High Adrenaline FunFabulous and fun activities at 4 unique locations, including thrilling twin zip lines, wild cave expeditions, bouldering, and a 165-foot rope rappel in cave. Adventures from mild to wild, appropriate for ages 3 to 100. We provide all equipment and ex-pertise for hassle free fun, no experience necessary. Lasting memories are made at Cave and Mine Adventures. Come and see what all the fun’s about!

Media Kit 2016

CAVE & MINE ADVENTURES

Reno: 3 hrs

Tahoe: 2 hrs 40 min

Sacramento: 1 hr 45 min

San Francisco: 2 hrs 30 min

San Jose: 3 hrs

Yosemite: 2 hrs 45 min

Los Angeles: 6 hrs

MOANING CAVERN

AVERAGE DRIVE TIMES toAll 5 Locations

Where are we?All of our attractions are located in California’s historic Gold Country. It’s an area of incredible natural beauty and quaint, historic gold rush towns. These days, the Gold Country is known for its outstanding recreational oppor-tunities due to its foothill and mountain terrain, its award winning wine regions, and gourmet restaurants.

Take a day to enjoy walk tours at each of our locations, or combine cave and mine adventures with other area attractions such as Chaw Se Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park, or Calaveras Big Trees State Park.

Also nearby are Bear Valley mountain, Ironstone Vine-yards, Railtown 1897 State Historic Park, Columbia State Historic Park, Kirkwood ski resort. and Stanislaus and Eldorado National Parks with multiple recreational op-portunities.

Less than 2 hours from Sacramento International Airport, and just 2-1/2 hours from San Francisco Airport, we’re closer to major hubs than you might realize. The drive is beautiful and you will see more stars at night than you ever real-ized existed.

IntroductionSierra Nevada Recreation Corporation, founded in 1977, runs four Cave and Mine Adventures locations in California, each of which offers both underground and above ground activities.

We are passionate about the properties in our care and strive to have as little environmental impact on them as possible while sharing them with the general public. We feel that these environments will be better protected when the public has firsthand experience and connec-tion with them in a responsible way. To that end, we never allow people underground alone, always provid-ing an accompanying, experienced guide as protector to the environment and information source to the visitor.

We are also delighted to offer high adrenaline activities to members of the general public who have no previous experience. We provide the necessary equipment and expert guides, allowing us to introduce people to these exciting activities, which make fabulous team building components.

We offer activities ranging from guided cavern walk tours, to challenging 4-hour caving expeditions for the athletic, to splashy gemstone mining for toddlers. Call today to set up your free fam tour and get to know us better. We look forward to sharing our adventures with

you.

Heather Ginn,Director of Marketingemail: haginn@caverntours.comPO Box 78, Vallecito, CA 95251209-736-2708, 209-352-8379caverntours.com

AttractionsMoaning Cavern Adventure Park

Address: 5350 Moaning Cave Road, Vallecito, CA 95251

Season: Open every day, year round

Activities: 45-minute guided Walk Tour, 165-foot rope Rappel, 3-hour Adventure Trip with optional Rappel, Concerts in the Cave: Annual Christmas Carollling Concert with rappelling Santa delivering gifts, Above ground 1500-foot Zip Line, 32-ft Custom Climb-ing Tower, Gemstone Mining, Gold Panning, Shopping

Cave and Mine Adventures OverviewAmenities: Visitors Center, Rest Rooms, Picnic Tables, Climbing Tower, Gemstone Mining Flumes

California Cavern, State Historic Landmark

Address: 9565 Cave City Rd, Mountain Ranch, CA 95246

Season: Open seasonally

Activities: 1-hour guided Trail of Lights or Trail of Lakes Walk Tour, 2 to 3 hour Mammoth Cave Expedition, up to 4-hour Middle Earth Expedition, Above Ground Nature Trail, Gemstone Mining, Gold Panning, Shopping

Amenities: Visitors Center, Rest Rooms, Showers, Picnic Tables, Volleyball Court, Gemstone Mining Flumes

Black Chasm Cavern, National Natural Landmark

Address:15701 Pioneer-Volcano Road, Volcano, CA 95689

Season: Open every day, year round

Activities: 45-minute guided Walk Tour, Above Ground Zen Garden Nature Trail Hike, Gem-stone Mining, Gold Panning, Shopping

Amenities: Visitors Center, Rest Rooms, Picnic Tables, Gemstone Mining Flumes

CONTACT INFO Heather Ginn

Marketing Director

209.736-2708

caverntours.com

Cave and Mine Adventures LocationsCome for the beauty, history and recreation. You’ll be glad you did! Go online for our detailed maps and driv-ing directions.

