Skyline Caverns both is and isn't the typical roadside attraction. It is adjacent to Shenandoah National Park, so if you're in the area for the above ground views, take some time and check out what is underneath the park. There's some kid friendly stuff here, like a miniature train ride and a mirror maze (which we didn't partake in) and there's the tour of the cavern. The cavern is home to some beautiful formations, along with some rare types that are only found in one other cave in the world so far, Anthodite formations. These delicate little formations look like little sea urchins, stuck to the cavern walls, and took thousands of years to form. It is nice and cool inside, so bring a jacket if you get cold easily, and bring a camera -- they encourage photography! The tour itself is a little bit hokey, depending on who is doing the tour, but it is all in good fun and I think it's a great thing to do for both grownups and kids, as long as the kids don't mind a bit of a walk. Gift shop is full of tons of tourist trap merchandise, nothing that really caught my eye for purchase. read more

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Previous reviewers have done a good job giving basic info. I just want to add that you can print out a $2-off adult/$1-off child admission coupon on the Skyline Caverns Web site. This is significantly cheaper than Luray Caverns, and also there likely won't be a wait (unlike Luray). I thought it was cool--the people I was with all had a good time. Luray is probably a little neater, but Skyline is also worth your while, and a little easier to visit. I also enjoyed the gift shop and did not think the prices were too bad. Mini-train and Enchanted Dragon Mini Maze also on the property, and I think there are picnic tables. Skyline Caverns could easily combine with a short drive on Skyline Drive, since one of the entrances is very nearby. We stopped at Dinosaurland on our way home, which was fun in a craptacular kind of way... Oh yeah--definitely bring a jacket to this (or any cavern), or you will freeze! read more

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This was beautiful! The tour guide was super knowledgeable and was able to answer most questions and provide a lot of background on the formations and history of the caverns. I really liked how they capped your groups to a manageable size because it allowed everyone to be able to hear the guide and take in the wonders. I wish they didn't use rainbow lighting in the one section, and it wasn't the longest tour in the world, but there was a ton to see and everything was gorgeous! read more

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IT IS MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE ON EARTH! I feel like I am in another world and magical and everyone is wearing masks including the stuff and and I feel so welcomed and only thing is everything Is so expensive i was it was cheaper for the food and store and tickets and DEFINITELY go it is great for everyone all ages and make sure you get there early because it gets packed fast and buy your tickets a head to time and I love being surrounded by nature and so peaceful quiet and wonderful place lots of activities to do and GO CHECK IT OUT!! IT IS BEST PLACE EVER!! Make sure you go when the weather is not to hot or to cold and so it is nice temperature and weather and lots of place to see and stores and old town it beautiful too lots of stores and places to walk and eat and lovely and breathtaking place and it is a great drive up there and beautiful and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT thank you xoxo lauren read more

Wonderful cavern tour with a very knowledgeable guide (Annika). One of four places in the world that you can see anthodite crystal formations! read more

Andrew was our guide and he was outstanding! Very knowledge and patient (there were kids in the group haha). The caverns have way more than we were expecting in a 1 hour tour. You learn the whole history of the cavern and the fairly harrowing adventure they took to discover and make the cavern safe to explore. And there are gems and other sights you won't see anywhere else. We highly recommend it. read more

I love going to the caverns.....it was such a great surprise from my better half.... if ever in Front Royal definitely stop by and vicit. read more

Skyline Caverns - The smallest blind bettle...found in the cave. - Tours Near Me - Front Royal, Virginia

Given the COVID-19 pandemic, it's hard to find many activities that are safe to partake. However, the Skyline Caverns is the exception! All employees wore masks and made sure all patrons abided by COVID-19 policies. Hand sanitizer posted at their main entrance with their COVID-19 rules made us feel at ease. The tour guide group consisted of about 20 people during the weekend but all wore masks and did their best to keep their social distance. The tour guide, Billy, was very informative and patient with the size of the tour group. Absolutely stunning caverns that have been well maintained and illuminated in such a way that it truly captures the essence and beauty of the natural formations. The tour was about an hour long but certainly didn't feel like it since there was always something beautiful to look at and the tour guide had informative tidbits throughout the experience. All in all, a great place to take family, friends, and loved ones! read more

