NPS
Jewel Cave National Monument is a 1,274 acre park located in the southwestern Black Hills.Land prospectors found the cave around 1900 when they discovered air blowing out of a small hole above Hell Canyon. With over 162 miles of passages surveyed, it is the third longest cave in the world.
The landscape above the cave is dominated by ponderosa pine interspersed with mixed-grass meadows. In August 2000, the 83,503-acre Jasper Fire burned through a large portion of the western Black Hills drastically changing the vegetation and affecting wildlife communities.
A wide variety of birds, butterflies, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals were inventoried at the park. Jewel Cave also supports one of the largest colonies of Townsend's big-eared bats in the world.
We monitor landbirds, plant communities, and weather and climate at this park.
Featured Information
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Species ListsFind species lists for this park here
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Rocky Mountain Region Digital HerbariumFind plants from Jewel Cave National Monument in this searchable online collection of plant specimens
Reports and Publications
Read more about our work at this park in the resource briefs (short summaries), protocols (monitoring procedures), monitoring reports (detailed results), or inventories (assessments and lists of natural resources) below.
Source: Data Store Saved Search 2397. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.
Source: Data Store Saved Search 2396. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.
Source: Data Store Saved Search 2352 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.
Source: Data Store Saved Search 3380. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.
Quick Reads
Last updated: February 14, 2020