Cave tours are given daily, on the hour, year-round. The tour guide relates the cave’s history, geology, and legends (is the cave haunted?) as visitors walk down and back up a route that is about a half-mile long.Ĭolossal Cave Mountain Park is located about 22 miles southeast of downtown Tucson, Arizona. The Wild Cave Tours for advanced and intermediate cavers follow the footsteps of outlaws and early inhabitants through unlit, unmarked, and rarely seen passageways that extend a quarter mile into the depths of the Earth.įor the curious but less adventurous, the Regular Tour takes about an hour to complete. Participants must be physically fit, agile and able to scale obstacles and negotiate tight squeezes (the equivalent of a “cave hug”).Īdvance notice is required for the Candlelight Tour, a re-creation of how the first recorded modern explorers saw the cave in 1879. Participants don hard hats with lights and climb up ladders, slide through narrow passages, scramble across bridges and see cave formations (and possibly a dozing cave bat) up-close. The Ladder Tour, offered by day and by night, ventures into mysterious, off-route areas of the cave that harbor exquisite geologic specimens. All the tours are guided and most have age restrictions. The cave bacon and popcorn are popular with kids.įor outdoor adventurer-seekers willing to navigate some tight spaces, a variety of tours and advanced caving treks offer a relatively safe introduction to cave exploring and spelunking. There are many geological gems to see in this crystal-filled underworld, including formations like stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, boxwork, and helictites. The water source has disappeared and the formations are not growing so it’s now called a “dry” cave. Inside, the temperature is always 70 degrees.Ĭolossal Cave is an ancient “karst” cave system forged out of limestone rock by water erosion over hundreds of thousands of years. There are about 3.5 miles of mapped passageways and many miles of natural tunnels yet to be fully explored. As its name implies, Colossal Cave is massive. A Discovery Center, with interactive exhibits and a video explaining many aspects of the cave, including its important role as a nursery roost for cave bats, and picnic areas are available on site.Ī maze of winding passageways makes up the subterranean landscape of Colossal Cave, located on the grounds of 2,400-acre Colossal Cave Mountain Park. Tickets can be reserved online and by telephone. The trails inside are paved and wheelchair-accessible. Tours are offered frequently by guide only. Kartchner Caverns State Park® is located about 55 miles southeast of Tucson, Arizona. Inside, the temperature stays around 70-72 degrees with 98 percent humidity to foster the growth of new formations. At the entrance, visitors must pass through four tightly sealed steel doors and be missed to remove lint and any other human particles that might harm the cavern. These caverns are extremely protected, thanks to delicate lighting and minimal human disturbance upheld by park staff. Hundreds of them precariously extend downward, many beaded with a drop of water at the tip that will only make them longer. Another soda straw not within public view in Kartchner measures 21 feet. They are not much thicker than kite string as they dangle from the ceiling for one, two, three, up to nine feet as seen on the tour. If you wonder what it means for a cavern to still be in its virgin state, just check out the soda straws. Kartchner is a rare cavern that offers visitors a look at the entire family of colorful cave formations: stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, cave popcorn, shields, columns, totems, drapery, bacon and the massive 58-foot-tall Kublai Khan column in the Rotunda Room. Their early explorations can be replicated by visitors who go on the all-new Helmet & Headlamp Tour, a half-mile specialty tour available on limited basis. The footprints of Randy Tufts and Gary Tenen can be seen preserved in a small lake of mud. It was good fortune that the two young spelunkers who discovered the 200,000-year-old cave in 1974 appreciated this pristine treasure and initiated conservation efforts that led to the creation of the state park in 1999. Here is a glimpse of what you’ll see down below: Kartchner Caverns State Park® Each offer guided tours that make it easy for novice cavers who want to discover spectacular natural wonders. These amazing attractions have very different experiences so you’ll want to explore both. If you’ve ever wondered about the earth below your feet, satisfy your curiosity by visiting the two show caves in southern Arizona: the living, underground oasis of Kartchner Caverns State Park® and the dry, crystal-filled maze at Colossal Cave Mountain Park.
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