Eh. Compared to other caverns, this isn't unique or interesting. The guide was long winded and tried to hard to be funny. The narrow, slippery steps aren't kid friendly and the railing was questionable. Sixteen flights of these steps with a toddler was not fun. I don't know how they pass safety. The benches in the waiting area were falling apart. They keep the lights on all day in the cave, so unnatural green algae is forming, but they were sure to tell you of the large fines you'd have to pay if you touched anything and spent a good 20 minutes telling the story of the boys that spent four years in prison for breaking their unimpressive cave bacon. Save your money for another adventure elsewhere. read more

Mercer Caverns - Cave bacon at Mercer. Not impressive compared to other caverns. - Tours Near Me - Murphys, California

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I went with a 7 and 11 yr old. It's was very fun. They had fun mining for crystals before the tour. The loved the tour. Lots of waking but they were excited and interested in the tour guide's tales. read more

What I like most about the cave? without sunshine all year long !!! and I wish I had brought the flashlight so I could feel more like a cave explorer!! so...this is your typical caverns, $15 per adult, tour is about 45 mins. The group size is 15 people. The tour guide was the highlight. The crying baby was the downfall. Before entering the cave, we were asked to tie the shoes, put backpacks away. Don't panic! It's not that dangerous!!! basically you can only have camera on hand...hmmm I wonder if anyone can make it wearing high heels??? You walk down 16 floors, some part of the stairs are very steep and narrow but everyone made it so I don't think they need to be like Universal Studio some rides you have to be able to fit into the seat. Since most people came as a family or couple, I got to be the last person left behind and had time to take lot of pictures and keep all cave to myself:) Flash photography is permitted in the cave. However, flash dose not work well in my opinion. Its not the most amazing caverns but still you are impressed by the "Underworld"! They got lot of cool stuffs at the gift shop, like wolf fang and wolf claw which i never seen anywhere else. Few things I wish: No baby should be allowed in the cave (under age of 3), they got uncomfortable and keep crying. They should offer free wifi...Verizon got no data reception in that area ---------------------------------------------------- Keep in mind, in this area, even 20 miles can take you up to 50 mins drive to get to destination. I was lucky to fill in the last 2 spots of the 3pm tour 10 mins before 3. read more

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Jerry the tour guild is hilarious. This is my second time here. The lady at the front could have been a little more hospitable but Jerry hit a home run. So this review is for him. Don't lose this guy. You need to keep him on the payroll even if that means giving him a raise. This employee is stellar, when it comes to the knowledge of the caverns and his customer service I can't imagine anyone doing a better job. read more

Mercer Caverns - Tours Near Me - Murphys, California

Mercer Caverns is an actual walk through cave. There are many stairs but don't let that bother you. The staircases are not strenuous. There are some steep inclines but you will be warned by your tour guide ahead of time to take extra precautions. Tall people beware - some formations are so low that you could possible hit your head on one of them. There are parts of the cave where you'll feel like the cave walls are closing in. So for those who are a bit claustrophobic, do the tour, but give yourself elbow room, you'll be fine. The staircases is guided by dim lights so watch your step. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and humorous. The history of the cave is quite interesting but I wont spoil that for you, you'll have to go yourself to find out. Nice thing is he was able to warn all of us when there was a low hanging stalactites (formations). This cave holds a constant temperature of 55°c so a jacket may not be necessary when you're walking through all staircases packed with 12 other people. Highly recommended. I actually enjoyed this cave more than the other nearby cave. It doesn't offer any other service such as rappeling, ziplining, or the cave crawl experience but it certainly has an interesting walk through. Fun stuff. Definitely a good adventursizing kinda thing. I highly recommend this cavern to everyone who can walk! :) read more

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What an amazing tour and place to visit! The location is easy to find and good parking. The people there were all extremely friendly and knowledgeable. Bernard, our guide, was amazing! He was so nice and made the tour knowledge but enjoyable for our kids. We originally didn't plan on visiting but due to the heat we thought going underground would be the best thing to do. Glad we did!! Thank you! read more

