Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    Bat Cave

    4.5 (44 reviews)
    Closed 6:30 pm - 8:30 PM

    Bat Cave Photos

    You might also consider

    Recommended Reviews - Bat Cave

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    Reviews With Photos

    Canal at sunset
    Ye L.

    Went at the end of October knowing the chance of seeing bats was very low. The cave is actually an overflow control area next to the canal pictured. Scenery is pretty around sunset but only saw one or two bats despite the guano smell.

    🦇Bat Cave🦇
    John D.

    "I'm Batman."⁠--Unknown Meh... I hate to be the one outlier on this page but this was pretty unimpressive overall. Maybe my expectations/imagination were too high, but I was anticipating a giant swarm of bats flying out of the cave. But, in reality, what you get is small batches of bats flying out at in multiple squadrons and a bunch of f***ing mosquito bites... Kinda, sorta interesting if you're in the area but not worth going out of your way for.

    The trail
    Grace D.

    This is a magical experience. Starting almost exactly at sunset, lasting for about thirty minutes after, we saw thousands of bats fly out of the sloped cave tunnel at the end of summer (mid September). The Mexican free-tailed bats have their babies here in the summer and fly to Mexico for the winter, so come between June and early October. If you come later in the season, there are more bats as the babies take wing out of the cave. The bats eat insects so it's not too buggy out there, but I enjoyed visiting later in the summer for temperature reasons as well. I recommend it highly as a perfect way to spend some time outside, doing something interesting, for free! There's no bad place to observe - I recommend walking around to get different angles. Spend time here with the people you care about, just taking in the sunset quietly (so you don't disturb the bats). Whispering and taking pictures (without flash) are fine. I appreciate the signage from Arizona Game and Fish, telling fun facts and safety tips. It's really a hidden gem with few people around, so please keep it special by respecting their rules. The only thing that's a little difficult here is finding the place. There is no real address or cross streets - use a GPS to find where the pin is placed on Yelp and you'll find it easily. Park on the side of the road and take a little trail to where the barred concrete area is. You'll park for free and only walk the last little way, which is doable even for those who aren't typical hikers. The place is very close to the Phoenix Country Day School. It also doesn't look like a traditional cave. Check out the pictures posted on this page before you go so you know when you get there.

    The address in TTs review leads you to this building. Park by the structure
    Erin K.

    If you are in the area and a fan of nature or wildlife, I definitely recommend taking some time one evening to check out the bat cave. The crazy thing to me is how many locals do not seem to be aware of this interesting phenomenon. For detailed information to the location, I would recommend checking out Gina L. or T.T.s review. I used the address they provided of 5080 N. 40th St to find the location which is a business parking lot. If you google it before you go, apparently there is a neighborhood also near it that you can park in and walk to as well. We went on 7/3/19 and sunset was at 7:42PM. Some bats popped in and out a bit, but I would have to say we really didn't start to see any until after 8PM. Gina's review of just a couple of days prior to when we went (which I used for assistance, thank you!) said they seemed to come out closer to sunset for her. I think they came out later because there was a very loud family running up and down, yelling, and shouting very loud leading up to sunset. They were so loud that many of us were getting upset and asked them to be quieter. The response we got was "We have been here plenty of times, don't worry, the bats will still come out". Lucky for you to get the experience, but for some of us, this is our only chance. I truly believe the bats would have come out sooner had they been quieter. It was still really neat to see the bats when we did, but since they came out later, it was darker, and harder to see them, and almost impossible to capture them on film (when days before, videos uploaded were might lighter out). If you can, walk to different parts of the 'cave' for other views as some angles offered better lighting and views than others. At one point, it was so dark, we couldn't see much so we decided to walk along the canal back to our car. From that angle, we were afforded an incredible view of the bats; much better than we had been seeing. So if you can, try walking around the area for multiple viewing angles. I know the three of us were a little disappointed at first since it was hard to see the bats since it was so dark, but on the walk back, we really could see the swarms of bats and it was incredible.

    Camelback Mountain from the Bat Cave entrance.

    This may be sensitive to the time of the year. We checked out the site two days in a row during February and saw only two bats. The area is nice with a great view of Camelback Mountain being illuminated beautifully at sunset. So not a complete loss. Parking was mostly reserved spaces in a nearby office park parking lot.

    Bats coming out of the "cave"
    Samantha A.

    Wow if you want to take your family out and see Mother Nature at her best then this bat cave is just the place to go. It's outside so you don't need a mask. You will want to get there about 20 min be for sunset so you don't miss them. Once the sun set hits and your really quiet over 5,000 bats come out of this cave!! September of 2020

    Ci'Mone R.

    It's dope. Just please be careful and try not to harm the cave. They will give you all the rules so please follow it.

    What a view!

