From cave kisses to albino creatures to crystal clear pools, caves and caverns are a unique world to discover for travelers. On your next getaway, you can explore the world under the earth’s surface that never sees the light of day. The best thing about a cave tour is that the weather is always the same. Some of the largest caves in the U.S. are national parks; others are national monuments, state parks or privately owned and operated. Here are the best caves in U.S. for your next adventure.
10 Best Caves in U.S.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico
Inner Space Caverns in Texas
Jewel Cave National Monument in South Dakota
Luray Caverns in Virginia
Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky
Meramec Caverns in Missouri
Natural Bridge Caverns in Texas
Oregon Caves National Monument in Oregon
Timpanogos Cave National Monument in Utah
Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota
Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico
If the weather is blazing in New Mexico, visitors can head underground to enjoy nature’s air conditioning. Located close to Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park is a limestone show cave with the fifth-largest chamber in North America. This is one of the Best Caves in U.S.
Its Big Room is 4,000 feet long (1200 m) and 255 feet tall (78 m). Best of all, you can explore Carlsbad Caverns at your own pace or take a guided tour. Carlsbad Caverns offers an elevator and a Big Room, an excellent option for those new to cave tours.
Natural Entrance Trail is a 1.25-mile trail that descends 750 feet through a series of steep switchbacks. It meets the Big Room Trail near the elevators, which is mostly flat, and some of the trail is wheelchair accessible. There are guided tours, too. In the summer, there’s an evening bat flight program.
Located 20 miles southwest of Carlsbad, New Mexico, the visitor center’s address is 727 Carlsbad Caverns Highway. It’s seven miles from the entrance sign to the visitor center. Find lots of parking, including RV parking. Adult admission (16+) is $15 per person and free for kids 15 and under.
Planning Guide to Carlsbad Caverns
Inner Space Caverns in Texas
In 1963, while drilling core samples, the Texas Highway Department crew lost one of its drill bits. Used to evaluate the stability of a proposed overpass site, the drill bit suddenly dropped into an abyss. Soon after, a man descended down the hole on a rope attached to a car bumper. Scientists soon followed and explored the caves.
Inside the caverns, scientists found bones of prehistoric animals, like saber-tooth cats, extinct camels, giant ground sloths, spectacled bears, and Columbian mammoths. There’s an adventure tour, a hidden passages tour and a wild cave experience.
Located at 4200 South I-35 Frontage Road, in Georgetown, 25 miles from Austin, Texas. Adult admission is $27.97 nonpeak, $29.95 peak and kids (4 to 12) are $18.95 nonpeak, $19.95 peak, with kids 3 and under entering for free.
Top Tours at Inner Space Caverns
Jewel Cave National Monument in South Dakota
What is better than one cave is two caves? Located minutes from Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota, the third longest cave in the world, Jewel Cave National Monument features 210 miles of mapped passages.
Local prospectors discovered Jewel Cave in 1900 after blasting dynamite to enlarge the entrance and found a cavern covered with calcite crystals that sparkle. During the summer, it offers a historic lantern tour.
This cave is more strenuous than the Wind Cave. On its most popular route, the Scenic Tour, visitors must navigate 732 steps up and down metal scaffolding. Since kids must navigate the stairs, it’s advised that they be at least six years old.
Jewel Cave National Monument is 53 miles southwest of Rapid City, South Dakota, and 13 miles west of Custer, South Dakota, along South Dakota Highway 16. Open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., late April to late September. Open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for the rest of the year.
The Cave of South Dakota
Luray Caverns in Virginia
Luray Caverns, previously Luray Cave, is a cave just west of Luray, Virginia, which has drawn visitors since its discovery in 1878. It is the largest cavern in the eastern United States and is close to Shenandoah National Park. This is one of the best caves in U.S.
The cavern system is adorned with speleothems such as a 47-foot column, mud flows, stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, and mirrored pools. There are cathedral-sized rooms with ceilings 10 stories high, with towering stone formations. Visitors can choose from a self-guided tour or a special guided tour.
Located in 101 Cave Hill Rd., Luray, Virginia. Open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday with later hours in spring, summer and fall. Adult admission is $36 kids (6 to 12) are $18 and those 6 and younger enter for free.
Top Things to Do in Shenandoah National Park
Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky
As a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve in Central Kentucky, Mammoth Cave is the longest-known cave in the world. Also a U.S. National Park, it features over 400 miles of charted passageways. This is one of the Best Caves in U.S.