Moaning Cavern Adventure Park Activities

Family Walk Tours California’s deepest show cave takes visitors165 feet below the surface via a series of stair-cases including the historic spiral staircase, completed in 1922. The main chamber is so massive, it could fit the entire Statue of Liberty!

The tour ends on the spot where scientific excavations revealed the bones of prehistoric people who fell into the cavern thousands of years ago. Guides explain the history and geology of the cavern, with its massive flowstone for-mations and stalactites, and discuss the explorations that have traced the cavern to its current depth of 410 feet.

The 165-ft Rope RappelIntroduced in 1984 as the United States’ first rappel avail-able in a show cave, this activity is very popular with those who enjoy high adrenaline activities.

The Moaning Cavern rappel en-ables people with absolutely no experience to enjoy a thrilling, authentic caving technique.

We provide all equipment, expertise and training for an un-forgettable experience affording the very best views of this mas-sive, spectacular cave chamber. Rappellers exit the cave via the spiral staircase

3-hour Wild Cave Adventure TripStarting with the optional rappel, this expedition takes you through wild, unlit areas of the cave that cannot be seen on the walk tour.

We take small groups of up to 8 people through the circuit with a dedicated guide who assists with the process of navigating through tight passageways and crawl-ways, while providing geo-logical and historical informa-tion. An interactive map on our web site shows the circuit.

1500-ft Twin Zip Lines Opened just 3-1/2 years ago, our zip lines have become the most popular activity at any of our locations. Accessed via a custom sky bridge and launch tower, they are 1/4 mile in length and take par-ticipants on a thrilling high-speed ride in excess of 40 mph.

Zip regular style in the seated position. There’s no minimum or maximum age.

Children under 70 lbs can be taken in tandem with a parent for a maximum combined weight of 280 lbs. When both zip lines are open, participants can race each other in tandem. Ask your guide for tips to go faster!

Concerts in the CaveWhen grammy winning artist, Mary Youngblood, asked us 4 years ago if she could hold a concert in the cave fea-turing native American flutes, we jumped at the chance.

Now we also offer a holiday Carolling in the Cave con-cert featuring a rappelling Santa and local high school choirs singing a cappella.

32-ft Custom Climbing TowerThe tower can accommodate 10 people at a time, and includes climbing routes from beginner to advanced.

Our automatic belay system means climbers can jump back at any point and land smoothly on the ground. Climbers can race to the top and ring a bell, making their win especially satisfying!

Moaning Cavern Adventure Park Fact SheetMoaning Cavern was first discovered by gold miners in approximately 1851. They explored the cavern hoping to make a big strike, but finding insufficient gold for mining purposes, abandoned it.

Moaning Cavern was rediscovered in 1919. Legend has it that tourists were lowered into the cavern in ore buckets with only candles or whale oil lamps to light their way. Tours supposedly began in the summer of 1920.

The 100-foot steel spiral staircase, built in 1922 , was the first all arc-welded project ever in California. The steel that was used to build it came from the hull of a World War I battleship. Today visitors to Moan-ing Cavern climb down and then up 235 stairs, 144 of which are on the spiral staircase.

The bones of approxi-mately 100 prehistoric humans were found at the bottom of Moaning Cavern. One skull was determined by uranium-thorium dating to be 13,000 years old. It is believed that these people fell into the cave accidentally over many hundreds of years.

Moaning Cavern is the largest single chamber public cavern in Califor-nia. The main room is large enough to fit the Statue of Liberty inside it and some of the cav-ern formations reach 25 feet in height.

Moaning Cavern’s total depth is approximately 410 feet. Family walk-ing tours descend 165 feet into the cavern as do rappelling trips, and Adventure Trips descend 300 feet into the cavern.

