Crystal Cave

We went on the tour of this cave while at Sequoia National Park. The drive to the cave is pretty slow going because it winds through switchbacks, and you can’t buy tickets at the entrance, so plan ahead! Also, the walk from the parking down to the entrance of the cave is not easy. People who are not fully in shape to hike a mile (?) down (and back up) a mountain should not do this tour. That said, the tour itself was nice. The water rushing over the rocks made spaces that looked like the most luxurious nature-​made (freezing cold) bath tubs. The rock formations were pretty. The complete darkness of the inter cave was fun in a sensory-​deprivation way. Worth doing, but not worth repeating more than once.

Purchase tickets at Foothills Visitor Center or Lodgepole Visitor Center. I think ticket sales were open from 8am to 4pm. (something like that).
Coincidentally, we came to Sequoia National Park when the Dark Sky Festival was going on. We were able to go to the Astro Biological tour of the Crystal Cave. It wasn’t extra in price ($ 16) and they only offer it once a year, during the Dark Sky Festival. The Astro Biological aspect just added on to how caves are studied and related to possible life on other planets.
There’s a shuttle to take you everywhere else in the park. I don’t know why Crystal Cave isn’t one of them. You drive to Crystal Cave. The parking lot is equipped with bear lockers.
At your tour time, the staff will gather everybody and announce how the tour will proceed. Everybody has to walk on a mat, then a disinfectant mat, and then another mat before they start on the trail down to the cave. This is to prevent White Nose Syndrome from making it’s way into Crystal Cave as it’s shown up in caves on the East Coast and is making it’s way west, killing millions of bats.
.then the trail down to the cave is a steep one plus you’re going down along with the rest of the tour group. At the bottom, you meet your tour guide and going through the cave was neat. Our tour guide was enthusiastic. There was another person that stayed in the back to signal to the tour guide that the group was all there so she didn’t start talking and people that straggled behind missed anything she was saying.
You can wear headlamps in the cave but no flash photography. It’s cold in the cave and you may feel drops of water here and there. it’s a living cave.
At the end of the tour, you have to make your way back up the steep trail back to your vehicle but you can take your time. take pictures of the waterfalls or what have you. Beware of falling rock areas.

These caves are amazing! We return almost every summed because it is impossible to get tired of seeing such incredible formations. Beautiful scenery along the trail also.

It was great fun exploring the Crystal Caves, lots of ooing and awing from the kids as well as adults. It is quite a drive to get to it-​35 mins from the cave sign. Once your tour group goes it’s a walk down a loooong, narrow path, no railings, but with a gorgeous view esp of a waterfall and river right there. It is cold in the cave so bring a jacket. Our guide, Nathan, did a great job talking about the cave and its history, and answered lots of questions. He had a great sense of humor! The cave itself has amazing formations to see. The tour is about 30 mins. The walk back up the hill was very steep, so take your time as needed.

Went to Crystal cave on 5÷16÷2015 1pm tour. Fantastic. But be prepared for the walk back up hill ugh!!!
On the way out found a bag of food and a backpack on the side of the road. No ID.
Food scattered and opened so the food was thrown away to avoid bears or other animals getting to it. Any one lose a backpack?

Tickets must be purchased at the Foothills Visitor Center or the Lodgepole Visitor Center. Don’t bother going to the cave entrance first, there is no way they can sell you tickets from down there and then now you’ve wasted about half an hour (round trip) going there and then back.
Once you’ve purchased your ticket, allow enough time to drive there, find parking, use the restroom and hike down from the parking lot to the cave entrance where the tour will begin. That’s a minimum of 45 minutes just ot be safe. More if you are slow or the type to stop and take photos. But then you’ll have to take photos on your way up anyway so save that for later!
There are bear lockers in the parking lot. They highly recommend that you avail yourself of this because you don’t want the bears to damage your car trying to get to your food/​lotion/​perfume/​etc. But keep in mind that these don’t protect you from thieves.
Pick your poison.
Rangers regularly see bears break cars, but the second time I was here, there was a family who lost all their toiletries because some inconsiderate jerk thought it would be great to grab some tourists’ things.
A serious problem is affecting and killing bats in caves and to help prevent the spread of white nose disease amongst bats, everyone must wipe their shoes on a mat before entering the trail (leaving the parking lot) that will lead to the cave entrance downhill. It’s such an easy solution! We have no excuse not to do it!
If you think about it, it’s a very cool interactive activity that forces everyone to listen to the educational talk about saving the bats without it sounding like a classroom presentation!
A small and cute and properly stocked gift shop is right inside the entrance of the trail that is awesomely stocked. Great photographs, postcards (not the cheap looking ones), small toys for the kids and great coffee table books.
A short but very steep hike follows after. There is no bathroom or trash cans along the way so make sure you avail yourself of the bathroom facilities at the parking lot.
This was my first cave. I’ve had the opportunity to visit this place again and it is still impressive. The amount of information you get depends on your tour guide. On my first visit, I learned a lot about how the cave itself was formed. On my second visit, I learned a lot about the conservation efforts from beginning to the present.
Both times, it was impressive when we all turned out the lights in the «cathedral”-like room they had inside.
On your return hike up to the parking lot, make sure you take the branching trail off to the side because there is a small waterfall nearby.

