5 Best Caves Every Adventurer Must Explore
Formed over millions of years and sometimes extending for hundreds of miles, caves capture our imagination and show the incredible beauty of the underground world. They’re subterranean marvels that provide a glimpse into the long history of our Earth while continuously offering new and exciting surprises.
In this list we’ll look at the 5 best caves in the US you should get out and explore! Spread all across the country, these caves offer their own unique features that make them worth the trip.
Mammoth Cave National Park is an incredible cave system that is home to more than 400-miles of passageways. The largest known cave system in the world, this Kentucky marvel located in the Green River valley boasts winding chambers, limestone labyrinths, and crystal clear pools.
There are ten tours you can choose from that allow you to explore the many unique features of the cave. The complex contains its especially well known natural entrance as well as the Gothic Avenue, a historic passageway with stone monuments and 19th century visitor signatures. Also be sure to check out the incredible dripstone formations that have been created by water over millions of years.
When you’re done exploring the underground, there are lots of other activities to enjoy in the park. There’s over 85 miles of trails to hike, bike, and horseback ride offering scenic views of the local wildlife, wildflowers, and rolling hills. You can also paddle or fish on the parks 30 miles of rivers one your own or with a local guide.
2. Carlsbad Cavern, New Mexico
Located in the Chihuahuan Desert, the 119 known caves in the Carlsbad Cavern were form from sulfuric acid erosion of underground limestone deposits. Explore the Big Room cavern chamber, the 750-foot Natural Entrance trial, and the sea ledges and deep canyons on a self-guided tour or with a park ranger.
With a park ranger guided tour, you can explore even more of the cave including areas only accessible by ladders and lit by handheld lanterns. There are also special events throughout the year including the Bat Flight Tour offered May through October. You can experience the natural phenomenon of the bats exiting the cave daily at dusk.
The third longest cave in the world, Jewel Cave in South Dakota lives up to its namesake, featuring beautiful calcite crystals, boxwork, flowstone, and cave bacon. There’s over 208 miles of these unique formations and passages that run throughout the entire cave system providing a one of a kind untouched, natural landscape.
Jewel Cave was declared a Nation Monument by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 and since 1939, the National Parks Service has offered tours of this spectacle. These guided cave tours allow visitors to be fully immersed in the pristine cave system while learning about the monuments history.
The park offers several different tours including the Scenic Tour, Historic Lantern Tour, and Discovery Tour. The Scenic Tour is the parks most popular tour that allows visitors to explore the caves various passages and chambers along a paved trail and steps. For the more adventurous visitor, Historic Lantern Tour allows you to step back in time and travel through the cave with a lantern and Park Ranger dressed in a 1930s-style uniform. The trail will have you walking through narrow passages, bend under rocks, and climb 500 steep wooden steps.
4. Natural Bridges Caverns, Texas
This family owned and operated natural attraction is named after the limestone slab bridge that takes visitors into the entrance of the caverns. The cave was formed thousands of years ago by an underground river and feature multiple layers of compacted limestone as well as stalagmites, stalactites, flowstones, and chandeliers.
You can take the caverns Discovery Tour where lighting illuminates the massive rock formations that have been created by single drops of water over many years. It’s a half-mile journey 180 feet underground through one of the largest and most spectacular shows in Texas. There’s also the Hidden Passages Tour that lets you explore two world class caves. You’ll encounter unique ‘soda straw’ stalactites, ‘cave ribbon’ waves, and ‘welt and turnip shields’.
For those looking to truly experience the caverns, the Adventure Tour allow visitors to hike, climb, and crawl their way through the various passageways and formations. It’s a great way to get down and dirty while viewing the cave much like the early explorers did. The site also offers other activities including a zip rails and ropes course called the Twisted Trails as well as the AMAZEn’ Ranch Roundup, a 5,000 square foot outdoor maze.
Not to be confused with the above ground marvel, Niagara Cave in Minnesota offers a subterranean spectacle that is definitely worth visiting. Created by an underground stream, the cave boasts some incredible attractions including an underground waterfall, 450 million year old fossils, and beautiful rock formations.
The cave is family-owned having been stewarded by three families since its discovery in 1924 and is also one of only two publicly accessible caves in Minnesota. It is also the first commercial cave in the world to have their energy consumption produced completely by the sun, having been powered by solar since 2015.
For anyone looking to tie the knot, Niagara Cave contains the subterranean Crystal Wedding Chapel. Since 1934, the venue has held over 400 weddings in a chapel that overlooks a waterfall. There’s also miniature golf, gemstone panning, and picnic areas for visitors to enjoy after their tour of the cave.