While participating in the Adventure Trip at Moaning Cav-ern, visitors encounter some interesting places. “Pancake Room,” “Godzilla’s Nostril,” “Column Squeeze,” and “Meat Grinder” for instance.

Some scientists believe Moaning Cavern may have at one time been a geyser like “Old Faithful.”

The name Moaning Cavern was given to the cave by early

explorers who noticed a distant moaning sound created by drops of water that fall into holes in a flow-stone formation with a bottle-like shape. The sound is similar to one you can make by blowing across the top of a partially full soda bottle. The cave lost its moan when the spiral staircase was built in 1922 due to debris being left in the flowstone formation’s “moan-ing holes.” The moan was restored in 1977 by Stephen and John Fairchild after they looked back through early records and traced the origin of the moaning sound. After clearing debris out of the holes and restoring the original flow of water in the cave, which had been diverted by the staircase construction, the brothers were able to bring this natural sound back to the cave.

The twin zip lines at Moaning Cavern Park were opened on July 28, 2007. Featuring log timber frame construction, the launch tower is accessed via a 25-foot long sky bridge. Take off is approximately 100 feet above ground level. Af-ter traveling along 1500-feet of cable at speeds in excess of 40 mph, zippers brake automatically at the landing tower and are unclipped from the cable. After their first zip, zippers can choose to go again for a reduced cost.

Since they opened, our zip lines have proved to be the most popular activity amongst all those available at all of our locations.

In the same year, we in-stalled our custom climb-ing tower. Participants are geared up in climbing harnesses, then clipped on to the route of their choice. Each of the 10 routes include life-like rock features and overhangs, making it one of the most competitive climbing surfaces available today.

In July, 2008, Stephen Fairchild, President of Cave and Mine Adventures, received the Innovations in Tourism award from the Calaveras Visitors Bureau, and an acknowl-edgement of his significant contributions to business in the region by Dana Jorgensen on behalf of Senator Dave Cox.

Walk TourAll ages, with babies in FRONT packs only. Child is considered ages 3-12. Under 3 is free.

Adult: $17.50 Child: $9.50

Regular ZipNo age restrictions, but must be between 70 lbs and 280 lbs total. Under 70 lbs can go tandem.

$45 each first zip, then $24 each

Climbing TowerPerfect for any age. Maximum weight 280 lbs. No minimum weight.$5 for 2 climbs

RappelAges 12 and up accompanied by parent. Signed waiver required. Must be at least 100 lbs.

$72 each

Tandem Zip2 zippers can ride on the same trolley for a maximum combined weight of 280 lbs. Any ages.

$44 each first zip, then $24 each

Concerts in the CaveAll ages. Concert-goers get to participate with instruments or by joining in singing.

$20 or $18 w/food bank donation

Adventure TripAges 12 and up accompanied by parent. Signed waiver required. All equipment provided.

$130 w/rappel, $95 w/out

Gem Mining & Gold PanningAll ages. Use our custom flume system to mine or pan. Several varieties available.

$6.95 to $12.95 per bag

Moaning Cavern Adventure Park Activity Spec SheetHere you will find information on any age or weight restrictions for each activity, plus the cost. All activities at Moaning Cavern Adventure Park are offered daily, year round. Rare conditions which can make above ground activities unavail-able include: high winds, excessive rain, electrical storms and power outages.

Tandem

Choose a spherical rock, crack it open and see the beautiful crystals inside. From $8 each

PhotographyBeautiful, high resolution images are available free for download from our web site. Just click on the following links and follow the instructions. Caption and crediting information is included for each photograph in each collection. Problems? Call our marketing director, Lisa Boulton, at 209.481.5824.

• Walk Tour & Cave Formation photos

• Rappel & Adventure Trip photos

• Zip Line photos• Climbing Tower photos

Education

We love educating people about this incredible natural environment, its geology, social history and surpris-ing fragility. Our walk tours are popular field trips with school and community groups, bringing education to life in a cool environment. To augment our on-site education, we have developed comprehensive lesson plans for ages K-12, which are appropriate for adults too. Our lesson plans include puzzles, art and craft projects and instructions for simple scientific experiments to demonstrate the processes that shape the underground environment. Follow the links below to see more detail on our web site:

• School Field Trips

• Lesson Plans• Kids Pages

ContactWe look forward to hearing from you and would be delighted to work on an itinerary for you to visit and experience any one or all of our locations. If your story idea requires multiple-night stays and visits to more at-tractions in the area, we are often able to secure free or discounted room nights with our lodging partners.