    See all

    3 days ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 months ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    2 months ago

    What a great spot to relax and enjoy the sunset. The bats were spectacular to view as they were heading out for the night

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Jonnell T.
    130
    298
    299

    10 months ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 1
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 12
    Thanks 8
    Love this 6
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 1

    7 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 46
    Thanks 0
    Love this 46
    Oh no 2

    7 years ago

    Helpful 11
    Thanks 0
    Love this 10
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Gina L.
    695
    646
    1554

    7 years ago

    Helpful 6
    Thanks 2
    Love this 3
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 3
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Rich K.
    0
    17
    18

    4 years ago

    The bats were fast and furious. The ribs were delicious. Great service as well. I will be back for the brisket.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Erin K.
    341
    511
    3092

    7 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 1
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 2

    4 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Todd G.
    152
    447
    1432

    7 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

    Helpful 5
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Ci'Mone R.
    40
    45
    274

    6 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 5
    Thanks 0
    Love this 4
    Oh no 0

    16 years ago

    Helpful 10
    Thanks 0
    Love this 6
    Oh no 0

    12 years ago

    Helpful 4
    Thanks 0
    Love this 5
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    5 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of T. T.
    2
    88
    11

    10 years ago

    Helpful 27
    Thanks 1
    Love this 6
    Oh no 0

    13 years ago

    Helpful 16
    Thanks 0
    Love this 16
    Oh no 0

    16 years ago

    Helpful 11
    Thanks 0
    Love this 9
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Really cool spot we found. Our 5 year old had a blast! Must stop! They are tiny little bats!

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    13 years ago

    Helpful 5
    Thanks 0
    Love this 3
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Jesica W.
    71
    36
    13

    7 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Great place to take the kids before sunset. Watch the bats. Drive the long way home and hopefully they are asleep by the time you get home.

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Great spot to watch bats in Phoenix

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Matt S.
    8
    122
    0

    17 years ago

    Helpful 13
    Thanks 0
    Love this 11
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 7
    Thanks 0
    Love this 3
    Oh no 0

    10 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    Page 1 of 2

    Ask the Community - Bat Cave

    Review Highlights - Bat Cave

    I did get some video of them though as they began to trickle out slowly to hunt for bugs over the canal.

    Mentioned in 13 reviews

    Read more highlights

    You might also consider

    Verify this business for free

    People searched for Hiking 7,632 times last month within 15 miles of this business.

    Verify this business

    Echo Canyon Trail

    Echo Canyon Trail

    (36 reviews)

    Hiked the death trap that is echo canyon trail and it did not disappoint…read more Made for mountain goats aka I recommend it if you're okay with basically rock climbing the whole way up, it's pretty vertical. It's a fun hike and definitely a good workout. It's also very well marked for people who frequently get lost on trails like me. I wasn't super impressed with the view at the top since it's just overlooking the city but it's probably one of the highest vantage points compared to other hikes. Tips: There is one part where the stairs and rails are where it gets very windy so sunglasses can help. You don't necessarily need gloves to do the hike, just be careful with how you pivot with your hands, I got through it without any callouses, scabs or scratches. Like others said, try to wear shoes with some type of traction, I got through it with sneakers. Very small parking lot so come at sunrise or if you come around 7am, sometimes the early risers leave around that time. There's bathrooms and a water fountain at the beginning. Have fun and be safe!

    The views on this trail the higher you go are priceless. However, one time is enough for me lol. It…read moretook an hour and a half up and another hour and a half down. This was my first time doing a hike like this and it's definitely not a "beginners" hike but I had no expectations & didn't know what I was getting myself into. On the way down, I fell and busted my knee. My only recommendation is to take your time & take breaks while going up/down the mountain. & listen to your body if you get tired!

    Reach 11 Recreation Area - Rattlesnake

    Reach 11 Recreation Area

    (19 reviews)

    This is way the heck out there, and maybe it depends from which direction you arrive. We arrived…read morefrom south Phoenix and the apocalyptic industrial zone that precedes was not fun. There is also a library right next door - cool, but what an odd location - seems they plan to expand the housing nearby. Okay but about the hiking and the trails and site itself - great. The entire time we were visiting the area we were so impressed by the upkeep of the trails and the abundance of facilities and helpful information. This is an extensive recreation area with a lot of trails to choose, including convenient loops, so you can decide how much you are up for. We ventured up to the waterfall, which of course was not active due to the dry weather; however, there was a small pool there which was stunning. The trails are well kept and there is a mix of cement and dirt trails. Must note, though, that it's a bit quiet and remote, so can be a magnet for crime - we were warned upon entering one parking lot that someone had just been there breaking car windows. We moved on to a different lot and didn't have any issues. So just make sure there are other cars and people around, to be on the safe side. PS there is also a small nature center next to the library; both are prior to the main entrance of the Recreation Area. The nature center has some information, specimens/artefacts and a small gift shop. PPS the staff at the Recreation Area entrance were very friendly and helpful.

    Good place for a quick walk. There are several trails here but I like the main one that is…read moreasphalted and takes you by a pond. Takes about an hour to walk. Very flat, easy hike. It is not the most scenic place in town to hike but it is a solid spot.

    Bat Cave - hiking - Updated May 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...