Oregon Caves National Monument & Preserve

There's not really a wait to enter as you have to pre order tours and then you just show up a bit before that time. The tour was awesome and had lots of good details. The group was large (I think 10 people) so it was pretty difficult to see, take pictures, hear the guide, and look around all while trying to keep moving in essentially a single file line. Nothing unusual for a cave tour though. The experience was excellent, highly recommend. The grounds were beautiful and scenic. We did a few hikes while there too. Hopefully the lodge will get restored soon, would be fun to stay the night there.

Just a big hole in a big hill. Lol! Came here two weeks ago. It's one of the coldest caves we've been to. Although I wore a heavy duty jacket, a beanie and a pair of gloves would have helped. Some areas are a bit steep and dark, so just watch your step. It was fun maneuvering around. We saw some bats. For those who love and appreciate the formation of caves, you'll enjoy this one, too. Hannah did a great job with the information she provided us. Would recommend buying your tickets online so you don't drive all the way out there and the tours are sold out. We were surprised how many people drive all the way out there. So yes, get your tickets beforehand. The lodge is under renovation. Really interesting to see what the inside will look like when it's done.

We enjoyed the exhibits in the visitor center/ store, it was a good way to learn more about the area and kill time while waiting for our tour to start. The park store lacked the variety of other park stores and we didn’t find anything we were looking for. The national parks passport stamp was more unique here than the VC in Cave Junction. The tour was limited to 15 people, which seems like a good thing. Our guide, Hannah, was great at interpretation of the site, sharing NPS values and leave no trace principles, adding cave dad jokes to the tour (not that kind of Mountain Dew), and answering all of the questions the kids on tour had. It moved at a good pace, but by the end of it, we ended up with a 120 minute tour instead of a 90 minute tour. We didn’t have time to explore the area, but the trails looked like a great way to spend a whole day out there, if you had the time. This was our last stop on our trip to the circle of discovery and it felt right to end it here. Would highly recommend the Circle of Discovery as the seven sites are all worth a visit.

Just getting here is an experience! The cave is excellent! It's not an easy trek through the cave. You must be able to climb steep ladders up and down and be able to duck down while walking. It is however a natural wonder and worth the trip. We also hiked to the summit afterwards. True spelunkers can obtain a permit and trek other caves or take a guided tour.

Caves were beautiful. Ranger John was very knowledgeable and entertaining. Saw a snake, some endemic cave critters and some other animals. I really think they should allow people to bring bottled water into the cave, or at the very least the guides should provide water midway. The tour is physically demanding and 90 minutes is a long time. My mouth was dry by the end of the tour. Some people need to drink a lot. Managed to get on the last tour of a day, so it wasn't crowded, but we ended up having to wait about an hour and half. I highly recommend making a reservation, if you don't want to wait. Don't listen to the lady at the visitor center in town who says it takes an hour to drive to the cave. It only takes about 30 minutes. That being said, visiting the cave will eat up a good chunk of your day. There really isn't anything else in the area the area that's worth visiting, so if you're not from the area, I'd only recommend stopping here if you're traveling between Grants Pass and Crescent City, as this is really the only feasible road to the caves. I wouldn't make a special detour just to visit the caves, and I wouldn't visit if you're on a tight schedule. It's best to plan an entire trip around seeing the caves. They need to build a better road that will get you there quicker directly from California.