Bought our tickets at Lodgepole and was told that there were road delays due to construction so to allow extra time to get to the caves. Not a problem. We left straight away and got to the entrance as they were admitting people for the tour before ours (the 2 o’clock and we were part of the 3 o’clock). The employee asked if we wanted to join that tour since they had extra space, which was super nice of her
The walk down to the cave was easy peasy. We all trapsed down, laughing and chatting… the tour was interesting and the cave was not cold at all (felt like AC after being in the heat all day).
The worst part of this whole adventure was the walk back up to the parking lot after the tour. It was awful. Granted my boyfriend and I are carrying some extra weight and we come from a place very close to sea level, but hiking back up, at over 6000 ft above sea level felt like death. My heart was pounding and it was difficult to catch my breath. We decided to take it nice and slow, and to rest whenever either of us needed it, and eventually we made it back.
Bring plenty of water. I brought my refillable bottle thinking they had a refilling station and they didnt. We ended up having to purchase water at $ 1.62 a bottle.

Crystal Cave is very popular– keep this in mind. On a weekend or summer day, you might need to buy your tickets at 10 a.m. to attend a tour three hours later as we did. Once you complete the tour, you will see it was worth it.
Crystal Cave limits the number of visitors which makes it more enjoyable for all. I’d rather have to wait doing a hike than go immediately and not be able to see or hear everything.
The tour guide was knowledge and open to questions.
Arrive no later than 9 a.m. at Sequoia National Park if you want to do the first tour. However, it’s a great idea to tour the cave in the middle of the day when it may be too hot for long hikes because the cave is a cool 50 degrees inside.
Make sure you take an outfit that has never been in another cave and you are good to go.
It was well worth the $ 15 entry fee.

