for centuries by prehistoric peoples when it was "discovered" in 1879.
Since then it has been the object of interest and attention by people ranging from train robbers to a President of the University of Arizona.
The first tours which involved ropes and lanterns were taken through the unimproved Cave in 1923. However, Thanks to the Civilian Conservation Corps, who constructed the buildings, walkways, and wiring in the mid-1930's, today's tours are very comfortable. The hand-set flagstone walkways and handrails are exactly as installed by the CCC. These days, however, Colossal Cave is wearing new lights (energy-saving compact fluorescents) and is more breathtakingly beautiful than ever before.
The Tour of Colossal Cave
The tour route is a half mile long and takes about 45-50 minutes to complete. As your guide relates the Cave's history, legends, and geology, you walk down and back up about six and a half stories and see beautiful cave formations like stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, boxwork, and helictites.
Tours are given daily, year-round. They are not pre-scheduled, but you'll never wait longer than 30 minutes after you purchase your ticket. You need no special clothing in the Cave, which is always 70 degrees and dry. You are welcome to take pictures inside and you'll want to use high-speed film and a flash unit for cameras, or a candlelight setting for video-cameras.
The Discovery Tour
There's so much to see and do in the Park that they've designed a Discovery Tour Game for you to play. When you're done, you'll have seen just about everything at the Park. And when you've completed the game, you will win a TREASURE! To play, take your Discovery Tour game map and find the Discovery Tour stations around the Park.
Then find the paper punch in each station and punch the map at the icon that represents where you are. Punch each of the eighteen (18) icons around the map with the correct punch for that location and you've finished. Take your completed map to either of the Gift Shops to claim your TREASURE! Discovery Tour game maps are given out at the Toll Booth. They are also available at the Bat Pot Gift Shop (at the Cave), the Doubletree Gift Shop (at the Ranch), and the Trail Rides office.
Trail Rides
Saddle up! Leisurely guided Western trail rides go out daily from La Posta Quemada Ranch facility in Colossal Cave Mountain Park. Starting from the site of the historic Mountain Springs Hotel and Stage Station, you'll follow the National Mail Stagecoach route.
See spectacular and complex geological formations and a Hohokam bedrock mortar site as you ramble through unspoiled Sonoran desert. Hayrides and stagecoach rides are also available by reservation. You may choose an hour, an hour-and-a-half, or a four-hour ride. Open every day, the stable hours vary seasonally. Call (520) 647-3450 for information.
Picnic in the Park
Spend a day in the Park with the family. Colossal Cave Mountain Park has plenty of spots for picnics and other fun family recreation. Our wooded picnic areas are tucked along a secluded canyon bottom. Pack a lunch and get out here!
Camp in the Park
If you’d like to spend more than just a day at the park, overnight camping is permitted in the picnic areas. Be prepared to rough it though as there are no hook-ups, and get close to the desert for one whole night.
The Butterfly Garden
The Butterfly Garden at Colossal Cave Mountain Park is carefully designed to provide for the full life cycle of butterflies. There are larval food plants for the caterpillars, nectar to sustain the adults, shade and camouflage for protection from predators-and there's even a special spot for their puddle parties! A haven for butterflies, it is also a place of rest, entertainment, and education for the human guests that visit! The plants are all native varieties.
Desert Tortoise Exhibit
The Park has adopted several Desert Tortoises and their new home is located at La Posta Quemada Ranch. The enclosure to house "Henry" and "Big Nasty" is now complete and they are happily munching on broccoli in their new environment.
Cowboy Cookouts
Beef, beans, and bonfires! The La Posta Quemada Ranch facility offers lunch or dinner cookouts by reservation for groups of twenty or more.
•“Hang” your boss or your spouse on the gallows.
•Limber up your lariat (or borrow one of theirs) and practice your roping skills on their unique Rolleroper.
•Try a game of horseshoes-with real, used horseshoes.
Let them make your visit complete with western music, a trail ride, a hayride, a stagecoach ride, or a special Cave tour. Call 647-3450 or 647-7121 for information and reservations.