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Beautiful ! The lights really highlight the caves beauty. Bring the baby carrier - stairs make the caves not stroller friendly. Also bring a sweatshirt as caves are cold. There's a nearby micky D and Burger King. read more

Very informative and interesting tour. The caves have a ton of cool formations and lights to compliment it. Parking is free and plentiful. The caverns are always 54 degrees so bring a sweatshirt if you want. Prices are $22 for adults and kid friendly. Our tour guide was named Virginia. She was VERY friendly, knowledgable, and funny. Her jokes were good and she seems to enjoy herself and her job. Highly recommend her as a tour guide. Very awesome. read more

They had great COVID guidelines and I felt totally safe being there. Ian, our tour guide, was awesome. They told us plenty of amazing things. The other group that was with us weren't the best guest, but I think Ian handled the situation perfectly, I think they did an amazing job and I couldn't have asked for a better guide. Amazing tour, amazing guide. read more

Skyline Caverns - Tours Near Me - Front Royal, Virginia

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We were the only two on the tour (middle of a weekday) and our guide Jen was awesome and super knowledgeable. The caverns are much younger than Luray or Shenandoah so there aren't as many formations. Actually, I prefer them over the other two because they are much more open and the caverns were carved out by a river. SUPER cool looking inside with streams and a waterfall! Everyone working was so friendly and the gift shop area is nice and large with a lot of variety of items. I definitely recommend to see the difference between a younger cave and older one like Luray. read more

Place is amazing ! The tour was informative as well as beautiful. You would think the thought of a tour in cave would be boring but it was really nice. The colorful lights made it an even better experience, very romantic if your going with your partner. Really worth going back to again for sure. read more

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I haven't been to a cavern in ages, but I went when I was up visiting my ex. It's a neat, though smaller cavern. It has a really nice giftshop. The employees are... interesting. Thats the only reason this place isn't 5 stars. The kid doing the tour was snarky and.. frankly, kind of annoying. The guy at the front desk seemed to act like we were bothering him. The caverns itself are very cool, and the colored lighting is neat too. There's ample time on the tour to take pictures and things. I recommend it, if you can put up with some teenage snark. read more

Some facts I learned while visiting the Skyline Cavern: * If you somehow end up in total darkness for at least 2 weeks, you will eventually become blind due to the strain of your eyes from trying to see in the dark. * The valentine beetle became extinct as soon as it was discovered. This is a beetle that is born blind since it is born in total darkness. * Dr. Walter S. Amos discovered this cavern when he saw a sink hole that was originally in the parking lot. * This is all natural and it is continuing to "grow". * You will see a rare needle like crystal called "Anthodites" which takes about 7000 yrs to grow an inch. While on the tour, you learn so much about this cavern's history, its quite fascinating. Everything in the cavern is natural except for one part where they added a bridge. This place is also protected by Virginia State Law and you are not allowed to touch anything, since oils from your hands can cause "damage" or affect its habitat. Its pretty chilly down there as its only about 54 degrees since you are underground and can be as far down as 700 feet! Kristen, our guide was awesome! She was very friendly and since we had a large group, there were 30 of us, she waited till we all reached the next destination, so that we can hear what was going on next. She answered all the questions we had and let us look around and "explore". A really neat place to visit. The gift shop also has cool little knick knacks as well. read more

Our tour guide was super knowledgeable and she made this learning experience interesting. The tour was about an hour and a half; about one mile walk in total. We walk the whole time, no elevator. They had these cool rare crystals. I suggest you to bring a sweater, it got cold the more deep we went down the cave! read more

