Black Chasm Cavern
Ages: 3 and up
Cost: $14.75 adult | $7.50 child ages 3-12
Parking: Yes - dirt lot
Features: Picnic Area, Outside Food Allowed, Shop, Restrooms, Family Friendly, Changing Table
Black Chasm Cavern, located in the Sierra Nevada foothills town of Volcano, is a National Natural Landmark. This cavern is one of only 5% of caves in the world feature rare helictite crystal formations.
The Walk Tour takes only 50 minutes and any visitor over the age of three will likely be awe-inspired by the formations. Babies may be carried in a front pack but not a backpack for safety reasons. This is a wonderful place to visit when the Central Valley gets hot, since it's 58˚F in the cavern all year long!
An amazing 3-hour Labyrinth Tour ($79 per person) is also available. This is an outdoor, physically challenging tour of the rock outcroppings near the cavern.
The Visitor Center offers beverages and snacks, as well as many souvenirs for purchase. