Kartchner Caverns (Benson, Arizona)

When you look at the mountains and hills surrounding Tucson, there isn’t much to distinguish one peak from another and it’s hard to imagine that any one particular mountain is much different than the one next to it. The desert terrain is dry and scrubby, and the landscape has a tendency to blend together over countless miles, creating an illusion of sameness to the unaware.

Take for instance the caves in Kartchner Caverns State Park, located 9-miles south of the town of Benson. The caves here were so well hidden that it wasn’t until 1974 that two spelunkers, Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts, through persistent caving expeditions, discovered a passageway through a sinkhole that led to a network of 2.5 miles of pristine caves. Because Tenen and Tufts were determined to protect the caves from vandalism, they didn’t share their discovery with anyone for 14 years. Eventually they ended up working with the Kartchner family (who owned the land where the caverns were discovered), and all agreed the best way to protect the caves was to work with Arizona State Parks, with the grand opening of the park finally occurring in 1999.

The cave has an average temperature of 72 degrees Fahrenheit and 99% humidity, much warmer and much more humid than previous caves Dan and I have toured (Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, both of which have average temperatures in the mid 50’s). During this tour we saw beautiful and unusual formations with descriptive names such as shields, totems, soda straws, brushite moonmilk, and birdsnest needle quartz, many of which have been growing continuously for tens of thousands of years. The Grand Finale was a light show, set to music, in the Throne Room, which centered on Kubla Khan, a striking 58-foot tall formation (the tallest and most massive column in Arizona).

We were not allowed to take pictures inside the cave, but I was able to find some images on the internet that I have posted here, along with the pictures we took outside the cave. In addition to the tour, we took the opportunity to explore the hiking path, gift shop, and small museum in the Visitor’s Center. This was a worthy visit and one I would recommend to anyone who finds easy cave exploration interesting.