Heather Ginn, Marketing Director

Office phone: 209.736.2708 | Reservations: 866.762.2837

Email: caverns@caverntours.com | Web: caverntours.com

Moaning CavernAdventure ParkAdditional Resources

Where are we?Moaning Cavern is located in Calaveras County, 9 miles north of Columbia State His-toric Park in California’s historic Gold Country. Nearby are the scenic communities of Jame-stown, Sonora, Angels Camp, and Murphys, all rich in California history.

Other area attractions include Bear Valley ski resort, Iron-stone Vineyards, Calaveras Big Trees State Park, California Cavern, State Historic Landmark and Railtown 1897 State Historic Park. It’s a beautiful region of California: rural, historic and full of wonderful recreational opportunities nestled in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

Just over 2 hours from Sacramento, Moaning Cavern Adventure Park is far enough away from bustling city life to give you a real break, yet close enough for an enjoy-

Moaning Cavern Adventure Park Location

Reno: 3 hrs 30 min

Tahoe: 3 hrs 10 min

Sacramento: 2 hrs 10 min

San Francisco: 2 hrs 30 min

San Jose: 3 hrs 15 min

Yosemite: 2 hrs 10 min

Los Angeles: 6 hrs 5 min

MOANING CAVERN

DRIVE TIMES toMoaning Cavern Adventure Park

able day trip. Slow down and enjoy the drive through the fantastic scenery. Go online for useful maps and driving directions.

California Cavern Activities

Trail of Lights Tour This guided tour is suit-able for the whole fam-ily and is only available during the dry season. In the wet season, the Trail of Lakes tour is available instead.

The Trail of lights is approximately 60 - 80 minutes long, and meanders over nearly level, well lighted passages and walkways. Expe-rienced, professional guides lead you through several highly decorated chambers into the recently discovered “Jungle Room,” named for the array of crystalline “vines” covering the ceiling, many of them several feet long. Our guides will tell you about the rich history of the cavern, its geology and its many surprising uses in the 1800s.

Mammoth Cave Expedition

Middle Earth ExpeditionA fabulous, challenging and muddy wild caving adventure, the Middle Earth Expedition is for people who want some seriously muddy caving action!

On this trip, you will daringly explore approximately 80% of the cavern system from the east entrance to the western most exit.

The circuit is about a mile long, so stamina is required! The first hour of the trip consists of walking, crawling and squeezing through the historic “Mammoth Cave” area.

Next comes the “Middle Earth” area which was dis-covered in 1980. Here there is mostly walking through nearly knee deep, sticky cave clay (high top shoes are a must) and the scenery is incredibly beautiful. You and your fellow cavers will see beautiful sparkling white formations in the ceiling of these extremely muddy pas-sageways, illuminated only by cave helmet lights.

The remainder of the trip consists of exploring the horizontal fissures in the “Cave of the Quills” area and a quick, 70-foot rafting trip across “Tom’s Lake.” The trip concludes with passages filled with “goo,” more beautiful crystalline rooms, and then ascending ladders to sun-shine and showers

Trail of Lakes Tour This tour follows the same trail as the Trail of Lights Tour, but it takes place during the wet season, so there are many lakes in the cave, reflecting the lights and beautiful formations. Due to the higher water levels, the Jungle Room is not accessed on this tour.

Visitor Center & Gift Shop California Cavern’s Visitor Center contains a fossilized cave bear skeleton on exhibit to the delight of school children. There is also a compre-hensive display on the history of California Cavern and its impor-tance to the Cave City community.

On the Mammoth Cave Expedition, an expedition guide takes you in a small group of 2-9 people through the “Mammoth Cave” area and “Jungle Room,” walking, crawling, wiggling, and squirming through natural pas-sages that connect through thirteen chambers.

We provide you with coveralls, a helmet with lights and knee and elbow pads. This 2 to 3-hour expedition makes the perfect beginning caving experience. It’s more chal-lenging and adventurous than a walk tour, and it really makes you feel like an explorer as you navigate through wild areas of the cave system with only cave helmet lights to light your way. This trip is very popular with families and scouting groups.

