18 Caves to explore in United States
Third largest and third most populous country in the world. Size-wise, it is almost as large as the continent of Europe.
Black Chasm Cavern is a cave nestled in the hamlet of Volcano, located in Amador County, California. It is a dissolution cave, formed by sulfuric acid resulting from Geo-thermal hydrogen sulfide reacting with down-moving oxygenated surface water.
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.
The Cave of the Bells is located in Sawmill Canyon at the end of a four-wheel drive road on the eastern slopes of the Santa Rita Mountains. The cave contains a lake which is 80 meters below the entrance level. The lake has been measured at 76 °F (24 °C) and is believed to be warmed by sources below. The nearby Onyx Cave is also of interest.
Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park preserves centuries old Native American artwork that graces the wall of a sandstone cave in the Santa Ynez Mountains behind Santa Barbara. The smooth and irregularly shaped shallow sandstone cave contains numerous drawings apparently depicting the Chumash cosmology and other subjects created in mineral pigments and other media over a long period ranging from about 200 up to possibly 1000 years or more.
Coronado cave is one of the few open, undeveloped caves in southern Arizona. The cave is a large cavern 600 feet long and in most places about 70 feet wide.The cave is located ~ .25 mile west of the visitor center on the north side of the road is the parking area for the trail. It became part of Coronado National Memorial in 1978, when the park expanded its boundaries. The cave may have been used by humans as a shelter and hideout by middle archaic people.
The Cave Trail climbs 400 feet over half a mile to the entrance of a 600 foot-long limestone cavern, overlooking a minor ravine on the south side of Montezuma Peak, part of an area that was added to Coronado National Memorial after a boundary expansion in 1978. The cave interior extends 600 feet in length, with 20 foot high ceilings. Those planning to explore the limestone cave should bring at least two sources of light per person.
Emerald Cove is a beautiful, secluded cove on the Colorado River, a few kilometers downstream from the Hoover Dam. This area is known for its clear greenish-blue waters. Emerald Cove gets its name from the beautiful green water that is created by the sun reflecting off the white silt that lines the bottom of the cove.
The Historic Fairy Cave Tour is a 40-minute guided walking tour that is appropriate for most fitness levels. This tour leads you on a quarter-mile-long underground stroll through narrow, winding passages, to natural water features and includes a stop at Exclamation Point—a viewing balcony with magnificent panoramas.
The Grand Canyon Caverns is located along Route 66 in Northern Arizona. These are the largest dry caverns in the United States, located 200 to 300 feet below the surface. The Grand Canyon Caverns’ formed during the Mississippian Period of geologic time (345 million years ago ).
The cave is the largest lava tube on Maui and the 18th largest lava tube in the world. The tube was created over 960 years ago as lava spewed up from underground towards the ocean surface.
Kartchner Caverns introduces visitors to the mysterious world of caves, which boasts the world’s longest stalactite formation. It is a massive limestone cave that’s home to many outstanding features, including remarkable minerals and formations as well as some winged friends.
Massacre Cave Overlook is located off of the North Rim Drive in the Canyon de Chelly (pronounced d'Shay) National Monument. The cave is the site of a rock shelter where in 1805 a group of Navajo had fortified themselves in a battle against a Spanish military expedition led by Lt. Antonio Narbona. With over 80 rooms and three kivas, this is one of the largest dwelling structures in the park. It was named for two mummies that were discovered here by an archaeological expedition in 1882.
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.
Mitchell Caverns is three solution limestone caves, only two of which are open to the public. It was created primarily by the dissolution of sedimentary limestone and metamorphised limestone by ground water high in carbonic acid content. The "Tecopa" and "El Pakiva" caves are connected by a man-made tunnel and are open to guided tours led by California State Park rangers. These caves are the only limestone caves in the California State Park system.
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.
Peppersauce Cave is a limestone cave found in the Santa Catalina Mountains approximately ten miles south of Oracle, Arizona. Peppersauce is frequented by about 23,000 visitors every year and contains approximately one mile of mapped passages. The cave has been subject to vandalism and heavy littering for over fifty years.
Sunny Jim Cave is one of seven unique La Jolla Cove caves. Having been open to the public since 1903, the cave boasts a fascinating history and a little bit of folklore. This fun attraction is a store that has a 143 step man-made tunnel built into it that heads down to a large sea cave below. Since the early 1900s, it has been giving visitors access to this cave year-round. It is the only cave in La Jolla you can get to without traveling over water on a kayak.
Waiʻanapanapa means “glistening fresh water” in the Hawaiian language, referring to nearby fresh water streams and sparkling pools.The park has seabird colonies, lava tubes, blowholes, freshwater caves, and a natural stone arch.