This is a review for the Adventure Tour, or Wild Tour:
As I saw that there was exactly 1 review about this tour, I’ll try to write as detailed as possible. This is the kind of tour that you do need to be well-​prepared.
Let me start with the essential information:
— Booking the tour: You do need to book in advance. They only have 12 tours a year, each tour limits to 6 visitors. We booked a week in advance. our tour had 5 visitors, and 2 tour guides. Yes… that many tour guides for that few visitors! Only one tour/​week each Saturday at 2pm.
— Time: Leave plenty of time for driving there. I’ve heard the wait at the park entrance could be 1 – 2 hours long and a couple in my group almost missed the tour. It’s best to come to the park before 10am, do some hike inside the park, and come to the cave 30 minutes before the tour starts.
— Attire: Dress in layers. And tight old clothes! I went the weekend of July 4, so it was hot outside the cave. You will walk 0.5 miles downhill to the cave entrance and will have to walk back uphill. It makes sense to wear long tight pants and looseTshirt, and bring long sleeve tight Tshirt with you to put on at the cave entrance. Note that you must not wear belt, so make sure your pants fit well and won’t come off when you crawl in the cave. Yes… they may come off easily… imagine at some point you will have to crawl through very tight tunnel using only the movement of your feet. So… you may get through the tunnel and your clothes may decide to stay :) Oh and please don’t wear anything else other than clothes and shoes. Watch/jewelry/wallet/cellphone…better keep in our car. You can bring disposable camera and the tour guide will keep it for you in their fanny pack.
— You must be fit. No joke about this. Must not be afraid of height. Must not be 30 pounds or more overweight. Must be less than 45 inches around anywhere in your body. Must be able to lift yourself up using your arms (sometimes just 1 arm) or legs (most of the time just 1 leg).
— And last, but not less important, you must be able to hold your pee for at least 2 hours :)
Umm ok… so now you’re ready. Let’s get started. You will meet 1 tour guide with your group at the bookstore. She will lead you down the trail to the cave entrance. This 0.5 mile trail is fun by itself. You will see some cascading waterfalls along the way. At the cave entrance, the group will meet the other tour guide. They will fit your helmet, gloves, knee pads, elbow pads. Make sure they really fit, or they may slip off while you’re sliding through tiny spaces and you will get bruise and scratches. At the start of the tour, they will have a short training where you crawl through a small tunnel and climb down a tiny hole.
Once you’re ready, here’s the fun! At first you will walk through the paved walkway through the part of the cave where the normal tours do. After that part, they will lead you to the parts of the cave that not many knows. The first half of the tour will be in one part of the cave that was form by river going through it. After that we go back to the entrance and take a break, and enter another part of the cave.
Below are some highlights of the tour:
— Chimney passage: Yeah… I can’t remember exactly what the name of this passage is, but you will climb it like you climb a chimney. Imagine 2 vertical cliffs about 2 – 3 feet apart, with a drop of 10 – 15 feet. You will climb pass that part. This is how you do it: press your feet against 1 cliff, and press your butt against the other cliff, and slowly move side-​way. AND don’t look down OMG OMG!!!
— Ok… now you pass that part. Take a deep breath. And be scared again. There are tiny descending holes that you have to go head-​first, using your hands to pull yourself through. There are tiny downhill tunnels that you have to lie flat on your belly and slide down without knowing where it takes you. There are tight places where you have to struggle hard to squeeze yourself through. It’s a huge advantage to be tiny and flat here.
— At some point the tour guides will ask you to turn the headlamps off. You will experience real darkness. You won’t see anything. Complete darkness. And silence. And you know what scary at that point? When you turn the light back on, you don’t see anyone else. You’re left there alone! JK… that didn’t happen. But that was exactly what I was thinking in the dark.
— It’d be very unfair if I don’t mention the tour guides. They are extremely important! Each tour guide will lead 2 – 3 visitors. Try to observe their movement, and you’ll be fine. Observe where they put their feet, how they change position, how to get through a place, whether they go head-​first or feet-​first… Being observant is key here. If you’re not sure where to put your feet or how to carry on, just ask. The tour guides are very passionate about caving and very knowledgeable.

This was my first cave tour and I thought it was pretty awesome! There are a ton of rules to go in the cave and you must buy the tickets at the foothill visitor center or lodgepole. The drive takes about an hour from Lodgepole and it is very windy and narrow. You will probably have to wait a few hours for your tour time too. Which means plan on it being a day trip or half day trip. If you bring food it must be put in a bear box. We didn’t tho. We figured there were too many people and had no problems with a bear.
You must arrive 30 minutes before your tour as they give you a lecture and tell you to watch for rattlesnakes, bears, and poison ivy (do know the trail is covered in poison ivy. dont touch anything and make sure your kids know not to touch anything) make you sanitize your shoes so you don’t spread a virus to the bats, tell you youre on your own, and they send you down a half mile trail. its fairly easy to get down…
When you arrive at the cave, there is someone waiting for you. you can relax by the waterfall while waiting for the rest of the group to make it down the mountain. Then you walk to the cave and start your tour. The tour IMO is awesome. Our guide was very informative and she gave a great tour. There are some narrow parts and alot of water on the pathways, so some areas are a bit slippery. I enjoyed every minute of the tour. It is a good idea to bring a sweater. even though you are sweating from walking down. Its about 50 degrees inside the cave. It felt great and i am glad I had my sweater.
After the tour, you must walk back up the mountain. BE WARNED! It is a very strenous, painful hike back up to the parking lot… so if you are really out of shape, or have medical problems this may not be the best activity for you. It probably took me twice as long to get back up the mountain. Take your time, bring water, and enjoy the views! People complain about the killing hike back up. but you are warned beforehand! There are a few flights of steps and very steep trails.
The tour cost $ 15 a person and IMO it was worth every penny. Its worth the killer hike back up the hill too. Make sure to bring sunscreen as well, some areas are not shaded on the trail and you will be hit with direct sunlight and you might get burned. Bug spray is a good idea. I didnt use any and didnt have any problem with mosquitos. Everyone visiting Sequoia should take this tour!