Mercer Caverns - Tours Near Me - Murphys, California

I think it depends on your guide. Ours was Zaira, and she was great. We even gave her a tip, we were so satisfied. I think it scares people--no water, no food, lots of stairs. You're going to be fine. It's 45 minutes, lots of pauses to rest, and your water is waiting for you up in the parking lot. The real question is whether you will shell out $7 for a bag of sand and crystals so that your kid can pan for gems. I did, and I don't regret it. It was just the thing to keep them entertained for 30 minutes while we waited. I wouldn't make a special drive to this from the Bay Area, but it's a welcome break to wine tasting and sunny outdoor stuff. 55 degrees was marvelous. We didn't need jackets. read more

Mercer Caverns - Tours Near Me - Murphys, California

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I've been visiting Mercer Caverns since I was a kid. A fascinating and fun place. The new owners have built it up and modernized the above ground parts, but the underground parts are the same cool caves. Definitely worth a detour. And Murphys has gone way upscale, but with a little persistence you can find reasonably priced restaurants. read more

Cool caves, cool guides. The right amount of exercise and climbing to beat the summer heat.

This was the perfect activity for a hot day. The caves keep at a cool 55 degrees year-round and you could feel the drop in temperature a mere three steps into the tour. The history of these caverns is interesting and the 16 flights of steps definitely didn't feel like it on the way down or up. (Though the last few flights did get me slightly winded). Our guide was fairly new but shared her experiences from visiting when she was a child which only highlighted a portion of the time these caves have been open to the public. They do a good job of warning when people need to duck or angle their bodies so as to avoid the walls and ceilings throughout and I personally never felt any claustrophobia. I've been to some bigger cave systems throughout my years but this was still interesting and had some unique things I hadn't seen before. read more

A great tour and very interesting. The tour guide was knowledgeable and friendly. I would recommend.

Mercer Caverns was a great experience for my 11 & 13 yr old boys. The stairs were not difficult because you stop in a lot of places. They only allow you to bring camera and cell phone. read more

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Cave is naturally beautiful and very steep. Stairs are extremely steep with huge drop offs in excess of maybe 15-25ft in some areas. Railings made only for adults and have huge gaps between steps and hand railings for even school age children to fall through. I didn't trust my 2nd grader to go by himself down the stairs, and he's an athlete. Handrails can also be wet and slippery. I've been here over 2 decades ago with a school group of older kids and the tour guide was great. My recent tour guide was awful. Just like some other reviewers have said about their tour guides, my guide is very uncaring and basically doesn't allow any time for photos. I'm not talking needing minute after minute to set up for professional type photography....just point and shoot photography. It must be a management thing or employee culture if multiple tour guides do the same thing. He basically allows photos at landings....where it is so crammed, everyone around is blocking the background, or the camera is too close to the family members to have any visuals of value. He has a run of the mill attitude on customers...get in fast get out faster..... but has the gall to ask for tips and says he is allowed to accept tips. Obviously no tip from me...(I'd much rather ask for my money back for being short changed from photographing a family trip experience but I'm not that kind of person.) read more

Such an awesome experience. If you are in the area, do not hesitate to visit! Yes there are some steep stairs, but you go slow and the guide says take your time. Some tight corners and low hanging rocks but nothing bad at all. Amazing history and knowledge by the tour guide. Definitely a must! read more

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This place is cool and I would definitely recommend it. You get a 40 minute tour deep into a cave and the tour guide gives you some history and science information as you go along. The walk can get quite steep and narrow so make sure you can handle that. The only part I found a bit tough was the last 10 minutes or so when you go back up somewhat quickly. Before that you're descending at a slow pace. The tour guide was Selina (same name as me!) who was very knowledgeable and made some corny jokes that I liked. My only critique to her was she talked too fast and I missed some information that way. They also have a cute gift shop too. I will be back in a few years with my son when he's old enough. read more

Truly truly AMAZING experience! I can't recommend Mercer caverns enough. Nature is incredible and this was not just educational but a fun visit as well. Can't imagine how miners went through here without modern equipment! read more

We went at the end of November and this was a great cave tour. Tours leave every hour or so and last 45 minutes. You get to see some really cool rock formations in the cave. The tour guide we had was really informative and gave a good history of the cave. I would definitely recommend this place to visit. You end up going 160 feet below ground, but it doesn't feel like it because there are a lot of platforms the tour stops on to talk about different parts of the cave. read more

