Black Hills Caverns


Useful Information

Location: 7 km west of Rapid City on Hwy 44.
I90 exit 57, Omaha Street west, Hwy 44.
Open: MAY to 14-JUN daily 8:30-17:30.
15-JUN to 15-AUG daily 8-19.
16-AUG to 15-OCT daily 8:30-17:30.
Last tour 1 h before closing time.
[2007]
Fee: Adventure Tour: Adults USD 8.75, Children (6-12) USD 5.50, Children (0-5) free.
Crystal Tour: Adults USD 7, Children (6-12) USD 4, Children (0-5) free.
[2007]
Classification: SpeleologyKarst cave
Light:
Dimension:
Guided tours: approx. every 20 min.
Adventure Tour: D=60 min, L=1250 m.
Crystal Tour: D=30 min, L=500 m.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address: Black Hills Caverns, 2600 Caverns Rd., Rapid City, SD 57702, Tel. +1-605-343-0542, E-mail: contact
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

very long known to the Lakota Indians.
1882 discovered by gold seekers.

Description

Black Hills Caverns has an astounding variety of formations. You will see Speleothemstalagmites, Speleothemstalactites, Speleothemhelictites, Speleothemboxwork, logomites, frost crystal, purple amethyst, dog tooth spar crystal, cave flowers, nailhead spar crystal, popcorn crystal and much more! Many of those speleothems are descibed in our Speleothemspeleothems section, but some are pretty rare.

Logomites (aka snurds) are special stalagmites which were first discovered, described and named in the Black Hills. They are also found in other caves, especially in remote parts of Jewel Cave. This are tall spires, between five and ten centimeters in diameter, and up to two or three meters tall. They are not stalagmites, as they are coarsely crystalline and not layered and generally have a large vertical hole which means they are hollow. But this is not visible from outside, the main impression for the visitor is the crust of socalled popcorn calcite they are covered with inside and outside. There is so far no satisfactory explanation how they formed.

Frostwork (Anthodites) are needle-like crystals usually found in radiating clusters. Thy have a diameter of severl centimeters, but the cluster form cluster which may cover huge parts of the cave wall. The individual crystal is only a few millimeters long, clear, white, or tan in color and varies in thickness between less than a millimetre and up to two or three millimeters. Frostwork is not calcite but aragonite, which has the same chemical fomula but a different crystal structure.