Skip it. I’ve been to a few caves in the Midwest (Cave of the Mounds being one of them –for context) and I was so not impressed with this one. $ 15 per person is pretty steep and the hike down is pretty treacherous (with the hike back UP being even worse!). We were there in July and the bugs were a big issue.
The cave isn’t even that cool. The best part of the tour was the stories our tour guide told. We had a cute young girl, who seemed very knowledgeable.
If you do go on the tour, bring a jacket! If you are not traveling with children and will be there on a weekend I would definitely recommend the adult only tour which is the first of the day at 10 AM. Tickets sell out quickly and they only sell them the morning of, so get to the visitor’s center when they open (8am).
I actually don’t think I would recommend this for kids for 3 reasons: the walk back up is really intense, there actually isn’t much to look at, and you aren’t supposed to TOUCH anything.
Anyways, I guess I’m glad my $ 15 went to support the National Park but this tour was super lame.

My husband and I arrived at Foothill Visitor Center at 8am (right when the visitor center opened) and got in line to buy Crystal Cave Tour tickets. We bought the 10:30 am tour, since that was the only tour which was «Adults Only». I was afraid they were going to run out of tickets on Saturday, especially since it was mid-​July and during the busy summer months… but fortunately, there were plenty of spots available. :) They have tours every 30 minutes starting at 1030am and each tour can handle max of 50 people.
After buying our tickets for $ 15 per person, we were told that it’d take 1 hour to drive to the cave parking lot. It actually took us about 45 min instead… but 1 hour is on the safe side. Once you get to the parking lot, there is an attendant that tells you to start gathering around gift shop kiosk. You’ll be asked to get your shoes sanitized before heading down a 30-​min trail downhill to the cave entrance.
Once you get to the entrance, there is a tour guide there — who will basically take you into the cave and give you an informative 45 minute tour of this remarkable marble cave. We saw many stalactites and stalagmites! :) There was running water inside the cave and great lighting all around to show the intricate structures. It’s just a shame that there was damage previously done to this cave when it had first opened up to the public…
Our female tour guide was very calm, professional and informative — we enjoyed listening to her talk about all the formations and the stories behind the cave’s history and past, present and future. :) The temps inside were about 50 – 55 degrees, so definitely glad we wore that jacket/​sweatshirt. Be sure to bring a bottle of water for the trek back up the hill AND a flashlight if you want. They don’t provide you with flashlights on this tour, so you have to bring your own if you want to see more of the cave’s structures. The «adults only» tour was rather small in size, about 16 of us total… so they took us to an «extra room» inside the cave where we could hang out for a longer period of time than the other tours which have 40 – 50 people. :) Lucky us!

So epic! Definitely worth doing. You’ll want to get to the information booth early in the morning to book your tour. The tickets sell out fast.

Warning buy your tickets at the visitors center BEFORE you arrive at the cave parking lot. Luckily we have kids with better eyesight than the old man. Anyway $ 15 a Person is not bad but be prepared, this is not the ultimate price. You arrive at the parking lot at least 30 minutes prior to your tour as you have a steep downhill walk to the cave. Tour is pretty lame, short and not a lot to see after the first room but worth it for first timers. NOW you exit and begin a 30 minute cardiac stressing, stroke inducing hike up to the parking lot. Now as much as I was sweating and praying for someone with an oxygen tank I could borrow It was a magnificent view all the way up. Actually I did think it maybe my last view before my demise but almost Worth the pain. Wouldn’t do it again but for people in decent shape not much of a problem even with the altitude.

Has to be the worst tour of a cave I have ever been on. #1. The tour guide begins talking before the people in the back even make it to that part of the cave. #2. When he points out a stalagtite he uses his flashlight. The problem is you can’t see the light from his flashlight, what he really needs is a red laser pointer. #3. No cute stories or interesting facts along the way… he talks way too much about the chemistry of forming the crystals… there is so much to improve upon. I suggest they visit other cave tours to get a feel for what makes for a good cave story. Also, this tour could have had better lighting so you could see the formations. The only redeeming quality of this cave is the size of it and the cool walk down to it… get to see a waterfall.