It offers many cave tours, and visitors can get a taste of the cave with a 30-minute self-guided tour. Mammoth Cave offers tours, including an off-trail tour. From horseback riding to canoeing, visitors will find many activities above ground.
It is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The park is fee-free, though cave tours require admission. Mammoth Cave National Park is about 100 miles south of Louisville, Kentucky, and 10 miles from Cave City.
Top Tours at Mammoth Cave National Park
Meramec Caverns in Missouri
Located under the Meramec Valley, this guided cavern tour offers a peek into the world under this corner of Missouri. During my tour, I saw the original saltpeter mining area before heading deeper into the cave.
In the main part of the Meramec Caverns, our tour passed features like soda straws and underground streams. It is an active cave, and many of the walking surfaces are wet, so good shoes with traction are important, as is a light jacket.
Located at 1135 Highway W in Sullivan, about 65 miles southwest of downtown St. Louis. The cave tour is $30.50 for adults 12 and older, and kids (5 to 11) enter for $16.5, with those under 5 entering for free. Open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the summer season and seasonal hours for the rest of the year, and weekends only in January and February.
Top Things to Do in St. Louis
Natural Bridge Caverns in Texas
Four college students discovered the caverns in 1960. The National Park Service and Texas Parks and Wildlife were consulted, but the landowners ultimately developed Natural Bridge Caverns. As one of the best caves in U.S., it offers more than a cave tour.
The 60-foot natural limestone bridge at its opening is a showstopper, and that is where the cave got its name. As an easy day trip for San Antonio or Austin, this is a popular attraction year-round, thanks to its moderate temperature.
Located at 26495 Natural Bridge Caverns Rd, northwest of San Antonio, it offers several tours. Adult admission starts at $26.50, and with demand pricing, the earlier the tickets are purchased, the lower the price.
Top Tours at Natural Bridge Caverns
Oregon Caves National Monument in Oregon
Just south of Oregon’s Grants Pass in the Rogue River Siskiyou National Forest of Oregon, this is a gateway to an underground landscape of marble halls and an underground stream. On its 1 ½ hour walk through the Marble Halls of Oregon, the .6-mile trail passes by stalagmites, stalactites and drapery formations along with flowstone.
There is a Discovery Cave Tour, a Candlelight Cave Tour and an Off-Trail Caving Tour. After a cave tour, hike back through the forest, brimming with ferns and firs to Oregon Caves Chateau, the national park lodge. Built in 1934 and a National Historic Landmark, the bark-covered building features cozy rooms along with a restaurant, though closed for an extensive renovation.
Located at 20000 Caves Highway, south of Crater Lake. You can enter the park for free. However, cave tours are additional, and reservations are recommended.
Top Things to Do at Oregon Caves
Timpanogos Cave National Monument in Utah
Timpanogos Cave National Monument is a United States National Monument protecting the Timpanogos Cave Historic District and a cave system on Mount Timpanogos in American Fork Canyon in the Wasatch Range, near Highland, Utah. The Heart of the Cave hangs from the cave ceiling and is surrounded by cave popcorn and helictites.
Three highly decorated limestone caves sit at the top of a strenuous mile-and-a-half trail. Cave tours are 55 minutes long and are limited to 16 people per tour. It is strongly recommended that you carry at least one liter of water per person on the hike to the caves.
Located at 2038 E Alpine Loop Rd, American Fork. Open seasonally from mid-May until October. Tours start at $12 per person and reservations are recommended.
Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota
The Bingham Brothers discovered this cave in 1881 when the wind blew off their hats. Due to its vastness, Wind Cave has its own air-pressure system that tries to equal the air pressure on the surface. With over 100 miles of passageways, portions of Wind Cave remain uncharted, and only five percent have been discovered. The boxwork, popcorn and frostwork cave formations in Wind Cave are exceptional for all visitors, especially cave enthusiasts.
Wind Cave National Park offers three basic tours: the Natural Entrance Tour, the Fairgrounds Tour and the Garden of Eden Tour. Reservations are recommended.
Located 58 miles south of Rapid City. The park is 10 miles north of Hot Springs, South Dakota, along U.S. Highway 385 N. It’s free to enter, though cave tours require tickets. The park is open every day, all day.
Bats and White-Nose Syndrome
If you plan on visiting a cave in the U.S., you can not wear any clothing, including shoes, that have been in another cave due to White-Nose Syndrome. In National Parks, a park ranger will stop all cave visitors and ask.
White-nose syndrome kills hibernating bat colonies across the U.S. and Canada. This fungus thrives in low temperatures and high humidity and has killed 6 million bats since its discovery in 2006.
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