Special Tours Requiring Reservations
Group Tours & School Tours
The Park offers group and school tours at reduced rates for those who can make reservations at least two weeks in advance. If your party has twenty or more persons, the tour will be given for your group only. A smaller group may have to be combined with another tour.
The Ladder Tour
See areas of Colossal Cave not open to the public since the 1950s. Your small guided tour (7-12 people) will visit an exquisitely beautiful, only partially improved area of Colossal Cave. Participants will be provided hard hats and lights and must be ready to climb and clamber.
Your evening will consist of an hour and a half tour of the Side Routes of Colossal Cave, a buffet dinner, and, when weather permits, a bonfire on the ramada. These tours are available after hours every Saturday night and by special arrangement at other times, always by reservation.
The Wild Cave Tour
If you’re feeling really strong, you can make reservations for a Wild Cave Tour. You and your guides will follow the footsteps of early explorers through unlit, unmarked, and rarely seen passageways that extend a quarter mile into the depths of the earth. They provide hard hats and lights; participants must be 18 or older, physically fit, agile, and able to scale obstacles. The tour size is limited to seven people and lasts two to three hours. For an additional fee you can enjoy a buffet dinner, and, when weather permits, a bonfire on the ramada after your Wild Cave Tour. The dinner and bonfire must be requested when you make your reservations.
Candlelight Tours
See the wonders of Colossal Cave in a new light - CANDLELIGHT. A treat for groups of up to twenty (age 10 and older), a candlelight tour is the only way to see the Cave in its "original" beauty. After hours, you can help “glow” the Cave with candles, as each participant carries a candle. Plan to spend an hour to an hour and a half in the Cave.
Colossal Cave Mountain Park
16721 E. Old Spanish Trail
Vail, AZ 85641 - 520.647.PARK (7275)
info@colossalcave.com
Visit Their Website: http://www.colossalcave.com/welcome.html
Since then it has been the object of interest and attention by people ranging from train robbers to a President of the University of Arizona.
The first tours which involved ropes and lanterns were taken through the unimproved Cave in 1923. However, Thanks to the Civilian Conservation Corps, who constructed the buildings, walkways, and wiring in the mid-1930's, today's tours are very comfortable. The hand-set flagstone walkways and handrails are exactly as installed by the CCC. These days, however, Colossal Cave is wearing new lights (energy-saving compact fluorescents) and is more breathtakingly beautiful than ever before.
The Tour of Colossal Cave
The tour route is a half mile long and takes about 45-50 minutes to complete. As your guide relates the Cave's history, legends, and geology, you walk down and back up about six and a half stories and see beautiful cave formations like stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, boxwork, and helictites.
Tours are given daily, year-round. They are not pre-scheduled, but you'll never wait longer than 30 minutes after you purchase your ticket. You need no special clothing in the Cave, which is always 70 degrees and dry. You are welcome to take pictures inside and you'll want to use high-speed film and a flash unit for cameras, or a candlelight setting for video-cameras.
The Discovery Tour
There's so much to see and do in the Park that they've designed a Discovery Tour Game for you to play. When you're done, you'll have seen just about everything at the Park. And when you've completed the game, you will win a TREASURE! To play, take your Discovery Tour game map and find the Discovery Tour stations around the Park.
Then find the paper punch in each station and punch the map at the icon that represents where you are. Punch each of the eighteen (18) icons around the map with the correct punch for that location and you've finished. Take your completed map to either of the Gift Shops to claim your TREASURE! Discovery Tour game maps are given out at the Toll Booth. They are also available at the Bat Pot Gift Shop (at the Cave), the Doubletree Gift Shop (at the Ranch), and the Trail Rides office.
Trail Rides
Saddle up! Leisurely guided Western trail rides go out daily from La Posta Quemada Ranch facility in Colossal Cave Mountain Park. Starting from the site of the historic Mountain Springs Hotel and Stage Station, you'll follow the National Mail Stagecoach route.
