Hi everyone,
I%26#39;ve been doing some lurking researching for a trip to the area as part of a very ambitious month long trip to the western USA. I%26#39;ve searched the forum, but I can find no reference to the sitting bull crystal cave. OTOH people often mention jewel cave. The NPS website isn%26#39;t exactly inspiring for the jewel cave...they don%26#39;t really go in for superlatives on there do they... crystal cave sounds pretty impressive on their website and nothing like anything we can see here that I know of..
.. so is the sitting bull crystal cave worth visiting on a schedule that is reasonably tight... ditto jewel cave?
I haven%26#39;t set the number of days in this area yet... I just found out about de smet.. so that%26#39;s blown things out a bit. I%26#39;m a reader but I don%26#39;t remember ever reading anything I enjoyed more than Laura Ingalls Wilder%26#39;s books..and the ones set around de smet are my favourites... anyway I digress...
also, the 1880s train..(oh way awesome loco! also not like steam locos here..) sucks up a lot of time to actually go on it, is checking it out at departure time a reasonable substitute if push really comes to shove on our must see list? Is the scenery on the route significantly different that we would want it as well as iron mountain road and/or spearfish canyon?
there%26#39;s certainly a lot of interesting things to see in south dakota isn%26#39;t there. I%26#39;m almost scared to keep eavesdropping on here..
sitting bull crystal cave v jewel cave
I would always pick a national park/monument over a privately held and marketed place. You can say anything you want on a website!
Jewel Cave is a wonderful place and we enjoyed our tour. We liked this tour better than Wind Cave and almost as much as Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.
sitting bull crystal cave v jewel cave
I like Jewell Cave better than Crystal Cave. I think the tour at Crystal Cave is a little corny and it%26#39;s pretty small. You can get in and out of Crystal Cave pretty fast and they do offer the ';least strenuous tour'; of any of the caves. Jewell Cave is closer to Custer and Crystal Cave is closer to Rapid City.
I%26#39;d say to pick Jewell Cave, make a reservation a day or two in advance, take the fully lit tour (not the candlelight tour) and you%26#39;ll appreciate it the most.
This isn%26#39;t to say that Crystal Cave isn%26#39;t worth visiting. It has its place for some visitors with it%26#39;s close proximity to Rapid City and I-90 and accessibility for the physically challenged.
Whether or not you%26#39;ll have time for any cave depends on the time you%26#39;ll have in the area and your interest. If you have no special interest in caves but wouldn%26#39;t mind seeing one, you%26#39;ll probably want to put several other places higher on the list. Like Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park, the Badlands, Devils Tower.
The 1880 Train scenery is OK...but nothing like the Needles Highway or Spearfish Canyon. The 1880 Train is more about riding on an antique train. If you find yourself not having time to ride the train, you can still check out the rail yard in Hill City.
thanks very much guys. That helps a lot. :o)
Snodge,
I really agree with both Casa%26#39;s %26amp; Accomodator%26#39;s advice here. Casa is so right; any cave (or national park) run by NPS is really worthwhile. We visited Wind %26amp; Jewel Caves (both operated by NPS), and Rushmore %26amp; Wonderland Caves (privately owned). Wind %26amp; Jewel totally smoked the privately owned caves. The rangers are such excellent tour guides; they usually far surpass the guides at the privately owned caves. They just really know ';their product.';
Accomodator%26#39;s advice on the 1880 train is also dead on. I would ride only if time permits. You will find prettier scenery in other areas of the Black Hills.
I just wanted to make a comment on your question on Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns. I think the advice Accomodator gave you in this area actually refers to a different cave. There%26#39;s a ';Crystal Cave'; (located on Rt. 44, I think) that does boast the easiest cave tour in the Hills. We didn%26#39;t visit this cave, but it is supposed to be very accessible. I believe the cave you are referring to, Sitting Bull, is right off Rt. 16 not too far from Reptile Gardens %26amp; Bear Country. I have heard (and I know..you can%26#39;t always go by what you hear) that Sitting Bull Cave%26#39;s tour is quite strenuous. It has some pretty steep steps according to the AAA guide. I don%26#39;t know if that bothers you or not, but I thought I%26#39;d mention it.
Like we have said, with Wind %26amp; Jewel Caves, you really can%26#39;t go wrong.
Enjoy your trip to the Black Hills. You are right; there%26#39;s a ton of things to see and do.
I stand completely corrected. I was referring to Crystal Cave and not Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns. I%26#39;m sorry--too many tourist stops to keep straight. Some time I%26#39;ll have to check out Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns.
Yes the Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns website has a very prominent warning that the cave is strenuous, and is near bear country etc. I think it should be OK if we end up doing it. I found it originally on the website for the smart alec gps thingy they hire out in Deadwood, but it can be hard sometimes with such maps they are generally not to scale so I didn%26#39;t pick up the different location re the other crystal cave above...
thanks again everyone your advice is helping me a lot. Not just on my post/s, but reading through others is a real eye opener. Extremely useful.
thanks for spending the time:o)
Snodge..we%26#39;re all glad to be of help. Keep the questions coming. You can find some really good maps of the area. If I remember right, if you order the travel guide for South Dakota (travelsd.com), the map is the centerfold of the guide. It shows many of the area attractions.
Accomodator...no need to apologize. There are a ton of caves in the area, and the similar names make it more confusing. You always give really helpful advice to those in need! :) Tourists really benefit from your local perspective.
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