Colossal Cave Mountain Park

Perched on its mountainside, Colossal Cave has captivated humans for centuries with its beauty, utility, history, mystery, and romance. And so has the surrounding area, now known as Colossal Cave Mountain Park. Over a thousand years ago, the Hohokam Indians formed a thriving farming community while using the Cave for shelter, storage, and a shrine. Other Indian peoples came and went, followed by settlers, explorers, and train robbers, to name a few. In the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed the handsome dressed-limestone Colossal Cave headquarters buildings, and the walkways and handrails inside the Cave. Today the 2,400-acre Colossal Cave Mountain Park is on the National Register of Historic Places and showcases crystal-filled Colossal Cave and 120-year-old La Posta Quemada Ranch—it’s a great place to spend the day. Cave tours, which last about 50 minutes, reveal the Cave’s history, legends, and geology—and beautiful formations: stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, boxwork, and helictites. At the Ranch, browse in the historical museum, sluice for gemstones, or saddle up for a trail ride along the old National Mail Stagecoach route. Each location offers a Southwestern gift shop and the Ranch an open-air café. In between, tucked here and there into the Park’s extraordinary terrain—from steep-walled canyons to a riparian area—are cool, wooded picnic areas, great birding, and hiking. Cave Tours * Adventure Tours * Museums * Southwestern Gift Shops * Western Trail Rides * Cowboy Cookouts * Monthly Presentations and Events * Party Facilities