My friend and I pulled off a cavern daily double on Friday and Saturday. We visited Mercer Caverns and Moaning Cavern the first day, then California Cavern and Black Chasm Cavern the next day. In honor of my high school English teacher, I shall compare and contrast all four caverns. Our biggest fear before beginning this road trip was that by the fourth cavern, we would be all caverned out and it would just be one more of the same old thing. But fear not. All of the caverns were unique in their own way. There are only four things I can think of that all of them had in common: 1. You can buy dirt in the gift shop and pan for gold outside. 2. No sweeper at the back of the tour to get people moving. 3. There are narrow corridors and tight squeezes, but there is no crawling on the basic tours. Avoid all the caverns if you are claustrophobic. 4. Don't touch the delicate formations! The easiest way to get here is to turn off Main Street in Murphys. There is a small sign indicating where to turn, and it's hard to spot if you do not know what to look for. I was expecting a huge sign I could spot a mile away. It's much more subtle, a little higher than a stop sign. To begin with, the tour costs $16 for adults, and tours last about 45 minutes. Our tour guide was welcoming and very informative. She told us about the early history of Mercer Caverns. I learned why the cavern is here for us to see today: it's because the early prospectors did not find any gold in there. Otherwise, they would have destroyed all the delicate formations in their quest for riches. Mercer Caverns takes the prize for the cavern where you are most likely to bonk your head, bump your shoulder, or stub your toe. The tour was a cross between an obstacle course and doing the limbo. Every few minutes our guide would warn us of another hazard we should be wary of. At the conclusion of the tour, everyone receives a (complimentary) bright orange bumper sticker. Mercer Caverns also takes the prize for the best facilities. There are numerous restrooms at the back of the visitor center/gift shop. They are just like the restrooms at home, not a big public restroom with multiple stalls. read more

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Probably a worthwhile stop. It's privately owned and the formations aren't as stunning as some of the other caves I've been to, but it was a fun little detour. Tours leave at the 30-minute mark and caverns cannot be visited without a guide. Adults cost $19/per. read more

I went here with my fiance for my 22nd birthday on 9/21/09. We got there at 3:32. Lady at the front desk said we had to wait until 4:30 because the tour just left. We bought a gem stone mining kit for each of us for $9/ bag which was really fun. We got some really nice garnets and peridot along with other pieces. We also bought a bunch of stuff from the gift store and got two squished pennies because I collect them. Hehehe. It was HOT AS HELL outside (and I'm from the south where it gets blazing and it was even hot for me.) so we asked if there was a water fountain - there wasn't. It was $1.25 for an 8 oz. bottle of water. That sucked. At 4:30, the lady who told us the 3:30 tour had left told us (our tour group) that the tour was about to begin. YEAH, SHE WAS THE ONLY TOUR GUIDE. She just didn't want to take us on the earlier tour since it would have been just the two of us. There were 6 people in our tour - my fiance and me, an older British couple and two Mexican dudes. The tour guide was a real b***h - she made snide remarks to the older British lady for wearing a skirt and sandal flats and she said she didn't know "what the hell sort of shoes I had on" and that I they were going to tear up my feet. Funny - I was wearing my pair of Vibram Five Fingers - they're specifically made for rock climbing. She acted put out that she had to give us all a tour and was super rude to the Mexican dudes when they tried to ask questions about the cavern during the tour. The entire tour, the guide spoke so fast because she obviously wanted to get out and go home since it was the last tour of the day. It was like she was speed reading when she was talking. She literally did not pause for a breath. It didn't last anywhere near 45 minutes for us since we had the auction caller doing the tour apparently. The story behind Mercer Caverns is interesting but I suggest that the private owners fire this chick behind the counter. She was extremely rude. So much so that after the tour, the British couple came up to us and complained about how rude she was. They said if she is so bored, she should get another job instead of being a jerk to people paying for the tour. This cavern is pretty steep. My calves were hurting the next day. If you're tall like I am, you''ll have to do a lot of bending over because the stairs have about 3 feet of clearance. If you grab the lower rail rather than the top hand rail, you'll be fine. read more