California Cavern Fact Sheet

California Cavern was discovered in 1850 by a miner named Captain Taylor, who was target practicing and noticed a cool breeze coming from the rocks as he was setting up his targets. He later discovered other entrances that had been used by Native Americans.

The numerous grinding rocks located on the cavern prop-erty indicate that a large number of Native Americans once lived on the property.

It is believed that the cave was used as a “dungeon” by the Native Americans because the few bones that were found were in the fetal position. This indicates a death by hypothermia rather than a fall (the cavern temperature is 55°F).

A mining camp, called Cave City, was estab-lished around the cavern, between 1859 and 1875. There were approximately 20 wood framed buildings, hundreds of tents, and a school district. The population of Cave City reached a peak of 400.

Residents of Cave City used the cavern for dances, reli-gious services, town meetings, weddings, and there was even a bar inside. One political group called the Know Nothings were said to have held secret meetings in one of the chambers. The Know Nothing moniker was suppos-edly coined when members who were asked about the group would say : I know nothing.

California Cavern was called “Mammoth Cave” during the late 1800’s. During this time many famous visitors toured the cavern, including John Muir. He later described the cavern in his book entitled Mountains of California. Mark Twain and Bret Harte also visit-ed the cavern. Here’s an excerpt of his lyrical description:

“ we lingered and reveled, re-joicing to find so much music in stony silence, so much splendor in darkness, so many mansions in the depths of the mountains, buildings ever in process of construction, yet ever finished, developing from perfection to perfection, profusion without overabundance;”

In 1910 “Mammoth Cave” closed and remained aban-doned until 1980, when it was purchased by Sierra

Nevada Recreation Corporation, which operates as Cave and Mine Adventures. Initially, it seemed the land contained two caves: Mammoth Cave and Quill Cave which were opened for spelunking trips almost immediately. Soon after purchase, a room which had been closed for twenty years was rediscovered - the pristine Jungle Room. Steve & John Fairchild knew there had to be a connector to the two caves and eventually, a passageway that led out of the Jungle Room was found that did indeed connect the two. Sierra Nevada Recreation Corporation renamed the entire cave system: California Cavern. To this day, the entrance of the cave through to the Jungle Room entrance is known as Mam-moth Cave, the second cave as Quill Cave and the section that connects them: Middle Earth.

California Cavern was designated a State Historic Land-mark in May, 1983 due to its early discovery and opening as the state’s first showcave, the historic Signature Hall and famous early visitors including Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) and John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club.

The Fairchild brothers were avid cavers, and wanted to offer a challenging wild cave trip, so they developed the Middle Earth Expedition, then called the Downstream Circuit in 1980.

Work on the walk tour trail was completed in 1982 and the tour opened to the public. The expanded trail took visitors into the newly discovered, pristine Jungle Room, filled with sparkling white stalacite and stalagmite forma-tions.

An interactive map on our web site shows the differenc-es between the historic walk tour trail from the 1850s and the current circuit including the Jungle Room.

We completed a 5500 square foot Visitor Center in 2005, including 2900 square feet of gift shop, where a prehis-toric cave bear skeleton is now on display.

Trail of Lights TourAll ages, with babies in FRONT packs only. Child is considered ages 3-12. Under 3 is free.

Adult: $17.50 Child: $9.50

Middle Earth ExpeditionAges 16 and up accompanied by parent. Signed waiver required. All equipment provided.

$130 each

Geode CrackingChoose a spherical rock, crack it open and see the beautiful crystals inside. From $8 each

Trail of Lakes TourAll ages, with babies in FRONT packs only. Child is considered ages 3-12. Under 3 is free.

Adult: $17.50 Child: $8.50

Gem Mining & Gold PanningAll ages. Use our custom flume system to mine or pan. Several varieties available.

$6.95 to $12.95 per bag

Mammoth Cave ExpeditionAges 8 and up accompanied by parent. Signed waiver required. All equipment provided.

$99 each

Nature TrailOur sign posted nature trail ex-plores the above ground natural environment, its flaura & fauna.

