Visited Black Hills Caverns this summer! This was the first of 2 caverns we visited while in South Dakota! We made reservations months in advance but I think you can also show up the same day. Tour was great and felt nice and cool during the hot summer day! Well worth the visit! read more

Black Hills Caverns - Entrance to the cave - Historical Tours Near Me - Rapid City, South Dakota

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On the way back from Mt. Rushmore, we decided to call and make a reservation for an "Adventure tour". What you need to know: They have two tours: The Adventure Tour (1 hour) Crystal Tour (1/2 hour) One lady had mobility issues and a cane and they accommodated her on the Crystal tour and she was fine. There was one flight of stairs that she had to take twice but she took her time. There was also a newborn baby that I would not recommend - the baby kept crying and the parent had to end their tour. Kids were fine. Reservations: preferred but not required, last tour is close to 5pm, but call to check. Attire/Gear: I had on vans and no special gear and was fine but note, it's colder down there in the summer, and warmer in the winter. We went in August and it was about 55 degrees inside the cave. Lucky I brought a hoodie. Towards the end of the tour you have to get back up using stairs so you heat up quickly. Our tour guide Josh was fun and happily chatted with us - they feed off of your feedback! He also let us use their umbrellas to get back to our car since a storm had begun while we were in the cave. I recommend this tour for all ages so you can learn a little about the area and history of the cave! read more

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I highly recommend the Black Hills Caverns. It is very family friendly and they have a fabulous gift shop. They have gemstone panning and a Crystal Mine for the littlest cave boys and girls. The Yelp page shows that the caverns are closed (probably a Yelp glitch) but they are 100% open for business. read more

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Today was a rainy day so this was a perfect stop! Tour guide Devon did a great job. He was wonderful with my 4 year olds nonstop questions! With a 1 year old we opt'd for the shorter crystal tour since we would have to carry him. After the tour we went out to the sluce box for my son to find some gems we bought in a kit inside. Very reasonable prices with purchase of tour. Spent about an hour all together as we got in for a tour right when arriving. read more

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Had an amazing time! Totally recommend taking the Adventure tour! I made a reservation ahead of time and had no trouble. Be prepared to climb up and down stairs. read more

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My first of many trips to the caverns was an absolute blast! It is the perfect activity for those hot days, since the caves are nice and cool. We did the longer tour that was about 1 and a half hours. Lots of stairs but an amazing walk. This is a great place for family fun as little ones can get hard hats with lights at the gift shop before going on the tour. Our guide, mazie was funny and great! read more

Black Hills Caverns - Historical Tours Near Me - Rapid City, South Dakota

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The tour guide she was excellent. It was a little rush cause there was another tour 2 minutes behind us so we had to keep moving. But overall we enjoyed it. read more

Pretty fun, lots of cool rocks and gems to look at. The panning was enjoyable, there was a selection of bags that were color coded that told what was in the bag. read more

ADA Discrimination My family, consisting of three people with two task trained service dogs booked reservations for a 2:00PM tour, online. We arrived at the location and proceeded to attempt to check in. We were asked for papers regarding our dogs. We were also told that we could not attend the same group we had planned to join. Apparently we were supposed to call ahead to book a "private tour" because of our service animals. Nowhere on their website did it state any of this information. Keep in mind, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III which states, "Public accommodations must comply with basic nondiscrimination requirements that prohibit exclusion, segregation, and unequal treatment." The "private tour" for us was supposed to be abbreviated to a 20-30 minute excursion for my family and our dogs. On top of that, we needed to sign a waiver which we did not read, but were told (in short) that it stated we were to be held liable for any of the dogs' wrongdoing. When my father attempted to show the business owner the ADA Title III she stated she knew the law, and that he needed to calm down, she did not bother to read it. We left and called a state park cave establishment who said they do not need waivers and that we will be able to attend the same way as everyone else. Needless to say we're on our way to the other park. If you don't have a service animal, or are not disabled, this is how it feels... you're a wheelchair user being told you can't go somewhere, not because there's no ramp, but because you'll get in the way. This isn't how I wanted to spend my vacation, as someone who suffers from disabling anxiety. read more

The price was right and close by. We've visited several caverns and caves in our travels. BH Caverns is in the middle. Unique formation and the feeling of being inside a geode. read more

Me and my dad and sister went here while on vacation in South Dakota. We went on a Sunday and it wasn't too busy and they were ready for us pretty soon after we got there since we booked ahead on the website. We had Arik for our adventure tour guide and he was really nice and funny. Always made sure to wait for people who were struggling and checked in that everyone was ok every few minutes. Had lots of cool facts and information to tell us. We got rocks from the gift shop afterwards and they're very cool. They have a shorter crystal tour and a longer adventure tour for people who don't want to walk for the whole hour and we did the adventure tour which was for sure worth it. Would definitely recommend. It was very very cool:) read more

