3 Caves to Explore in Calaveras County

Checkout places to visit in Calaveras County

Calaveras County

Calaveras is the Spanish word for skulls; the county was reportedly named for the remains of Native Americans discovered by the Spanish explorer Captain Gabriel Moraga.

Activities Around

Caves to Explore in Calaveras County

California Cavern State Historic Landmark

Originally called Mammoth Cave, California Cavern was California’s first show cave and is its longest cavern system. The cavern walking tour takes you through several passageways into multiple chambers on a trail system. On the way, you’ll see a wide variety of beautiful white, cream and caramel colored crystalline cave formations including stalactites, stalagmites, cave popcorn, flowstones and helictites.

Mercer Caverns

This is a show cave located in Calaveras county. It is named after the gold prospector Walter J. Mercer who discovered the caves around 1885 and filed a claim. It is formed in a marble unit known as the Calaveras Formation. It also contains a large display of aragonite frostwork. The standard tour of the cave descends 160 feet, 208 steps down and 232 up in a traverse between the natural and an artificial entrance.

Moaning Caverns Adventure Park

Moaning Caverns is a solutional cave located in Calaveras County, California, near Vallecito, California in the heart of the state's Gold Country. It is developed in the marble of the Calaveras Formation. It was discovered in modern times by gold miners in 1851. One can visit this place and can understand the things in this cave. not at all a tour, it is a little bit adventurous too.

Map of Caves to explore in Calaveras County