See spectacular and complex geological formations and a Hohokam bedrock mortar site as you ramble through unspoiled Sonoran desert. Hayrides and stagecoach rides are also available by reservation. You may choose an hour, an hour-and-a-half, or a four-hour ride. Open every day, the stable hours vary seasonally. Call (520) 647-3450 for information.
Picnic in the Park
Spend a day in the Park with the family. Colossal Cave Mountain Park has plenty of spots for picnics and other fun family recreation. Our wooded picnic areas are tucked along a secluded canyon bottom. Pack a lunch and get out here!
Camp in the Park
If you’d like to spend more than just a day at the park, overnight camping is permitted in the picnic areas. Be prepared to rough it though as there are no hook-ups, and get close to the desert for one whole night.
The Butterfly Garden
The Butterfly Garden at Colossal Cave Mountain Park is carefully designed to provide for the full life cycle of butterflies. There are larval food plants for the caterpillars, nectar to sustain the adults, shade and camouflage for protection from predators-and there's even a special spot for their puddle parties! A haven for butterflies, it is also a place of rest, entertainment, and education for the human guests that visit! The plants are all native varieties.
Desert Tortoise Exhibit
The Park has adopted several Desert Tortoises and their new home is located at La Posta Quemada Ranch. The enclosure to house "Henry" and "Big Nasty" is now complete and they are happily munching on broccoli in their new environment.
Cowboy Cookouts
Beef, beans, and bonfires! The La Posta Quemada Ranch facility offers lunch or dinner cookouts by reservation for groups of twenty or more.
•“Hang” your boss or your spouse on the gallows.
•Limber up your lariat (or borrow one of theirs) and practice your roping skills on their unique Rolleroper.
•Try a game of horseshoes-with real, used horseshoes.
Let them make your visit complete with western music, a trail ride, a hayride, a stagecoach ride, or a special Cave tour. Call 647-3450 or 647-7121 for information and reservations.
Special Tours Requiring Reservations
Group Tours & School Tours
The Park offers group and school tours at reduced rates for those who can make reservations at least two weeks in advance. If your party has twenty or more persons, the tour will be given for your group only. A smaller group may have to be combined with another tour.
The Ladder Tour
See areas of Colossal Cave not open to the public since the 1950s. Your small guided tour (7-12 people) will visit an exquisitely beautiful, only partially improved area of Colossal Cave. Participants will be provided hard hats and lights and must be ready to climb and clamber.
Your evening will consist of an hour and a half tour of the Side Routes of Colossal Cave, a buffet dinner, and, when weather permits, a bonfire on the ramada. These tours are available after hours every Saturday night and by special arrangement at other times, always by reservation.
The Wild Cave Tour
If you’re feeling really strong, you can make reservations for a Wild Cave Tour. You and your guides will follow the footsteps of early explorers through unlit, unmarked, and rarely seen passageways that extend a quarter mile into the depths of the earth. They provide hard hats and lights; participants must be 18 or older, physically fit, agile, and able to scale obstacles. The tour size is limited to seven people and lasts two to three hours. For an additional fee you can enjoy a buffet dinner, and, when weather permits, a bonfire on the ramada after your Wild Cave Tour. The dinner and bonfire must be requested when you make your reservations.
Candlelight Tours
See the wonders of Colossal Cave in a new light - CANDLELIGHT. A treat for groups of up to twenty (age 10 and older), a candlelight tour is the only way to see the Cave in its "original" beauty. After hours, you can help “glow” the Cave with candles, as each participant carries a candle. Plan to spend an hour to an hour and a half in the Cave.
Colossal Cave Mountain Park
16721 E. Old Spanish Trail
Vail, AZ 85641 - 520.647.PARK (7275)
info@colossalcave.com
Visit Their Website: http://www.colossalcave.com/welcome.html
© 2006 by "DiscoveringArizona Inc." · All Rights Reserved · E-Mail: jayq@discoveringarizona.com
Colossal Cave is "dry" or "dormant" cave which means that, due to a lack of water, the formations have stopped growing for now. The temperature in the Cave is always a cool 70°F.
The Cave, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, had been used
The Cave, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, had been used
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