Family Decides to Close Black Hills Cave to the Public

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — A cave with a long history in the Black Hills will no longer be open to the public after this weekend.

The Rapid City Journal reports Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns will open for the last time on Sunday and then cease to be a tourist attraction.

Peter Heffron runs the cave on behalf of 13 members of his extended family. He says over generations family members have moved farther away and lost their connection to the cave, which his family has operated since 1934.

He estimates that more than a million people have visited the cave.

About a half-mile of its passages have been mapped, but Heffron says he believes there's more to be explored.

The cave and the surrounding 720 acres of pasture and forest are for sale.

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