Jewel Cave National Monument
National Monument · Custer, South Dakota
The fifth longest cave in the world and the second longest in the United States, with more than two hundred and twenty miles of mapped passage as of July 2025 - and the surveying is not finished, because airflow measurements suggest only a small fraction of it has been found. Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed it a national monument on 7 February 1908, the first ever created to protect a cave. It is thirteen miles west of Custer.
11149 US Highway 16, Custer, South Dakota, 57730, United States
THE SURFACE AND VISITOR CENTER ARE FREE and open daily, closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. ⚠ THE CAVE IS SEEN BY TICKETED RANGER-GUIDED TOUR ONLY and TOURS SELL OUT IN SUMMER - a portion are reservable on recreation.gov and the rest are same-day at the visitor centre. Winter runs a much reduced schedule. There is no self-guided option.
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