California Cavern
Mountain Ranch (Calaveras County) · near Mountain Ranch / Murphys · Gold Country & Central Valley
Caving
At a glance
- Depth
- 200
- Season
- Trail of Lights walking tours: year-round (weather permitting) · Wild expedition tours: typically May–October (dry season only)
- Cost
- Trail of Lights walking tour ~$25 adult · Middle Earth Expedition (wild caving) ~$130+ · Reservations required for expeditions
- Difficulty
- Walking tour: easy, nearly level · Wild expedition: strenuous crawling, climbing, and squeezing
Permits and booking
- Permit
- No permit — guided access only, by ticket/reservation through the cavern operator (Calaveras County). White-Nose Syndrome decontamination protocols observed. Wild expedition tours require advance booking and a signed waiver.
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
- Gear
- Provided helmet & light for expeditions · Clothes you don't mind destroying (expedition) · Closed-toe shoes with grip · Warm layer (cave stays ~53°F) · Change of clothes for after the wild tour
Caving detail
- Nickname
- The State's Longest Cave System
- Cave type
- limestone
- Tour length
- Walking tour ~80 min · Middle Earth Expedition 2.5–4 hours
- Formations
- Flowstone & draperies · Rare helictites · Underground lakes · 1850s pioneer signatures · California's most extensive passage system
- Featured caves
- Trail of Lights Walking Tour · Middle Earth Expedition · Historic signatures
- Intl tip
- California Cavern is in the heart of Calaveras County Gold Country, near Murphys (wine tasting), Mercer Caverns, and Moaning Cavern — three show caves within a short drive make this the densest caving cluster in the state. Big Trees State Park's sequoias are nearby.
The guide
California Cavern is the state's most extensive cave system — the longest network of chambers and passages in California — and,…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to California Cavern — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 38.197, -120.541