Skyline Caverns - Ceiling of the cave - Tours Near Me - Front Royal, Virginia

I'd push this to 3.5 if I could. These are simple, straightforward caverns -- and I like caverns, so I don't mean that in any negative way -- and the guides give fun tours through them. (The guides fall back on many of the standard cave-tour jokes, but they've got some good unique ones too.) I've found this to be a good place to introduce someone to cavern tours. Three suggestions: -- It's best to visit soon after some rain because more of the water areas in the cavern will be filled and flowing. -- You can print coupons from their website that give you $2 off each ticket. (One coupon per ticket.) -- Bring a jacket. I think these are the coolest caverns, temperaturewise, that I've been in. Skyline Caverns is overshadowed by Luray, which is 30 minutes away, but it's still enjoyable in its own right and I'm sure I'll be back. read more

Known for delicate and unique formation known as anthodites are on display.Basically series of geological caves. Open all year for visit.Underground streams,passages and flow stone formations of limestone. The temperature is pretty good not too cold.As usually gift shop,fast food exist. read more

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I have 4 young children and I think every time we get bored we come here. This place is so much better than Luray Caverns because the tour guides aren't audio they are real people. They start out by explaining how the cave was made and a little history on the front of the cave very awesome. My kids favorite part of the whole tour? When they shut off the lights and you can't see anything then they play a little audio thing for you so awesome!! As many times as I have come here I love it more and more. The most recent trip we bought tickets to the train on top of the hill and the kids loved that too. We live locally and like to support local attractions. read more

My girlfriend and I really enjoyed our trip to Skyline Caverns. The caverns were beautiful and well-preserved. I've been to caverns all over the world, and while some may have more impressive formations than Skyline, they are often HEAVILY commercialized. Skyline Caverns is relatively humble, but you can really appreciate the natural beauty. Additionally, our tour guide, Emily, was extremely friendly, funny and knowledgeable. She even gave us a great lunch recommendation--Spelunker's (mmm)! read more

I have been to Luray Caverns before and I had the opportunity, to visit Skyline Caverns with out of town guests. I really liked the smaller group sizes and the human tour guide was nice, he was great about explaining things and answering questions. The downside to that was his accent and cadence of speech made him a little hard to understand but I got the gist of it! The kids enjoyed it for the most part but I think they enjoyed the train ride more, I thought it was a little lame but I am not 6 so there you go! Bring a light sweater or hoodie because it is a little chilly down there 54 degrees and the tour takes a little over an hour. read more

We'd decided to take a trip to Virginia to visit Luray and Skyline Caverns and had read some reviews saying one was better than the other, don't waste your time on Skyline, etc. However, I'm really happy that we chose to visit both on the same trip. It is true that Skyline isn't as grand as Luray, but what it lacks in scale, it makes up for in a more intimate authentic way. The tour had way fewer people than Luray (we were the second group of the morning), the path you walk down isn't paved, but rather is dirt as it was when the cavern was discovered. The spaces you walk through are a wee bit tighter, the ceilings are lower which I suppose are, as one patron referred to them as, 'wish rocks'....meaning that you'd better watch your head for if you don't, you'll hit it and wish you hadn't and one of our favorite parts of the tour was that you get to experience total cave darkness. So cool and a little scary! :D Oh...and I mustn't leave out that Skyline is the only cavern in the area to have Anthodites, crystals that are kept behind closed doors and which are protected by Virginia State Law; they are truly remarkable. All in all, the tour was neat, we'd do it again and the only true downside we found, was that the gift shop's prices were a little high for what it was they were selling. I presume it's because they don't' see quite the traffic that Luray does and have to make up for it some where. C'est la vie. read more