FREE

California Cavern Activity Spec SheetHere you will find information on any age restrictions for each activity, plus the cost. Activities at California Cavern are available seasonally. High water levels in the winter season keep the cavern closed. Walk tours are usually available daily during the summer, and weekends in the winter. Check our web site for status on expeditions and tours.

PhotographyBeautiful, high resolu-tion images are avail-able free for download from our web site. Just click on the link below and follow the instructions. Caption and crediting informa-tion is included for each photograph in each collection. Problems? Call our marketing director, Lisa Boulton, at 209.481.5824.

• California Cavern Photos

EducationCalifornia Cavern is very popular with school and scout groups. To enhance the field trip experience, we devel-oped lesson plans, and online kids pages. Follow the links below for more information on our comprehensive school program, which includes a station rotation plan to allow for large groups to be divided into multiple ac-tivities, keeping everyone busy and involved at all times.

• School Field Trips

• Lesson Plans• Kids Pages

ContactWe look forward to hearing from you and would be delighted to work on an itinerary for you to visit and experience any one or all of our locations. If your story idea requires multiple-night stays and visits to more at-tractions in the area, we are often able to secure free or discounted room nights with our lodging partners.

Heather Ginn, Marketing Director

Office phone: 209.736.2708 | Reservations: 866.762.2837

Email: caverns@caverntours.com | Web: caverntours.com

California Cavern Additional Resources

LocationCalifornia Cavern, State Historic Landmark is located in Calaveras County, 9 miles north of Columbia State Histor-ic Park in California’s historic Gold Country. Nearby are the scenic communities of Jamestown, Sonora, Angels Camp, and Murphys, all rich in California history.

Other area attractions include Bear Valley ski resort, Ironstone Vineyards, Calaveras Big Trees State Park, and Railtown 1897 State Historic Park. It’s a beautiful region of California: rural, historic and full of wonderful recre-ational opportunities nestled, as it is, in the Sierra Nevada foothills. See incredible wildflowers in the spring, autumn colors in the fall and snow in winter. This is one of the few places you can experience significant seasonal fluctua-tions in California.

Just 2 hours from Sacramento International Airport, and 2 and a half hours from San Francisco Airport, we’re closer than you think! Come for the beauty, history and recre-ation. You’ll be glad you did!

Reno: 3 hrs 40 min

Tahoe: 3 hrs 10 min

Sacramento: 2 hrs

San Francisco: 2 hrs 30 min

San Jose: 3 hrs 20 min

Yosemite: 2 hrs 50 min

Los Angeles: 6 hrs 15 min

CALIFORNIA CAVERN

DRIVE TIMES toCalifornia Cavern, State Historic Landmark

Black Chasm Cavern Tours & Activities

Walk TourToday’s visitors can enjoy our newly developed platform, stairs and walkway system which makes navigating through this highly decorated, vertically oriented cavern a pleasure.

Opened in September 2000, we offer 45-minute guided walking tours every day of the week, year round, showcasing a spectacular variety of cave formations. Here, flowstones interspersed with stalactites, draperies and helictites compete for space above the stairways.

In the Colossal Room, a platform lodged in the wall 70-feet from the cavern floor gives small glimpses of the jewel-like lake below. The vivid blue color of the water is caused by natural occurring calcium bicarbonate. Mas-sive arrays of rare, sparkling white helictite crystals adorn the Landmark Room for which Black Chasm Cavern was named a National Natural Landmark.

This is truly a magical place. Make sure to stop, look around and really take things in. The vertical orientation of the cave made it almost impossible to explore until we developed our environmentally friendly tour route. This means that unlike other caves in the area, Black Chasm is nearly pristine. The formations are gorgeous. The Land-mark Room’s ceiling is crammed with beautiful stalactites,

Visitor CenterWe’re proud of our beautiful, craftsman style visitor center at Black Chasm Cavern. With 3,000 square feet of floor space, we’ve worked to bring the best nature themed, environmental and sci-entific merchandise we can find for our discerning visitors to enjoy.

Since Black Chasm’s trademark is a Chinese dragon heli-ctite (pictured here), we also have quite a bit of dragon merchandise to choose from. In addi-tion, there are rocks, fossils, geodes, books, science kits, ornaments, toys and souvenirs. There’s literally some-thing here for everyone.

Along with all the cool merchandise, we have some displays on Black Chasm Cavern, including its connec-tion with the Matrix movies.