We went to Mercer Caverns for the first time Sat 11/3/07. I saw the pics on the website: www.mercercaverns.com, but pics don't do it justice. You really need to see them for yourself. It's 2.5hrs from Fremont and we got there at 9:55am for the opening of the place at 10am. You go to the store where you pay your $12 per adult fee. Bring CASH because if you use a debt card it's an extra $2!! NO Credit Cards allowed. The 1st tour was at 10:30am so we had time to take pics, drink something, eat, use the bathroom. No drinks, food, purses, backpacks allowed in the caves. Lots of stairs to climb but they are easy to do for most anyone. Just hold on to the handrails. Cool calcite formations, stalactites & stalagmites, Gothic Chamber, Angels Wings, & Aragonite. Tour is 45 minutes. Too short! Still Recommended. read more

I've been on a few walking tours of caves over the years but this has to be one of the top tours I have been on, mainly for how close you are to the cavern walls. With some of the stair maneuvers you have to do it almost felt like I was on one of those off-trail cave tours. It's $15 for a 45 min tour of the cave. The guide goes into great detail of the cave, how it was founded and some of the humorous names they like to call some of the formations. At one point during the tour all the lights are shut off for a few seconds so you are in complete darkness. There are a lot of stairs, knuckle crushers and head bangers so this tour is not for the faint of heart. I highly recommend! read more

I have never been to any caverns here in California. My husband has been here before so he wanted to take me here too. We had a small group probably 7 of us +1 our tour guide. So cool how the Earth does this. I learned a lot as our tour guide was very knowledgeable. We had an older lady with us in our group, at least late 70's early 80's and she was able to climb up and down the steep steep stairs. Kinda scary if you're afraid of heights though. I can't wait to take my son when he is older. Very cool! read more

The tour that didn't happen. Thanks to a very squirmy 20 month old. Parents, do not even attempt to take a young toddler through this tour. All they want to do is get down and touch everything, something that is not allowed in order to preserve the pristine and gorgeous rock formations. I counted myself lucky that I was able to see the top portion of these amazing caves. We would have been ok if we could have gone through on our own (quickly). You must go on through the caves with a tour guide and the tour is quite slow paced, not conducive for squirmy toddlers. But I can certainly understand the rule of not allowing people to go through on their own to prevent unnecessary handling of the rock formations. What I heard from the tour was very interesting. I was very sorry to miss the rest of it. They were very generous and refunded my ticket. I then proceeded to spend the money on purchasing and splitting open geodes. The store is really well stocked with all sorts of tempting and interesting items, if you are into rocks and fossils like I am. Would recommend the tour for those 5 and over. 4 may be ok as well. My 6 year old loved it and I believe that the little girl who accompanied us with her mother may have been 4. read more

Fun for elementary school aged kids, but I wouldn't recommend it for kids younger than 4. My six year olds was a little frightened of the the step stairs at times, and the three year old with our tour had to be carried for most of the tour. Really mind blowing to think this chasm lies below the ground and some dude found it by chance a million years ago. Also, your kids can pan for gems when you're done with the tour. Buy a big bag of sand in the gift shop, then head out to the sluice and see what treasures you've got! read more

Mercer Caverns - Treasures from panning - Tours Near Me - Murphys, California

I can't compare with other caverns since I never been there so for now.. I will give 3.5 stars because its interesting. This is my first time being in a cave so I have nothing to compare but its really cool. Its 45 mins tour for 13.95. Yah, its a little expensive but its interesting. We went when it was SUPER HOT.. when we walked down it was so nice a cool.. it feels good.. read more

Small venue but cool tour. Had an awesome knowledgeable guide with all answers to questions. Funny too. People were nice there and tour was affordable. The ride up from downtown was tricky since road is small so be careful. Is your claustrophobic then don't go to the tour because they go pretty low down. Nice and cool in the cavern. Nice to try once to check out. read more

We had a great time exploring the cave with our 4 year old. He wanted to touch everything which was a no no so that was kind of hard. lol Our tour guide was really good and we liked hearing stories of how Walter Mercer found the cave. :) read more

