Photo curtesy of Black Hills Caverns’ website.
Black Hills Caverns offers a deep dive into the underground history of Rapid City.
Karen Johnson, general manager at Black Hills Caverns, explained the history of the 225 feet-deep cave.
“Black Hills Caverns was originally established in 1839 by a gold panner,” said Johnson. “He got tired, took a climb up the hill, leaned against the wall and felt a breeze. So, he started digging around and ended up finding our cavern that we have today.”
Black Hills Caverns offers two different tours designed for visitors with varying interest and capability levels.
“We have two tours that we offer,” said Johnson. “We have a Crystal Tour— It’s an half an hour guided tour, takes you through the first level of our caves, shows you about 30% of it, looks like we cracked open a giant calcite geode that you get to walk through. It’s pretty fun. Also, we have an Adventure Tour. It’s a one hour guided tour. It takes you through all three levels of our cave shows you 225 feet down into the cave. We have about 25 formations within our cave, so it makes it pretty special. That’s a 3/4 mile kind of strenuous hike, but it’s a lot of fun to get to see everything that we have.”
The Crystal Tour is recommended for visitors who are less capable of taking on a strenuous hike with many stairs, and who instead want to experience the caverns at a more casual pace. The Adventure Tour is recommended for visitors who are prepared to hike through the entire cave.
Black Hills Caverns also offers additional activities to enjoy after the tours.
“We want to be accommodating to everybody. And then we have some fun stuff after the tours for the kiddos as well, to keep you busy and maybe give you a break after your strenuous hike,” said Johnson. “So, we have a crystal mine for the kids and we have some gemstone panning so you can sit down, relax, the kids can pan for some stones and have a lot of fun.”
The Crystal Tours and the Adventure Tours run every 20 minutes, and both tours begin together. After the first section of the tour, individuals on the Adventure Tour depart from the Crystal Tour to hike deeper into the cave.
“We can leave at the same time, that way the family can take part of the tour together, and the people that want to do the whole thing can experience the entire cave,” said Johnson.
The caverns are a bit chilly, running between 47 and 50 degrees during the summer, so visitors are encouraged to wear a light jacket and good walking shoes. Sunglasses and hats are not recommended, as the cave ceilings are sometimes low.
Black Hills Caverns is open to visitors all summer long, from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Tours are available from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday until September when the caverns will also be open on weekends
“So, we are a fun scientific place, but it’s also a lot of fun for everybody of all ages. You get to see things that you’ve maybe never seen. We have flowstone, we have frost, crystal, globule lights, slate types, cave ribbon, lemon crystals, box work and we have a plethora of different minerals within our cave. And it’s just good to do something that maybe you’ve never done and it’s 225 feet down. How many times can you say that you’ve gone that deep into the earth?”
Some crystals and minerals are available for purchase in the Black Hills Caverns gift shop, along with other locally-sourced items.
“Our gift shop, we have a lot of fun local things, some mugs, some cups, some stones,” said Johnson. “We have some minerals from our area and minerals throughout the entire world that we have brought in to us. And it’s just kind of a fun, unique area to find maybe a special gift for somebody.”
For more information about the Black Hills Caverns or to book a tour, visit their website here.
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