I am NO expert on caves. The whole idea of spelunking makes me cringe. Being in dark confined damp underground caves with god knows what creepy crawling biting creatures makes me shudder. No thank you. I'll take a nice outing in the woods any day. If you lean this way in regards to underground adventures, no need to panic. Skyline Caverns is caving lite. (AKA - for the wussies!) After paying your admission fee (not exactly a bargain: $16 for adults, they do offer military & AARP discounts, children under 6 are free) in the welcome center, you walk down stairs to enter the caverns. As you come down there is a tour guide in a sport coat and slacks to greet you. (Very civilized cavern exploration!) Ours was a freshman in high school. His jokes were a little canned, but overall he was well informed and did a good job going over the interesting details of the cave formations and the history of the caverns. The owners have put in flood lighting throughout the caves and sand on the trails. It's approximately a mile walk and takes about an hour. There is a portion of the tour when you stop and they play a recorded audio presentation. I think it was probably created in the 1970's and it's very heavy on the "glory of God" aspects of cavern appreciation. We were given prior notice about the content and offered the opportunity to go off with the guide if that was going to be a problem. Everyone stayed. It was hokey and quaint in a way. It didn't really add anything to the experience, but it wasn't a big problem for me either. We took Primo with us. He seemed to enjoy it. There is a stream that they stock with some trout and he loves fish. He also wanted to know where the monsters were! Fortunately, we did not cross paths with any scary creatures. I wouldn't make a special trip out there for this, but if you find yourself in Front Royal it's not a bad way to spend some time getting to see parts of our planet that we normally don't get to encounter. read more

So honestly, I wanted to go to Luray Caverns..but when we arrived there had to be at least 250 people in line. It was 90 degrees outside and that experience didn't seem like one i wanted to partake in ...so we retired to our cabin for the evening and googled other caverns in the area. Skyline was about the same distance, cheaper, had very little wait time and had a special crystal formation growing inside that's exclusive to their cave. Lastly in they're gem shop i found a beautiful rock necklace that is amazing. read more

Nice natural treasure that could use more exposure. It is not as fancy or grand as Luray Caverns (or others across the country) but it hosts some unique sights. We had a lot of fun. Some parts are cheesey but it is a family-oriented place. With that in mind, don't be surprised if the kids in your group get scared. One in our group did and the parents were courteous enough to follow behind at a length for some time until the kid calmed. The tour guides are young locals and they are very good at keeping it interesting and funny. Gift shop has some interesting goodies as well! I should have taken home that jackelope... read more

It is a good thing to see it would be a whole lot better if you don't have three screaming kids in a hole in the ground. I spent 34.00 to hear a pack of kids cry in Spanish. I'm sure the guide had a lot to say but toward the end she even gave up trying to shout out over the brats. read more

I imagine the "it's so coooool" joke has been ran into the ground here so I'll spare you. Seriously though it's pretty cold down there, so even on a hot, humid day, you're going to suffer some shrinkage. That caveat aside, it's a good visit. Fantastic acoustics if you want to make everyone uncomfortable and make guttural shrieks and practice your throat-singing. Very fun. There's also a trap door near the bottom that you can stomp on and make surface-level explosion sounds, but that was a bit unnerving to the group ahead of us. Lighting is interesting, and the history of the caverns' formation is fascinating to witness as you take in the timeline of the erosion required. Well worth the visit. read more

Very good tour. Jamie tour guide though young, and a little cheesy was very informative-also able to answer all our questions. Hour long tour was the perfect time. Had the biggest anthrodite in the world. Check online for coupons. Worth the 16 $ each read more

Skyline Caverns - Anthrodites - Tours Near Me - Front Royal, Virginia

Beautiful natural wonder! I loved the waterfall and streams in the caverans! They are a lot smaller then Grand or Luray but have cave crystals which are are rare and beautiful! Our tour guide had her third tour with us and did very well for being new with great facts and jokes! Staff was very friendly and even cleared a place for me to have lunch! Awesome rock shop and i left with some fun goodies! It was too cold for the mini train and mirror maze but wanna try that next time! I loved the story about the natural vacuum and rare animals in the cave including the Valentine beetle! Need to go to Smithsonian to see the body of this creature that was found only in this cave. Wish I had seen some bats like at Natural Bridge and Grand Caverans! Overall a great tour and shop and plan to return! read more

