I recently shared some information with you on the hiking trails at Kartchner Caverns State Park, along with some information about the cozy cabins they have for rent, but what I haven't shared with you yet is information on the caverns themselves! The park isn't just beautiful hiking trails and camping grounds, but it also has a live, growing and stunning cave system that offer tours for anyone interested in seeing this extremely well preserved cave system or learning about it's history.
There are dozens of caves spread out across the United States that offer tours, however one of the things that sets this cave system apart from many others is how well preserved everything is. It is an active cave system which means that it is still constantly growing and changing. Due to this they want to limit as much outside contaminates from getting into the cave as possible. How do they achieve that?
Prior to taking your tour you are asked to leave your camera, cell phone and personal belongings behind in the lockers they have available on site or in your car. This might be a little panic inducing for people who have their phone attached to their hip, but it was nice to just be in the moment, to really see the cave, and enjoy your family/friends company without snapping dozens of photos or being distracted by a text.
They also ask you if you've been in any other caves recently with the shoes you are currently wearing, there is another cave very close to this one which is why they ask. Sometimes visitors like to visit both caves in the same day. If you have been in another cave they ask that you step onto a sanitizer device that will clean the bottom of your shoes. They ask you all of this to help prevent harmful bacteria and germs from getting into the cave which could affect not only the cave system itself but the bats that live in the caves through out the year.
Due to the rule of no cell phones/cameras being allowed in the cave it means I won't be able to share any photos with you of how the cave looks inside. However if you want to stop by their instagram page after reading this review the Kartcher Caverns official page has a few photos from inside of the cave for you to see. Instead of sharing photos of the cave system with you, I will be talking about the cave and providing some photos from inside of their Discovery center + Museum that you are able to explore before or after your tour.
You have to leave your belongings behind but what about the clothing you are wearing? They will ask you to leave behind sunglasses and hats that may fall off if you look over the edge of the rails to see the formations. They also ask that if you take your jacket off due to the caves being rather warm and humid all through out the year that you slightly roll it up and tie it tightly around your waist to prevent it from flapping behind you touching the formations as you go. Along with these few rules they also ask that you do not touch any of the rocks or formations along the trails, although accidents do happen because the trail you walk on is very close to rock formations so you could accidently bump into something if you aren't paying attention. If you do accidently touch a rock or foundation next to the trail, it is okay just let your guide know so they can mark it with a small flag. At the end of the night a staff member will go through and clean all of the areas that have the small markers, this helps prevent nasty mold from growing causing damage to the formations and rocks. As you are entering the start of the cave system you will walk through a small tunnel that has misters, these misters help remove any dust, loose hairs, etc on your clothing that may fall off during the tour. The mist is harmless to you and will not leave you wet.
At the moment to help keep everyone safe and to maintain a social distance between guests, tours are currently being limited to groups of six. So depending on the size of your group, it could just be you and your family taking the tour alone. This will create a more personal and one on one experience while taking the tour. We are a family of four so aside from us there was one couple that came on the tour along with the two tour guides assigned to our time slot. Our main tour guide was extremely friendly, and very informative with information before, during and after the cave tour. He provided a lot of useful information on how the caverns were discovered, how they are able to keep it so well preserved and more. He also had lots of dad jokes and puns to provide during the tour which we all found entertaining and we got more than a few laughs during the tour.
One of the formations that is featured both inside of the museum and inside of the caverns itself are called "Soda Straw" they get this name because of how they have a long thin appearance. It was neat to see in the museum, but you don't really realize how amazing the formation really is until you are in the caverns and able to see it in person. We were also shown the Strawberry room where the formations take on pink/red hues due to an infusion of copper in the water that helped form those specific formations. Along the way we were also shown "Cave Bacon" which legitimately looks like large strips of bacon woven along the ceiling, if you are hungry they will make you crave breakfast foods.
Over time many fossils, bones, and more have been found in the caverns both by the original finders and staff who help explore the caverns. During your tour you'll come to a room where you will be shown a section of the cave that has a whole shelf where you'll see dozens of small fossils, seashells and more between the other layers of cave growth that date back thousands of years. One of my favorite cave formations were called "Curtains" because they looked like old large draped fabric curtains. Along with the formations I've named there are also popcorn formations that are crazy to see plus many other varieties of formations, it is astonishing how many formation types, colors and more can be found in this cave system. The craziest part is we didn't even see the whole cave system! The tours are split into two different areas, if you look back at the map I provided you can see the yellow and red sections of the cave. On this tour we toured the yellow section.
Why do they offer two different tours? There is a very specific reason why you can tour different parts of the cave during different seasons of the year. This is due to the resident bats, for several months out of the year thousands of female bats call these caverns home, they come here to have their young and raise them for some time before they migrate again. While the bats are inside of the caverns the yellow section is closed off to allow the bats to have their young and rest in peace without interference from humans. When the yellow section is opened again, the red section is closed which helps reduce the traffic in that section of the caves allowing it to have a break essentially.
Speaking of bats, although it is a little sad one of the most interesting things in this cave was a active formation that a small bat had fallen onto and died. The formation is active which means it has water dripping on it and is still growing, so slowly over the years since the bat died in the spot it has slowly been being covered up by the formation which means in thousands of years it will still be there, preserved for all time. Kartcher Caverns has dozens of active formation spots where it is still growing due to the water entering the cave systems. The amount of water, and growth depends on how much rain the region gets through out the year. There are several spots where you can see it once held large amounts of water, but over time it has dried.
Wonder what the creature in the first photo is? It is a giant sloth! The remains of a giant sloth, along with remains of a dozen other creatures some of which no longer exist have been found in this cave in different areas which tells researchers about the history of this cave. There is so much more that these caverns offer that I don't have enough space here to tell you about everything, plus if I don't tell you everything it is more reason for you to go visit. This tour is entertaining for all ages and they have made it wheelchair accessible so I highly suggest checking out Kartchner Caverns if you are ever in the area, it is well worth the visit! Need a place to stay? There are some lodging options near by, however I suggest staying in the park itself to get the most of out of the experience. See my previous post on their cabins to find information on how to stay in a cabin or rent a camping spot in the park, or to make it easier type "Kartchner Caverns" into the search bar at the top of my blog.
Before I end off the post, I also wanted to note if you have small children you should bring a few quarters and pennies with you to use their fun penny pressing machine that will flatten and stamp your penny with one of their designs. It is a fun keepsake you can keep for years to come, also check out the Junior rangers station. Your child can pick up a small parks activity pack to fill out, after it is completed a park ranger will sign it and your child will recite a ranger code with them. When your child agrees to and says the ranger code out loud they are named a Junior Park Ranger, they will receive a stamp on their completed page and a receive a cute collectable pin.
Have you ever visited a cave before? If so which caves have you visited? More photos of the park and other State Parks along with Nature/Animal Photography can be found over on my
Photography Instagram page, I'd love it if you'd stop by and show some support.
Disclaimer- This specific review was not sponsored, I had received a one night cabin rental mentioned provided by The Arizona State Parks Department for a review free of charge to check out the park. The caverns tour itself we paid for, it is an interesting place to visit so I wanted to share it with you all. No product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.