This place is not closed. Like many things in Sequoia National Park (including the road to the cave), it is open half of the year around the warm summer months.
As my first visit to a cave, I stuck with the basic tour. I guess as caves go, this one is pretty nice with numerous styles and patterns of calcium formations, polished marble from the water runoff, and some large rooms. It seems wrong to be in there and even worse to pave the cave for tourists. Being in the cave is surreal enough without having a concrete path similar to waiting in line at Disneyland.
Tickets are sold at the Foothills Visitor Center and the Lodgepole Visitor Center one day prior or day of the tour date.
The start time of the tour is rather confusing because it doesn’t include the time to walk from the parking lot to the cave entrance. The tour gathers 30-​minutes prior to the tour time. So really, a 2:00P tour starts at 1:30P in the parking lot.
Allocate 3 to 4 hours to take the 50-​minute basic tour. At a fast pace, it took 15-​minutes to walk from the cave up to the parking lot. It took 25-​minutes to drive from the cave parking lot to the Giant Forest Museum. The road gets bumpy so raise the hydraulics if you have a low rider.
The #1 item on the threat down: BEARS! The parking lot is in an active bear area. There are plenty of sharable bear lockers available.

There are two caves in the Sequoia/​Kings Canyon area… the first that I visited was Boyden Cavern in Kings Canyon (privately owned). Crystal Cave was the second.
It takes some planning in visiting this cave, as you must buy your tickets before you arrive at the cave parking lot, and you have a bit of a walk downhill (a bit steep at times, all downhill on the way there – which means all uphill on the way back) past lovely views of the forest, foothills, and also of a beautiful cascading waterfall that the path crosses a few times on your way down. We planned ahead and had a picnic lunch at the parking lot before it was our ticket time to head down to the cave’s entrance. Beware – the parking lot is a bit isolated. bears have been known to break into vehicles while the owners toured the caves. Signs warning visitors to put all food and food-​like items in the bear lockers should be heeded. A ranger told me about how a lady’s car was broken into on a hot day in 2011 because she left cherry chap-​stick in the glove box.
Okay.on to the cave. This one is at least twice as large as Boyden Cavern, but has many of the same features. The rangers are knowledgeable about the cavern system in the area, geology, and caves in general. We took the walking tour – which was great, but they also offer down and dirty spelunking tours – where you have a headlight and crawl/​climb into parts of the cave inaccessible to most visitors. I’m too claustrophobic for that.
The cave has a consistently cool temperature year round, so I agree-​sweater is a must.
After the tour, please take some time to check out the water fall near the cave’s entrance before heading back up… it is a long walk, and worth stopping to soak in the views (or if you’re me – catch your breath).

I love caves! It is a bit of a walk to get to the mouth of the cave from the parking lot, but it is by no means strenuous. My 3.5 walked the whole way if that says anything.
Definitely buy your tickets early in the day, we stopped at the Foothills visitor center at 10 a.m. and were only able to get 4 p.m. tickets. You can only get tickets at Foothills or Lodgepole so plan ahead.
Bring a sweater… hubby said it was fine in shorts and a t-​shirt, but I was very glad to have on long pants and a sweatshirt. We also used bug spray, but didn’t notice any mosquitos.
If you are traveling with small children, they don’t allow framed backpacks, but our Ergo was fine. You can do the hike down to the cave with a framed backpack, but have to leave them outside of the cave.
To the folks in front of us on the tour who kept touching the cave… my 3.5 year old understood the rule not to touch anything.

I’d take this tour again… it was interesting to see how time can be measured by just looking at how tall or big a rock formation is. Pretty cool, if you ask me.
Our guide was pretty chill (even though it was the first tour in the morning.)
The hike back up the hill to the parking area is ridiculous… they weren’t kidding when they said it was strenuous. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes and to bring a sweater or jacket because it gets cold in ‘dem caves.

Stalagmites and stelagtites. After standing nearly an hour in a moist cave that is only 50 Degrees everything sounds like National Geographic.
The tour is $ 13 per person, last 45 minutes and must be purchased in advance at a visitor center. There is currently and hour delay due to construction on the road so factor that into your drive time because there are no refunds.
The tour can bring you into done tight spots so there are no backpacks allowed. You’ll have to leave it in front of the cave unattended or at the bear box in the parking lot.