Jewel Cave Adventure: Fifty Miles of Discovery in South Dakota

by Herb Conn, Jan Conn

In The Jewel Cave Adventure Herb and Jan Conn trace the early history of Jewel Cave (discovered around 1900) and describe exploration before 1959. Then they tell with humor of the day the little cave took possession of them, and with quiet excitement of how that day in Jewel Cave led to nearly two decades of dedicated exploration and mapping--accomplished by Herb and Jan and with small groups of friends--during which the cave grew to over 50 miles of the most intricate three-dimensional networks of underground passages in the world. Fifteen excellent maps--including a giant folded map--guide the reader through the maze as the cave is extended mile by mile.

Herb and Jan are originals. They built their stone house against a rock wall, and made their living by playing the guitar, lecturing, and swinging on a rope to clean off the faces on Mount Rushmore. Their humor is as wild as their adventures. Herb and Jan will introduce you to the marvels of a world underground few people could imagine.

The Jewel Cave Adventure is also the story of Herb and Jan Conn. Unassumingly, they describe the rigors and joys of two lives dedicated to an unconventional goal.

Genres: Nonfiction, Adventure, Nature

240 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1981

Reviews

[Jenna Schauer]

Often when I read a book from a NPS site that I have worked at, I will say that unless you've been there before or unless you've worked there, you won't like this book. That is wholly not the case with this book.

Herb and Jan are excellent storytellers and it is so interesting to hear about the exploration of Jewel Cave from their perspective. The pictures show the details of the cave so well. I also love that they also included some of the songs that Jan wrote while on their cave explorations.

Jan Conn passed away 5 days before I finished this book. She was 99 years old.

[Nancy]

First person accounts by the authors of exploration of Jewel Cave in South Dakota. From their initial foray into the cave in 1959 until the late 1970s the couple crawled, inched and mucked their way discovering new rooms within the cave plus surveying and mapping 56.08 miles of passages. From the time this book was written further exploration of Jewel Cave has expanded to slightly over 200 miles. The Conns are skilled at relating their caving experience in a way the casual reader finds informative and entertaining. By the end I knew that I would never have adventured beyond the organized public tour.

[Rich]

Not a great piece of literature, but a surprisingly interesting account of the explorations in Jewel Cave. Claustrophobic at times!