Kartchner Caverns State Park - Benson, Arizona

Kartchner Caverns State Park - Benson, Arizona

The Kartchner Caverns were found in 1974 by two young cavers, Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts.  They were exploring the limestone hills at the base of the Whetstone Mountains when they found a narrow crack at the bottom of a sinkhole.  Warm, moist air flowed out which signaled the existence of a cave.  After several hours of crawling they entered a pristine cavern.  Four years later they told the properly owners, James and Lois Kartchner, about their amazing discovery.

The boys had explored the cave secretly for the four years before telling the owners but then they decided that the caverns must be preserved and so they told the owners.  The cave’s existence became public knowledge in 1988 when its purchase was approved as an Arizona State Park.  Extraordinary precautions have been taken during the development and even now during the tours to conserve the cave’s near-pristine condition.  It is absolutely stunning!

There are, of course, bates and other cave creatures in the cave.  During the summer months the cave’s Big Room serves as a nursery roost for over 1,000 female cave myotis bats.  During the summer the colony consumes about half a ton of insects, consisting of moths, flying ants, beetles, mosquitoes and termites.  The bats leave mid=September.  These bats provide the only link between the ecosystem of the cave and the surface. After returning to the bat roost for the night the bats excrete waste, forming large guano piles.  Most of the other life forms found in the cave depend on these guano piles for their food.  Fungi and bacteria consume the guano first.  There are in turn eaten by nematodes, mites, isopods, amphipods, and look lice.  These are then eaten by spiders, scorpions, mites, millipedes and centipedes. Scavengers, like crickets and beetle larvae, clean up the leftovers.

Wile exploring the cave, paleontologists uncovered an 86,000 year record of the local faunal community including skeletons of an 86,000 year old Shasta ground sloth, a 34,000 year old horse, and an 11,000 year old bear.  Wow!

Kartchner Caverns is home to: one of the world’s longest soda straw stalactites (21 ft 2 inches); the tallest and most massive column in Arizona, Kubla Khan which is 58 ft tall; the world’s most extensive formation of brushite moonmile; the first reported occurrence of "turnip" shields; the first cave occurrence of "birdsnest" needle quartz formations and many other unusual formations.

While visiting the cave, keep your hands to yourself!  Do NOT touch anything. If you do, you have stopped the formation forever, do NOT be responsible for such a tragedy.

Fee: from $3 to $10  State Park Fees

Reservations for cave tours are strongly recommended and can be made by calling 520-586-2283 or online at www.azstateparks.com.

Directions: nine miles south of I-10, off State Hwy 90, exit 302

Hours: Open 7 days a week from 7:30 AM to 6 PM (MST) Closed Christmas Day
Reservations taken from 8 AM to 5 PM.

All tours are guided by a trained tour guide.  The cave averages 68 degrees F and 98% humidly year around.  All cave trails are barrier free.

IMPORTANT REMINDERS

• Touching or breaking formations is punishable by law
• No photography or video cameras allowed on cave tour
• no walkers allowed on cave tour
• small children should be carried in arms or in front pack.  No baby backpacks or strollers allowed on cave tour
• cave tour is barrier free
• the park, including the discovery center, is accessible for persons with disabilities
• no food, drink (including bottled water), gum, or tobacco products allowed on cave tours
• no pets, except assist dogs
• no littering