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We took the first tour on a rainy Sunday morning so just us and 1 other couple. Our guide was great and shared a lot of history. There are a lot of stairs but you do them a few at a time, with stops in between for information so you don't end up too out of breath from climbing back up. Really great time. Would recommend. read more

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Like some of the other reviewers, we had a problem with the guide, Bernard, on our tour. He was rude at the very beginning and insulted/mocked one of the other tourists that was having trouble keeping up with the group. I should have insisted to go with a different guide later on, but unfortunately didn't and my experience suffered because of it. At $17, the tour is a bit pricey for the size of the cave. However, I was impressed with the different formations that were there. There are a lot of stairs that are very steep, low ceilings, and it is damp; however, I never felt unsafe. There are handrails throughout and the pace of the tour is very relaxed. A couple of the tourists on the group had a very hard time with all the stairs, so this isn't for everyone. They have a nice little souvenir shop whose prices, I thought, were amazingly low for a tourist destination. We were excited and planned to buy a bunch of items after the tour, but the guide soured our experience so we left without purchasing anything additional. Overall, a fun little cave to walk through; I just wish they trained the guides better. read more

Great friendly staff. Talked with them while we waited for the next hourly tour. Didn't realize that the tour is every hour on the half hour mark, and we had just missed the last tour. We enjoyed the young guys working in the gift shop and didn't even realize the time as it went by. Very cool caves with lots of great rock formations to look at. Our tour guide Tim was very knowledgeable and answered all our questions. It was a lot of fun! Glad we found something to do in Murphy's on a rainy/snowy day! read more

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A rather pretty tour of this cave. Lots of wide spaces in this cavern. The guide was very accommodating of me with my camera and did not give me grief for it. I did not follow the guides patter very closely other than to safety issues such as hard things hitting my head. I was pleased at the end of it. read more

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Such an awesome experience and the staff/tour guide were bey knowledgeable and entertaining. Even enthusiastic for as being the last two people for the day. Shout out to Tim! Definitely worth the trip and already recommended. read more

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I really enjoyed the tour. We got here first thing in the morning. So our tour group was small. I enjoyed that. People working the facility are friendly. Cute gift shop. Our tour guide was informative. If the tour group is small it will not last 45 min. But done the less, i really enjoyed the formations. And chose this cavern over the others based on the previous reviews. Some of the stairs are steep and do have tight spots, but they are not to bad to climb or angle around. We were 160ft down in no time. Climbing back up might make you a little winded, but our guide made stops along the way. So it was not a problem. After the kids did some gem mining. Made for a great stop. If you're up to it, Moaning cavern + ziplining, is around the corner and the others not far from that. You could visit them all in a day. read more

Mercer Caverns - Tours Near Me - Murphys, California

Really Good place to visit. It has amazing and natural formation of different types. Thousands of yrs old. Looks like a big crack on earth. Went with 3 yrs old and she could walk down with little bit of gelp read more

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I give this cavern a good rating. For being one of the few things in the area, it was actually pretty interesting. I liked the story aspect of the tour, I remember there being more story to how this cave was developed than the Moaning caverns. Moaning vs. Mercer -- I definitely thought that this was a much better experience. We were able to walk through several parts of the cave and look at different rock formations. I like that we went down several flights of stairs and into what seemed like several different rooms. The tour was well guided and the tour guide was personable, he even took pictures of us while the rest of the tour was walking slowly. The price is a little steep being that we had about 20 people on the tour x ($16 for adults and $?? for kids). It was an extremely hot weekend and there wasn't any shade to park in, but the gift shop was well air conditioned. My only real complaint was that I was on a tour with other people. I know, that's what I signed up for when I joined the tour, but this family had to take a picture of their kid in front of every rock formation!! -- Moral of the story.. be considerate of the rest of the people on the tour. The other great thing about this cavern is that it's located near wine tasting rooms that make for a great day trip. :) read more

It was great. Our tour guide was great!! The kids loved it.I would recommend it to everyone.

