Caves near Tucson AZ

One way to take a break from Tucson’s 300 days of bright sunshine is to explore the area’s fascinating wet (still growing) and dry caves.

Kartchner Caverns State Park

One of the coolest things about Kartchner Caverns is how it was discovered. In 1974, two University of Arizona students and amateur cavers spotted a narrow crack in the bottom of a sinkhole. They followed the unusually moist air and discovered more than two miles of unspoiled cave passages.

What happened next reads like an excerpt from a mystery novel. Concerned about protecting the fragility of the cave, the pair kept its location secret for years. They even blindfolded state park officials when they eventually brought them to the site. It’s said that then-Governor Bruce Babbitt secretly left the state capitol with bodyguards and spent hours crawling through the mud to inspect the natural wonder.

• The Big Room at Kartchner Caverns State Park.
• Courtesy of Arizona State Parks

News of the cave was not made public until 1988 when the ranch family, after whom the cavern is named, sold the land to the state so that a park and appropriate protections could get underway.

Living Wet Cave

Kartchner Cavern is a living or “wet” cave, meaning the calcite formations are still growing. Warm, dry desert air would imperil the health of the cave, so the state spent millions on a special system of airtight doors that would preserve the cave’s natural climate. Temperatures are in the high 60s with relative humidity at nearly 100 percent, so dress for the damp chill.

The Caverns finally opened to the public in 1999. Today, visitors begin their tour on an electric tram that runs from the must-see Discovery Center to the entrance of the cave, not far from the sinkhole where the explorers first entered the cave.

• Soda-straw formations in the Throne Room at Kartchner Caverns State Park.
• Courtesy of Arizona State Parks

After traveling through a long tunnel and the airtight doors, you will emerge into the Rotunda Room, a 200- by 120-foot-wide cavern with a 45-foot-high arched ceiling. My jaw dropped at the sheer magnitude of this hidden space.

Soda Straws

Inside, amid the drip, drip, drip of accumulated moisture and through the dim light, you will be amazed at the stunning collection of multi-colored cave formations. Moving along the trail, you will be in awe of the stalactites, stalagmites and small white helectites, and the many minerals, you learn, are not found in any other cave in the world.

Within the Throne Room, one of three major rooms currently available to the public, you’ll see one of the cave's highlights, a 22-foot-long "soda straw" stalactite. Measuring just a quarter inch wide, it is reported to be the second longest in the world.