Whether you want to go on a simple walking tour or squirm into the belly of the earth, you need to check out California Cavern, in Mountain Ranch, California. The cave is a bit remote: A 45-minute drive down narrow country roads from the town of Murphys, in Calaveras county. But the experience of walking through pristine chambers or wriggling through narrow tunnels in the darkness is worth the drive.
What it’s like to tour California Cavern
Walking tours
The tours available at California Cavern depend on what time of year it is. Parts of the cave can flood in winter. In summer and fall, Thursday through Monday, you can take the Trail of Lights Tour, lasting an hour to 80 minutes. In winter, it’s the Trail of Lakes tour, lasting up to an hour. No matter what time of year, walking tours are $23.23.
On either walking tour, you’ll learn about California Cavern’s fascinating history. Since it’s always 55 degrees underground, Gold Rush-era settlers found a lot of use for this place: Think subterranean weddings, court hearings and bedrooms.
Spelunking expedition tours
If you want to get muddy, crawl on your belly, and generally behave like a worm penetrating the recesses of the earth, skip the walking tour. Instead, go on one of California Cavern’s spelunking tours. These expeditions typically start mid-summer, if it hasn’t rained too much the previous winter.
Expedition Tour Option 1: Mammoth Cave Tour
Last summer, I had the privilege of going on the Mammoth Cave tour with my daughter Hazel and friends. We donned helmets, gloves, elbow and knee pads and headlamps. Then we descended.
The first — and most memorable — challenge in the Mammoth Cave tour is the Womb Room. A narrow chute into a mini cavern, it serves as a claustrophobia test. The idea is, if you can handle this one, you’ll glide through the rest of the expedition.
Sliding down through the short tube is only a little scary. Then you’re crouching in the Womb Room, big enough to hold about six people. The real difficulty is getting back out again. A woman of average height — like me, at 5’6″ — can’t stand on the cave floor while pushing back out of the hole. You end up supporting your entire weight with your arms as you strain to hoist yourself up. If you’re on the chubby side without particularly strong arms? It’s tough. After struggling for awhile, I got a boost from below, which helped me finally free myself.
Then you proceed through an obstacle course with scenery. Sometimes you’re inching along on your belly through a narrow tunnel. In the Worm Squirm, you have to squeeze through on your side. At that point, I appreciated that I had worn a short sleeved shirt, because I was able to use the friction of my bare arm to inch along the rock, like a snail. Other times, you can partially army crawl, putting one foot down in front of you and then dragging the rest of your body behind. Sometimes you’re on all fours.
Two areas of the Mammoth Cave tour that I loved most:
- The Registry Room. In this section of California Cavern, you see graffiti from hundreds of years ago — and some from as recently as the 1960s.
- The Jungle Room, a riot of cascading white calcite formations like dripping candle wax. Our guide told us this room was discovered by a student and kept a secret for decades. Many other parts of the cave, trammeled by tourists since the 1800s, are somewhat degraded. But the Jungle Room remains white, pristine and delicate.
When we emerged, blinking, into the baking summer sun, we looked like mudmen. We hosed ourselves off, shaking clods from our shoes. I even stepped into one of the outdoor showers, fully clothed. I would recommend bringing a full change of clothes and shoes to an expedition tour of California Cavern! Also, wear clothes that you’re not too attached to. I ended up throwing out my jeans.
The Mammoth Cave Expedition is open to ages 8 and up — although I wouldn’t recommend it for children who are easily scared. It takes 2 to 3 hours. We paid $89 per person.
Expedition Tour Option 2: Middle Earth Tour
The Big Kahuna, which typically opens mid summer, is the Middle Earth tour, which covers 80% of this large cave system. Hazel really wanted us to go on this one! Unfortunately for us, it had been a wet winter. Even though we visited in mid July, the cave was still too waterlogged to allow this tour. Considering how muddy we got during the Mammoth Cave Tour? I fear we would have sunk right down into the muck if we’d attempted Middle Earth.
Based on the description, the Middle Earth Tour of California Cavern is fab. First, you go through the whole Mammoth Cave area that we traversed in our expedition. Then, you enter Middle Earth, a series of passages discovered in the late 20th century. This is where you squelch through knee-deep cave muck. I can imagine losing your shoes in that!
Then you get to raft across a little lake. The descriptions of the cave scenery in the Middle Earth tour sound exquisite. Knowing that people have only entered these passages under the supervision of the modern day management, I can imagine it must be truly pristine. I am determined to go on the Middle Earth tour of California Cavern one day. Since most of our California winters are dry these days, I expect to get the chance in a future summer.
You have to be 16 to go on the Middle Earth Tour. It takes 3 to 4 hours and costs $189.
How to prepare for a tour of California Cavern
For the walking tours of California Cavern, all you need to do is wear comfortable shoes and leave forbidden items in the car: Drinks, snacks, backpacks and walking sticks. Due to the high temperatures, prepare for your water to be hot by the time you get back to the car. I wouldn’t leave a chocolate bar in there.
For the expedition tours, where you’ll be crawling through muck, dress in clothing you don’t mind throwing away after. I wore jeans and a short sleeved shirt. I also wore a fleece, because I thought the 55 degree underground temperature sounded chilly. This was a mistake. I ended up taking off the fleece and tying it around my waist shortly into the spelunking adventure.
The staff doesn’t recommend bringing cameras of phones, because you could drop it and lose it forever in the depths of the cave. But I took a chance and brought mine. I shifted it from the front to back pocket of my jeans, depending on whether we were crawling on our bellies or scooting on our butts. By the end of the tour, my phone was covered in cave mud. But I got some nice photos and videos.
The staff will hold onto your phone, car keys, etc. for you while you’re in the cave.
What is the difference between Moaning Caverns and California Cavern?
Moaning Caverns, which is closer to Murphys, also offers an expedition tour. The expedition tours of Moaning Caverns and California Cavern are both a lot of fun. However, I would say that California Cavern is more spectacular, because there are a lot more chambers to explore. Moaning Cavern is just one big chamber.
I got a lot muddier in California Cavern than I did in Moaning Caverns. Luckily, California Cavern offers outdoor showers and a hose to get some of the muck off before you get in your car.