tldr: Do not come here with young kids if the tour guide is Michael (I am fairly sure that was his name). He is rude, condescending and displays a strong dislike towards young children, regardless of how quiet or well behaved. Similarly, if your child is very inquisitive and asks a lot of questions, make sure you have a different tour guide, as Michael struggled to keep his train of thought with even the barest whisper of a sound, let alone someone asking actual questions, and he looks for others to blame. He was very unprofessional. First off, I really enjoy caves in general: their formation, their surprising chillness, the stillness of the air and the beautiful structures that took thousands of years to form. I've been to dozens of caves, as a child and as an adult, with my kids and without. I spent my 30th birthday spelunking through caves, shimmying through tight quarters and crossing an underground lake by boat. I'm a big cave fan and have the utmost respect for the tour guides who educate the public on them. Now, to the review. My tour of Mercer Cavern was, hands down, the worst tour I have ever experienced. We were a party of twelve (6 adults and 6 children ages 2-5). There were two other older women who were not in our party, for a total of 14 on the tour. I had called ahead to make sure there was no age minimum and that kids age 2 to 5 were welcomed. I was told they were welcomed, as long as we didn't carry the kids in backpacks (but carrying in your arms or in front-loading carriers was ok) and helped them navigate the stairs. Great! Given we were shelling out $150 ($19 per adult + $11 for children ages 3-12), we wanted to make sure there wouldn't be any issues ahead of time. Before we even started the tour, our guide, Michael, was grumpy and irritable. A 4-year old asked if she could go to the bathroom before the tour started, and he told her no, even though she could have easily just missed the 5 minute preamble outside of the cave. He started complaining about the kids well before our group was even assembled. We told him that we understood that if any started crying, that parent and child would exit the tour. Of course we wouldn't ruin the tour for the others. We thought that his attitude and bitterness would calm down after the start of the tour - but it only got worse. I admit our children were not 100% silent, but they didn't chatter, nor did they cry. They didn't make much more sounds than adults. But ANY sound was too much for Michael and he kept making rude comment after comment, complaining that the kids were going too slowly (which was inaccurate, as the adults generally carried the kids down stairs, and the older women accompanying us were slower). He also kept complaining that the tour would take an hour and a half at the rate we were going, despite the fact that the main reason the tour was dragging was because he was continuously complaining about kids being present, instead of giving us information about the caves, and he got into the habit of waiting 10-20 seconds to ensure he had 100% silence before he started his spiel (he as on a bit of a power trip, to be honest)). Within 10 minutes, he asked the two women whether they wanted to hear the tour. They said yes (as did we all!). He then said that he would not give the tour if my group continued with them, and he would just lead us through the tour in silence. We weren't going to ruin the tour for the 2 women, and this man's anger and blustering was wearing on us, so we just exited the way we came. Upon our departure, one of the other women apologized to me about the way the tour guide was acting. Perhaps other tour guides here are better, but I will never be back to try them. read more

We were staying nearby in Murphys, and we saw the sign while walking downtown. I have seen the bumper stickers for Mercer Caverns for YEARS. That and the ones for the Mystery Spot, which I went on a date to back in the day and realized... it was kind of lame. So when we decided to come here I was hopeful that I'd enjoy it as I love caves and caverns, but also heard it was quite touristy. TBH I loved it a lot more than I thought. It was pretty touristy as the cave is lit by a plethora of well placed lights to help illuminate it well for photos, but the 16 yr old who lead our tour was extremely knowledgable about geology (after the tour we asked him if that was what he wanted to study in college, but he said computer programming was more of his main passion, go figure). We learned about the guy who founded the cavern while searching for precious metals, how photos from the cave helped win an award at the World's Fair in Paris, and how the cave has evolved to what you see now. Keep in mind also there are a lot of steps and you're down underground for you claustrophobics this is not for you. They say it's 16 stories deep, but since there are a lot of breaks this goes by very quickly. Adventure seekers however, this isn't the tour for you. It's more of an educational tour, but it's still insanely beautiful inside. Nevertheless, I still loved it. Nature is beautiful. read more

This is by far one of my favorite spots in the northern life. Smaller than some other caverns, it is stunningly beautiful. A necessary addition to any trip to the area. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED! read more