The Tour, the Stairs, and the Time I Got Stuck in a Rock
Visiting the Cave
The cave is open year-round, except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. Tour schedules and hours shift with the season. Elevator tours run rain or shine; natural entrance tours can be delayed or cancelled for lightning, heavy rain, or snow. The park may occasionally close for snow entirely.
No matter what it's doing outside, the cave itself doesn't care — it sits at a constant 49°F year-round, which means it's simultaneously the coldest place you'll want to be in July and the coziest place you'll want to be in January. Pack a jacket regardless of the season on the surface; the cave runs its own weather system and it did not consult you.
Tours
There are four tours, ranging in difficulty and length. All of them require closed-toe shoes — no Crocs, no sandals. No food, drink, or gum is allowed underground, and that rule extends to backpacks, walking sticks, and tripods too — the cave wants you unencumbered, apparently on principle. Unflavored bottled water is the one exception. And no, there are no restrooms in the cave, so plan accordingly.
Reservations are strongly recommended, and for the Wild Cave Tour they're mandatory — book through recreation.gov, ideally well before you arrive, since online reservations cut off at noon the day before your visit. Some walk-up tickets are sold same-day in person, but they're first-come-first-served and known to sell out by late morning, so "we'll just wing it" is a bold strategy here.
Discovery Tour
The easiest tour, and the only one that's actually wheelchair accessible — the optional 15 steps to the observation platform are skippable, not mandatory. Runs about 20 minutes.
Scenic Tour
Takes you a half mile through many of the cave's best formations. It's absolutely beautiful, and it's the one we picked — though it comes with 734 steps, roughly 40 flights of stairs, and no, it is not wheelchair accessible, for reasons that will become extremely obvious around step 200. Worth it. We saw all of it, including the cave bacon. Mmmmmh. Cave bacon. Runs about an hour and 20 minutes.
Historic Lantern Tour
Lets you explore the cave the way visitors did back in the early 1900s. Takes guests a half mile in on unpaved trails, complete with ladders and low, narrow passages. All guests must be at least 8 years old, and it's only offered during the summer.
Wild Cave Tour
One of the most intense cave tours I've ever seen offered. There's a small concrete box you have to fit through to even participate — I got stuck. My wife had to pull me out. I've done plenty of wild cave tours with zero issues, and then Jewel Cave humbled me personally. Once you're through, it takes you deep into sections most visitors will never see. Tours run in summer when a qualified ranger is available. You must be 16 or older, with sturdy lace-up boots.
Pricing
Good news up front: there's no entrance fee for the monument or the visitor center itself — you only pay if you actually want to go underground, which, since you drove all this way, you do.
| Tour | Toddler (5 & under) | Child (6–15) | Adult (16–61) | Senior (62+) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery Tour | Free | $3 | $6 | $3 |
| Scenic Tour | Free | $8 | $16 | — |
| Historic Lantern Tour | — | $8 (8–15) | $16 | — |
| Wild Cave Tour | — | — | $45 | — |
Next stop: four faces carved into a mountain, and considerably fewer steps than 734.
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