Friday - We visited Jewel Cave this morning. It was named for the shiny mineral, calcite, found on most of the walls. The two men who discovered the cave thought it was quartz and were thinking that gold must be close. They ended up making their fortune with cave tours.
Jewel Cave is the second longest in this country with over 230 miles of explored tunnels and fifth in the world. And, based on airflow research, they believe that there are many undiscovered tunnels. The map shows the known tunnels.
This is a “dry” cave with only a few areas where water is seeping into the cave. Only a couple of areas have the typical stalactites and stalagmites. Underground lakes have been found at the 800’ level. On the tour, you take an elevator down, walk about half a mile on 750 stairs then take the elevator back to the surface. While on the tour, you are at around 200’ to 300’ from the surface.
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