The Jewel Cave is currently the fifth longest cave in the world and has 215 miles of surveyed and mapped passages. The four longer caves are: Ox Bell Ha in Quintana Roo, Mexico (325.7 miles), Sac Actun in Yucatan, Mexico (400 miles), Mammoth Cave (420 miles), and Shuaghedong Cave (437.4 miles) in Guizhou, China.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) bestowed protected status III, which is a natural monument or feature protection for the unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities or cultural significance. These protected areas may include natural geological or geomorphological features, culturally influenced natural features, natural cultural sites, or cultural sites with associated ecology.

Two prospectors local to the area discovered the cave in 1900 when they felt cold air blowing out of a small hole, which was not large enough for a person to enter the cave. They then enlarged the cave entrance with dynamite, entered the cave and found it to be lined with calcite crystals, which was the reason they named it Jewel Cave and tried to make it a business by opening it to tourist.

By 1908, news had reached Washington DC and the cave was proclaimed a national monument. In the 1930s, the CCC arrived and began to develop the land around the natural entrance. In 1933, the National Park Service assumed management and began offering tours in 1939. As recently as 1959, less than 2 miles of passageway had been discovered, but two local rock climbers began exploring and within two year the mapped passageways increase to 15 miles.

In 1965, due to the fact that much of the new passageways were outside of the current monument in the national forest land, there was a land swap which established the present day boundaries. Then the park service sunk a 300 foot elevator shaft to a remote area of the cave, built concrete walks, metal stairs and platform to create a one half mile loop. The park service opened the Scenic Tour in 1972, which is still the same tour that modern day visitors see. By 1979, the same two prospectors had mapped more than 64 miles of passages and retired in early 1980s.

In 2000, a forest fire burned ninety percent of the monument and surrounding forest lands, and area of about 83,000 acres. However, the visitor center and other historic building were saved.

During the summer season from mid May to Mid September, the visitor center is open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Too, during the off season, the visitor center is open from Wednesday through Saturday from mid September to mid May from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Ranger guided tours are available locally and in advance by reservations.

The Jewel Cave is a US National Monument which protects 1,273 acres in the Black Hills of South Dakota. It has about 150,000 visits per year and is maintained by the National Park Service. It became a national monument in 1908 when president Theodore Roosevelt sign the document.

Jewel cave is located beneath the Black Hills in western South Dakota about 13 miles west of the town Custer, South Dakota.

In recent years the land above the cave have been scorched with forest fires, leave some areas without trees and other areas only sparsely populated.

Even the trees in the area near the old entrance sign were burned, any yet, many are still standing.

Not very far away, the forest is healthy and growing as shown in this photo.