Prior to production starting on the Matrix Reloaded movie, sculptors, painters and set designers arrived at Black Chasm Cavern to take photos, video and make sketches of the chambers and formations. This field work helped them to construct a cave set, known as Zion, that looked very realistic. When the filming was finished, imitation cave formations made of styrofoam used in the set were donated to Black Chasm. You can see them on display in the visitor center and on the deck.

soda straws and helictites. Large flowstone formations cascade from the walls, decorated with sparkling crystals.

We’re not the only ones who think it’s magically beauti-ful... we’ve actually hosted a wedding ceremony inside the Landmark Room, making for a truly unique and spe-cial event for all who attended.

Black Chasm Cavern Fact SheetThe first documented exploration of the cavern was by some gold miners and a journalist in 1854. Armed with several pounds of candles to place in the soft clay, and a very long rope, they began their descent to the unseen depths below. The journalist described that “the cour-age of the first to descend was rather a matter of uncon-sciousness of danger, than a knowledge of the situation and a willingness to face it,” and that “as the size of the cavern, and the depth and almost perpendicular descent, became apparent by the lighted candles a hundred feet below, all except the advanced portion of the party beat a retreat.” Those who continued were rewarded by spectac-ular views, such as “crystals, though formed of rhomboid spar, stood out from the walls in every conceivable direc-tion, turning and bending into many shapes, according to the law of obtuse angles.”

Given its vertical orientation, it took a while before someone was adventur-ous enough to build a trail into Black Chasm Cavern. The first tours were given by a miner in the 1860s who built redwood decking into the first room, which eventually collapsed.

Black Chasm Cavern is located on land that used to be part of the quarry next door. The cave was slated to be quarried for calcite by the previous owners sometime in the late 1960s to early 70s. Fortunately, the price of calcite dropped drastically, mak-ing the quarry project unfeasible.

During the 1960s, the National Speleological Society made several exploratory dives into the cave and noted its extraordinary speleothem (formation) diversity. After hearing about the quarrying plans, they decided to see if they could protect the cave by recommending it for National Natural Landmark status.

When a representative from the National Park Service came to inspect the site, he agreed that this was some-thing special that should be protected for future genera-tions, and filed his report in 1970.

Black Chasm Cavern received its National Natural Land-mark status in 1976. This is a designation that can be ascribed to privately owned places of national geologi-cal and ecological significance. Black Chasm Cavern was noted as being “...the outstanding helictite cave in the far West.”

Sierra Nevada Recreation Corporation purchased Black Chasm Cavern 1996. For a couple of years wild cavern expeditions were offered in the undeveloped cave.

Construction of the new trail into Black Chasm Cavern was begun in mid-2000.

The current long-lasting, corrosion-resistant stairways and trail were first opened for public walking tours on September 30, 2000. Early guests had the chance to see the innovative platform, stair and walkway system being built into the cave using non-biodegradable materials. This was completed by April 16, 2001 when the 45-minute Landmark Tour was offered, taking guests through to the Landmark Room which contains masses of rare helictite crystals.

Helictite crystals like those found in Black Chasm Cavern are very rare and occur in approximately 5% of caves worldwide.

Unlike most cave formations (speleothems) helictites are not formed by dripping or flowing water, but by hydro-static pressure. Water under pressure pushes through the cave wall into the chamber depositing minerals helically, forming the characteristic spaghetti shape that grows horizontally from the walls.

Walk TourAll ages, with babies in FRONT packs only. Child is considered ages 3-12. Under 3 is free.

Adult: $17.50 Child: $9.50

Geode CrackingChoose a spherical rock, crack it open and see the beautiful crys-tals inside. From $8 each

Zen Garden HikeOur hiking trail explores part of the above ground environment created by hydraulic mining.FREE

Gem Mining & Gold Panning

All ages. Use our custom flume system to mine or pan. Several varieties available.

$6.95 to $12.95 per bag

Black Chasm Cavern Activity Spec SheetHere you will find information on any age restrictions for each activity, plus the cost. Activities at California Cavern are available seasonally. High water levels in the winter season keep the cavern closed. Walk tours are usually available daily during the summer, and weekends in the winter. Check our web site for status on expeditions and tours.