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What an amazing cave! Our tour guide Colin was wonderful and had a neat sense of humor. He pointed out all the different crystal formations and anomalies in this particular cave. Tour was just a little bit over an hour and was typical cave conditions but not overly strenuous. We had several elderly people, myself and mate included, and several small children on our tour and it was pleasant for all. read more

Our tour guide was Alyvia and she was so sweet with our 2 year old. She was funny and very informative. The Caves were beautiful. We did the 1 hour tour and it was worth it. Very cool temp wise inside the caves. If you are in the area I suggest you take the trip to go check this out. read more

Black Hills Caverns - Historical Tours Near Me - Rapid City, South Dakota

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We had a wonderful experience here. Our guide was very friendly and knowledgeable. She answered al our questions and was very invested in us having a great experience. The cave is impressive, too. read more

What an awesome experience. Dylan J was our tour guide and he did the whole thing at our pace & kept us laughing the whole time as well as teaching us interesting facts. You can tell he loves the cave and that made the experience that much better. I would definitely recommend. It is cold, tight and slippery in some spots but that is to expected in a cave and part of the experience. read more

We took the long Adventure tour at 5pm on a Wednesday evening. It was easy to find and easy to check in. Being on a trip, it was nice to be able to reserve our trip online, but only pay once we arrived since we weren't sure we would make it on time. The restrooms are pit toilets. The staff was cleaning them when we arrived so it was nice to use. Liquid hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes were available. The long tour included a gem hunt in sand for children under 5, which my son enjoyed. Caves were cool, but not cold for us at the end of June. Recommend tennis shoes or closed-toe sandals. The guide, Ian, did a great job. Wish there was a little more geologic fact to the informational talk, but the lore was fun. Enjoy! read more

My family and I were expecting impressive caverns. However, we were disappointed as these were below average and somewhat hazardous. BE AWARE: The only initial warning provided by cave staff is the number of steps - over 200. There are many very tight spots and if your tall (I'm 6'5"), you'll spend roughly 80% of your time ducking, and at some points, nearly crawling up steep sets of steps where the ceilings are very low. There are also many steep inclines with very slippery surfaces. WARNING: Do not attempt the main tour if you are claustrophobic, partially disabled, elderly, have physical issues such as heart problems, high blood pressure, are overweight or out of shape. The folks I was with on the afternoon tour were panting or out of breath from climbing the many steep steps located at the end of the tour. This cave can be very dangerous in spots. One person on our tour slipped and fell onto concrete while my daughter and I hit our heads 5 times each, despite being careful. I would recommend to the property owner to offer protective head gear - such as a hard hat - especially to tall people. Our tour guide raced through the caverns and it was difficult to keep up at times. I'm in good physical shape - working out on a daily basis - and even I found the tour somewhat difficult. Overall, these caverns were unimpressive as I've seen much better examples. It's essentially a set of limestone caves strung together with some minor crystalline structures, and lots of mud and dirt with a little dolomite thouwn in. There are NO beautiful stalagmites or stalactites. Additionally, it's badly and cheaply lit. These caverns are essentially a series of brown, rocky holes in the earth. Please save your money and check out other worthwhile local caves such as Wonderland Caverns. read more

Privately owned, this cavern is a little less "clean" from the National Parks caves that we visited, but that doesn't take away from the experience, in fact, it adds to it. We knew it was a different kind of cave tour when the guide showed up wearing khaki shorts and a Black Hills Caverns t-shirt. Dillon, although young, was great at being a guide! He's a spelunker on his off time and loves talking about the cave and what it holds. The gift shop holds everything you might need, and even offers ice cream! The tours last about an hour, and they try to stick pretty close to that time schedule, based on how many people are waiting to take a tour of the cave. The time crunch comes at the end if the guide has been busy talking and having a good time with his guests, which we enjoyed. There were about five kids in our group, including my daughter, and Dillon kept them entertained while the adults were free to take pictures. He admitted to us that there was a script to follow during the tour, but I'm not sure how close he stuck to it. It didn't seem that scripted to me. It felt more like a conversation, and he hit the highlights of the different things he needed to point out. The only drawback that I could think of was the fact that they have pit toilets if you need to use the facilities. I personally don't care, but some people might be put off by the idea. On a brighter note, they are an official fallout shelter in case there is a nuclear war. They can accomodate up to 650 people. Look for the sign! For a seasonal attraction, they do just fine! read more

Great way to escape the heat! We were in a tour group of 8, which was the ideal size for the Adventure Tour. The guides do speak loudly, but they do not use microphones so smaller groups are best to be able to hear the guide at all times. Very interesting tour learning about the history of the cave and the variety of formations. Would highly recommend for adults and kids. There are steep stair cases and narrow, uphill/downhill pathways that might be difficult for some. read more

This was a great stop on a hot day for our family. We had 5 kids with us (ages 4-12) and they all enjoyed it immensely. We took the adventure tour with Anya and she was very knowledgeable & enthusiastic. She did a great job. This was the highlight of our trip for the kids--they liked it even more than Mt Rushmore!! read more

