume Saturday, with spring tour times at 10 a.m., 12:40 p.m., and 2:40 p.m. A 20-minute Discovery Talk is also scheduled each day at 9:05 a.m. The first day of National Park Week is a fee free day; all scheduled cave activities on Saturday will be free of charge, and tickets will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis.

Saturday is also National Junior Ranger Day. To further celebrate the week, a special Junior Ranger Program is set for 10:30 a.m. A guided nature hike on the one-quarter-mile Roof Trail is planned, with participants involved in an outdoor scavenger hunt. After successfully completing the activity, participants earn a special embroidered patch and certificate. Interested individuals may also want to request a Junior Ranger activity booklet at the visitor center and learn even more about the monument. Junior Rangers and their families should meet at the visitor center and dress according to the weather conditions.

At 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., Cave Explorer Chris Pelczarski will present a program on caving within Jewel Cave. Pelczarski was part of the exploration team that mapped the 200th mile of cave in mid-December. His program shares the excitement of exploring inside the third-longest cave in the world. Yet, he will also discuss his reasons for volunteering with the National Park Service and why exploration trips are so unique for the monument.

Cave tours will continue through the spring, summer, and early fall seasons. It is expected that the cave will close again in early October for the second phase of the construction project along the Scenic Tour route. 

Learn more about Jewel Cave National Monument:

A Tale Of Two Caves: Going Underground At Jewel Cave National Monument And Wind Cave National Park

New Year And New Discoveries At Jewel Cave National Monument