Lake Shasta Caverns
O'Brien (Shasta County) · near Redding (30 miles south) · Shasta Cascade
Caving
At a glance
- Depth
- 150
- Season
- Year-round · Tours vary by season · Summer multiple daily departures
- Cost
- Adults ~$35 · Children ~$18 · Includes ferry boat + bus + cave tour
- Difficulty
- Easy · Paved walkways · Some stairs
Permits and booking
- Permit
- No permit. Tickets purchased through Lake Shasta Caverns directly or at the visitor center at the ferry dock. Online booking recommended for summer weekends.
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
- Gear
- Light jacket (58°F inside) · Comfortable walking shoes
Caving detail
- Cave type
- limestone
- Tour length
- 2 hours total (ferry + bus + cave) · ~1 hour in the cave
- Formations
- Stalactites · Stalagmites · Flowstone · Draperies
- Featured caves
- Main Cavern Chambers · Cathedral Room
- Intl tip
- Lake Shasta is California's largest reservoir — created by Shasta Dam, the second-tallest dam in the US. The dam itself (with a free tour program through the Bureau of Reclamation) is 10 miles from the caverns and provides essential context for the lake's scale. The town of Redding (30 minutes south) has the Sundial Bridge, a stunning pedestrian bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava that's worth the stop.
The guide
Lake Shasta Caverns has the most unusual access of any California cave system — to reach it, you board a ferry that crosses an …
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Lake Shasta Caverns — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 40.8628, -122.3614