This is a great cavern to visit. Our guide, Brandt, was very knowledgeable and fun to talk with. Definitely wear good sturdy walking shoes as the inclines and stairs get a bit treacherous! I'm a little bit claustrophobic but had no trouble with this cavern, even though there were lots of places where we had to duck while going up or down stairs, and there's one area that's a fairly tight fit side to side but it's very high in that area which helped. read more

This was really fun. We went on the short tour which was approximately 30 minutes. They have a longer one also but we have young kids and we thought they might get tired. Very interesting and the guide did a great job! read more

We loved this! Definitely pricier than the state/national parks, but availability for tours is better with a tour leaving every 20-30 minutes. We opted for the longer tour, and had no trouble at all with two kids and a baby in a carrier. Our guide Max was great with the kids and very funny. There's a lot to see and we really felt like we had the cave experience. Ended up buying a cool geode nightlight, too! read more

Such an awesome tour to add to your Black Hills adventures! Our cave guide, Cooper, was very knowledgeable and entertaining. We opted for the "Adventure" tour which brings you down to 225ft below the surface but everything is on a path so at most a few crouches, maybe side ways turns and your good. Really a great experience for the entire family! read more

We took the 30 min tour and the guide was great. She explained the history of the cave and made the time enjoyable.

Our visit on the "Long Tour" at Black Hills Caverns was excellent. Our guide Cooper was very knowledgeable and did a fantastic job explaining all the rock formations and the history of the caverns to us. One needs to be in decent physical shape to do this tour as there are slippery inclines and declines to walk up and down and many stairs to climb on the long tour. We are senior citizens and my wife has osteoporosis. She was scared of slipping and/or falling but my holding her hands, walking slowly, reassured her and she did fantastic walking the tunnels and steps during our whole time here. The tunnels are very narrow at some points where you have to duck your head and enter very narrow areas so I don't believe you can carry small children on this tour if they cannot walk on their own. Also bring a light jacket or sweater with you as the temps drop to 50 degrees when you are in the caverns, quite a contrast to the 90 degree weather we had outside on that day. All in all we had a great time exploring the caverns with Cooper. read more

Great Tour!!! I never miss a chance to tour a cave and this was one of the best! Most caves I've toured are walk in and out on the same path. This tour is a circle, no backtracking. Also, there were different length tours based on ability. We took the long tour but I saw people with small children sign up for the shorter one. Very handy. Plus, it was so nice and cool in the cave. Perfect after a hot day in the hills. Also, I just read the review before mine. He didn't even go into the cave. He left a review saying it wouldn't have been worth it? Uh, he never went it. I think he mostly was trying to get business for his cave in Colorado Springs. Kind of a long drive if you're in South Dakota. read more

I have been in some really big and very expansive caverns...this will not go down in the rolls of famed caved. The staff was very nice though. This is a great tour (we did the short one) led by spelunkers. I am a tall guy and not as skinny as I used to be so this tour can get challenging in spots. My 5 year old, no problem. It was short and cool inside though. Lots of history and the staff knows them well. read more

Ashley our tour guide was very nice and informative. The cave is awesome- full of crystal. Highly recommend. The staff was great and the place is kept up nice too. read more

This was definitely worth taking a small detour for! Very cool, one-hour tour. The cave was really big, we kept going down, down, down. Tour guide was very knowledgeable, well-informed. Spaces were really tight in spots, low-ceilings. Would not recommend if you are claustrophobic or not in good shape. You go up and down stairs a lot and pretty quickly. Overall, very cool!! read more

when we were there, i tried to engrave a penny with the mt rushmore image, but the machine ate my 51 cents. when i told hannah, she got 51 cents from behind the counter and tried it herself with the same results. i was disappointed - since i have a collection of these pennies engraved at special places. when we got home, i wrote black hills cavern an email, asking if they could possibly have a penny engraved for me when the machine was fixed and send it to me. and guess what??? wooHOOO!! i received it in the mail today - can you believe it??? i am deliriously happy. these folks are awesome! take the tour, check out their unique and lovely items in the shop, and enjoy yourselves! read more

Great tour guide Brody, we were a smaller group and we had some questions that he was able to answer and have fun with us also. It made for a fun and more personal tour. I would def recommend this cave to friends and family. Ask for Brody, he will give you an awesome time!!! read more

Our tour at Black Hills Caverns was amazing! We had a wonderful and knowledgeable guide who answered every question that we threw at him. We are from the Black Hills and we have been to a lot of the other caves, but this was by far the best! I would absolutely recommend this to anyone! We have a 1 year old daughter and even she liked it. So many formations to look at inside the cave and so many fun activities outside of the cave as well. They had the Crystal Mine, which was perfect and was included for our daughter in the price of the tour. They also had Gemstone Panning and she loved splashing in the water and digging for rocks! This is absolutely a place that everyone should go!! read more