This review is not about the caverns. I was on the way back from a couple of days in Luray and having had a great time in Luray and Shenandoah caverns already, I wasn't looking for another cavern tour. We wanted to stop and do something fun for the kids on the way home, and thought that the "Enchanted Dragon Mirror Maze" sounded like a good time. We could not have been more wrong. The entire building was locked up when we arrived, which should have been a clue. When we asked about it in the main building, they sent someone over to open it. That person could not figure out how to operate the sound system, but that shouldn't make much difference for a maze. The maze itself was extremely simplistic and very small. Do not waste your money! read more

Have visited here twice to apply for work, the manager, Brooks, is cheerful, informed and kind. 5 of us showed up on a rainy lunchtime, two were guests from the VERY flat Eastern Shore. The tour and guide, Sonny, were wonderful. As a geomorpholgist (UCLA 1994), I was so very happy to be underground and seeing truly unique mineral deposits. Much faster and closer to home than Luray! In town, fine and relaxed dining, small city feel, once an important trade spot, new 6 lane bridge across the Shenandoah almost done.... A good time had by all 3 to 6X yrs old.... read more

Cavern was spectacular. The tour guides we're great as well. I was extremely impressed. However, the only reason this rating lacks a star is because of the woman who works in the gift shop. When asked where was a good place to eat she acted EXTREMELY RUDE and kept taking a toy away from my little brother because it was "making too much noise to talk" - it wasn't. By the end of the conversation we ended up with a list of restaurants that was pre-printed and a very irritating experience. read more

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Pros: Small tour groups with knowledgeable tour guides (Jamie, our guide, was fantastic!) The caverns are beautiful. Cons: The whole thing has the same kitschy feeling as it did when I was little- the coloured lighting is very 70's and a bit cheesy. The gift shop falls into the same category. read more

Love this cavern! The tour which last an hour provided such great detail of the history and facts about the cavern. The gift shop alone is fun to shop in! Definitely worth my hour drive to check this place out. Afterwards enjoy some grub at Spelunkers! read more

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Our tour guide Jane was the perfect mix of funny and fact. For the price, the tour length is perfect. Best part is that you're allowed to take pictures. The walk could be a little long for those under five. read more

Skyline Caverns - Tours Near Me - Front Royal, Virginia

I took my children here over spring break and it was a wonderful and safe activity during covid. Masks are strongly enforced and the tour guide took as much time needed to answer all of my 9 year old's 4 billion questions! read more

I liked the caverns tour a lot! Our guide Sonny was very nice and pretty funny (though you could tell he has the same jokes every tour). The caves were very cool (literally- bring a jacket!) and the geological history behind the caves is fascinating. The mirror maze was much less impressive, and I didn't get to try the train so I can't speak to that. read more

Went to Skyline Caverns with friends from out of town, our 2 kids and their 2 kids. The coupon on there website saved me money. The entire staff was very friendly and helpful. Our guide, Sonny, was fantastic. Very knowledgeable and great at dealing with questions from the kids. The tour was about an hour and I'd say we walked about 3/4 mile. Lots of stairs going down and back up into the cavern (a warning if you have trouble with stairs). I'd request to be in a tour lead by Sonny. Having Sonny guiding our tour definitely contributed to our overall experience in a big way. Thank you, Sonny and thank you Skyline Caverns staff. read more

Excellent tour guide Dan, knowledgeable, funny. It was amazing to see items that are in only 4 other places in the world, what was behind the wooden doors was amazing! Path was easy to walk on, wear a jacket. Silence is as awesome! read more

I've been to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, so had to remind myself on the ride down that Skyline and Luray would not be anything like them. Still and all, I really enjoyed these caverns. I actually liked these more than Luray. No, there aren't as many formations, yes the lighting is super kitchy, yes the tour guides are mostly teenagers with limited knowledge. BUT, the tour groups are small (we actually had a private one with just us and the guide as we were the last one of the day), the caverns havn't been as contaminated as Luray, and the anthodites are gorgeous. Also, the cavern themselves -- not the formations -- are BEAUTIFUL. There are such interesting shapes to be seen, even without the cheesy suggestions made by the guide. Sure, go to Luray for the formations, (better yet, go to Carslbad where they are OMFG AH-mazing) but come here for the caverns themselves. read more