Jewel Cave National Monument

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

After enlarging the entrance with dynamite, the Michaud brothers discovered a cavern lined with calcite crystals, inspiring the name "Jewel Cave." They constructed walkways and opened the site to tourists, but their commercial venture failed, forcing them to sell their mining claim back to the government. The cave is a solutional cave formed primarily in limestone, with most passages developing within the Pahasapa Formation, deposited around 350 million years ago. Its defining characteristic is being a "breathing cave," where changes in outside air pressure cause air to flow in and out. The cave is named for the calcite crystals, or "jewels," that cover many walls. Other formations include stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, flowstone, cave popcorn, boxwork, helictites, frostwork, and rare hydromagnesite balloons. The cave's passages follow a pattern of joints and faults associated with the uplift of the Black Hills. After main dissolution, a thick calcite layer lined the walls about 2.5 million years ago. The discovered areas account for only 3–5% of the estimated total air volume, suggesting the total length could be far greater than the currently mapped passageways. The largest known room is the Big Duh. The cave's elevation range is substantial, with its deepest point roughly below the surface. All known passages fit within a defined surface area.

Reader's Guide

Jewel Cave National Monument holds significance as the first U.S. national monument established specifically to protect a cave, setting a precedent for cave conservation. Its status as a breathing cave—where air movement is driven by atmospheric pressure changes—provides a natural laboratory for studying cave ventilation and hydrology. The cave's calcite crystals, known as 'jewels,' and rare formations like hydromagnesite balloons add geological importance. Ongoing exploration, with only a small fraction of the cave's estimated volume mapped, underscores its role as a frontier for scientific discovery. The National Park Service offers four tours, including a wild caving tour requiring squeezing through a 9-inch passage, and surface trails that pass the historic entrance. The monument's mission emphasizes preserving and interpreting the cave system for scientific and public interest, inspiring continued exploration and education.

Did You Know?

• The three caves are connected by man-made tunnels blasted in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration.
• The average temperature in the caves is 46 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Martin Hansen discovered Hansen Cave in October 1887 while reportedly tracking cougar footprints.
• Vearl James Manwill rediscovered Timpanogos Cave on August 14, 1921, and that night the group dedicated themselves to its preservation.
• The monument's original visitor center burned down in 1991, and a temporary trailer served as the visitor center for almost three decades.

The Story of Three Discoveries

Martin Hansen (1847–1934) discovered what became known as Hansen Cave in October 1887; while cutting timber, he reportedly tracked cougar footprints high up the side of American Fork Canyon. Many of the features and formations in this chamber were damaged or removed by the Duke Onyx Company and the general public before the cave was made a national monument. In the summer of 1913, a second cave was discovered nearby. While in the area to explore Hansen Cave with their families, teenagers James Williams Gough (1897–1986) and Frank Johnson were climbing an adjacent slope when they discovered the entrance to what is now known as Timpanogos Cave. Several others later entered the cave and viewed many of the formations inside, including the Great Heart of Timpanogos. However, before long, knowledge of the cave and its entrance was lost. Some sources indicate that the entrance was lost due to a landslide in the area, while others say it was, in part, caused by the extreme secrecy of the original finders. Several years later, after hearing rumors of another cave, Vearl James Manwill (1900–1966) came with a group of associates (which later became the Payson Alpine Club) in search of the mysterious hidden cave. On August 14, 1921 he rediscovered it, although many sources credit him as having discovered the cave. He immediately shared the information with the other members of the group. Having in mind the extreme damage that had resulted in Hansen Cave, that very night the group dedicated themselves to the preservation of the cave. Of that night, Manwill wrote in his journal that they discussed ways 'to preserve its beauty for posterity instead of allowing it to be vandalized as Hansen's Cave had been'. Shortly thereafter they reported their find to the United States Forest Service. Later that fall, on October 15, 1921, Martin’s son, George Heber Hansen (1884–1951) and Martin’s grandson, Wayne Errol Hansen (1903–1989), were hunting on the other side of the canyon. While using binoculars to try to find deer, they came across another hole in the mountain, between the other two caves. In a few days they came back, with 74-year-old Martin Hansen. Martin was the first to enter the cave, now called Middle Cave.

Ancient Stone, Living Formations

The cave system is located in the Deseret Limestone, a Mississippian age limestone formed around 340 million years ago. Notably, the cave cavity was formed initially by a series of faults running off of the Wasatch Fault. Since that time hydrothermal water action perhaps similar to that of Cave of the Winds in Colorado, and uplift of the Wasatch Range has formed the modern cave system. The speleothems first started to form within the last 750,000 years, based on paleomagnetism of iron deposits within the formations, as the cave system has been slowly lifted above the unnamed stream that flows though the canyon (and becomes the American Fork river at the mouth of the canyon). Many colorful cave features or speleothems can be seen. Among the most interesting are the helictites, which are hollowed, twisted, spiraling straws of deposited calcite or aragonite. They are formed when water travels through the tube and then evaporates, leaving a trace mineral deposit at the end. Other speleothems found in the cave include cave bacon, cave columns, flowstone, cave popcorn, cave drapery, stalactites and stalagmites. The average temperature in the caves is 46 degrees Fahrenheit.

Guardians of the Deep

Although the site was designated a national monument on October 14, 1922, the site was initially developed and maintained by the U.S. Forest Service. The National Park Service took over management in 1933. A number of park structures were built by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s. The Timpanogos Cave Historic District was designated in 1982 to include these structures. Middle Cave and Timpanogos Cave were discovered in an era where their formations and resources could be protected. The National Park Service, which oversees and preserves the cave complex, has continued to develop new ways to retain its natural features, including limiting lighting in the caves to retard growth of invasive organisms. Preservation is a high priority. The resource management team at the monument is actively involved in protecting the cave and its surroundings. The National Park Service is continually monitoring and striving to determine a successful balance between visitor access and cave preservation. A limited number of people per tour was implemented to help lessen the human impacts in the caves. The National Park Service also balances preservation with the needs of the Monument's staff. The Monument's original visitor center burned down in 1991, and the visitor center was housed in a double wide trailer house for almost three decades. With the temporary visitor center in a dangerous rock-fall zone, plans for a new center came under consideration. Following the monument closing for the season in September 2018, construction began on the new trailhead and visitor center. The trail and monument reopened to the public in June 2019.

Walking the Canyon to the Cave

The 1.5-mile-long (2.4 km) trail to the cave entrance gains 1,092 feet (333 m) in elevation, but it is paved and fairly wide, making it accessible for most people. The three caves of the system, one of which is specifically called Timpanogos Cave, are only viewable on guided tours when the monument is open, usually from May through September depending on snow conditions and funding. There is the standard tour going through the cave system, and an Introduction to Caving tour that teaches Leave No Trace caving and goes further into Hansen Cave. Current tours of the cave system enter the caves though a man-made entrance very close to the entrance discovered by Martin Hansen. Passing through a tunnel, tours continue on to Middle Cave, before passing through another tunnel to Timpanogos Cave. Finally, tours return to the surface through a man-made exit near the original entrance.