Caves in the United States

Carlsbad Caverns National Park showcases more than 119 caves throughout a 46,000-acre region of southern New Mexico’s Chihuahuan Desert and Guadalupe Mountains, located approximately 18 miles from Carlsbad, NM.

• The park’s main attraction is its namesake show cave, Carlsbad Cavern, which is accessible via self-guided and ranger-led tours throughout the year and showcases attractions such as the 4,000-foot-long Big Room limestone chamber, the fifth largest of its kind in North America.
• Visitors may access the cavern via its natural entrance or using an elevator departing from the park’s visitor center, which also offers educational exhibits and documentary showings.
• The park is also known for its bat flight viewing program, hiking trails, and Rattlesnake Springs Picnic Area, which has been designated as an Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society.

3225 National Parks Highway, Carlsbad, NM 88220, Phone: 575-785-2232

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is 5 hours from Albuquerque, NM.

Wind Cave National Park is located near the city of Hot Springs, South Dakota and was the first cave in the world to be preserved as part of a national park at its establishment in 1903.

• The cave was believed to have been historically referenced in Lakota Sioux folklore and was originally discovered by Europeans in 1881, taking its name from the cave’s continual atmospheric pressure breathing.
• Today, it is recognized as the world’s densest cave system, featuring more than 140 miles of charted passageways showcasing sights such as its Post Office and Elks Room formations.
• Above ground, the park is home to the United States’ largest preserved mixed-grass prairie region, containing a variety of trails offering views of the nearby Black Hills.

26611 US Highway 385, Hot Springs, SD 57747, Phone: 605-745-4600

Wind Cave National Park is 4 hours from Pierre.

Antelope Canyon is a slot canyon near Lake Powell, located on Navajo Nation reservation land near the city of Page.

The cave was formed as the result of Navajo sandstone erosion due to flash flooding and still experiences a significant amount of flooding today, including a 2006 flood that closed the cave to the public for five months.

It is divided into two sections, officially known as Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon, which are commonly referred to as “The Crack” and “The Corkscrew.”

The cave portions have been open to the public exclusively through guided tours since 1997 and have become a popular spot for photography despite their lighting and foot access path limitations.

Upper Antelope Canyon is a particularly popular spot due to its easy access at ground level, requiring no climbing in or out of the cave.

22 South Lake Powell BLVD Page, AZ 86040

Blanchard Springs Caverns are a system of caves located within the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest and are the only public caves owned by the United States government outside of the jurisdiction of the National Park Service.

• The caves are Arkansas’ largest by volume and second-longest by length, clocking in at a passage span of 8.1 miles.
• The three-level cave system is located near Mountain View and is open to the public for guided tours along several tour routes, including the Dripstone Trail, which explores the caverns’ upper levels.
• The Discovery Trail provides access to a 1.2-mile stretch of the caverns’ lower level, descending 366 feet below the ground and showcasing sights such as the Natural Entrance, the Rimstone Dams, and the Ghost Room.
• A Wild Cave Tour also allows for access to less developed sites within the caverns on all three levels.

704 Blanchard Springs Road, Fifty-Six, AR 72533, Phone: 870-757-2211

Blanchard Springs Caverns is 2.5 from Little Rock.

Cave of the Winds is located in Colorado’s Pikes Peak region near Colorado Springs and the Manitou Cliff Dwellings.

• The cave was originally discovered by brothers George and John Pickett in 1881 and has been open as a public show cave for more than a century.
• It showcases spectacular sights such as a Silent Splendor room containing rare crystalline speleotherms and unique passages such as its Old Curiosity Shop narrow passage, which offers glimpses of formations such as the Colorado Rose and Spider Web Valley.
• Guided cave tours are offered daily, including 90-minute lantern tours emphasizing the cave’s history, folklore, and popular ghost stories.
• Several family attractions are also offered, including a Terror-Dactyl free-fall cliff diving ride and a Wind Walker ropes challenge course.

100 Cave of the Winds Rd, Manitou Springs, CO 80829, Phone: 719-685-5444

Cave of the Winds is 1 hour 15 minutes from Denver.

Romantic Caves:

Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park is located on the site of a cave system originally discovered by Charles W. Darrow in the late 19th century. Though the cave has been open to the public for guided tours since the turn of the 20th century, it was developed into a family adventure park in 2003 and now attractions more than 150,000 annual visitors. Cave tours offered explore the cave’s upper and lower sections and include a historic fairy caves tour, a Kings Row tour, and a wild cave tour. Other attractions at the park include the Wild West Express children’s coaster, the Giant Canyon Swing, the state’s first 4D theater, and the United States’ first Alpine coaster.

51000 Two Rivers Plaza Road, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601, Phone: 970-945-4228

Majestic Caverns are also known as Alabama’s Big Cave, located within the Appalachian Mountain foothills near the city of Childersburg. The cave was formerly known as Kymulga Cave and is believed to have been used by local Copena indigenous people prior to the arrival of Europeans in North America. During the American Civil War, the cave was a popular saltpeter mining site, and during Prohibition, a covert speakeasy and dance hall infamously known as the Bloody Bucket was operated out of the cave. Since the 1960s, the cave has been operated as a show cave offering daily guided tours, highlighting one of the largest-known accumulations of onyx-marble speleotherms anywhere in the world. A variety of family-friendly attractions are also offered at the cave site, including a Lost Trail Maze, a gemstone mining attraction, and children’s amusement rides.

5181 Desoto Caverns Pkwy, Childersburg, AL 35044, Phone: 256-378-7252

Family-friendly Caves:

Fantastic Caverns were originally discovered by John Knox in 1862, who hid knowledge of the cave’s existence during the American Civil War to prevent its mining for saltpeter. Throughout its recorded history, the cave has operated as a Prohibition-era speakeasy, a music concert venue for shows broadcast on local radio station KGBX, and a popular Branson-area attraction cave offering guided tours. Today, the cave is the only touring cave in North America featuring ride-through tours, offering 55-minute Jeep tram tours following the path of a former river within the cave. More than 100,000 visitors embark on tours of the cave each year, which is kept at a year-round temperature of 60 degree Fahrenheit.

4872 N Farm Rd 125, Springfield, MO 65803, Phone: 417-833-2010

Niagara Cave is located in Harmony, Minnesota.

• The cave was originally discovered by pig farmers in 1924 and is among the largest caves in the American Midwest today, showcasing a spectacular 60-foot underground waterfall and a variety of unusual limestone and calcite formations.
• Hourlong guided tours explore a mile of the cave’s underground passageways, offered between April and November.
• The cave site is also home to several family-friendly attractions, including a miniature golf course and a gemstone mining attraction, and has been the world’s first completely zero-emissions show cave since 2015.

29842 Co Hwy 30, Harmony, MN 55939, Phone: 507-886-6606

Niagara Cave is 2.5 from Minneapolis, MN.

Jewel Cave is the centerpiece of Jewel Cave National Monument, which was created in 1908 and is located approximately 13 miles from the city of Custer within South Dakota’s Black Hills. The cave is the third-longest known cave in the world behind Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave system and Mexico’s Sistema Sac Actun, spanning a distance of 192 miles of charted passageways, though it is estimated that only approximately 5% of the cave’s volume has been discovered. Guided tours of the cave have been offered since 1939, with three tours available, including a scenic half-mile lighted loop tour, a historic candlelight tour, and a wild caving tour through the cave’s more undeveloped portions.

11149 US-16 B-12, Custer, SD 57730, Phone: 605-673-8300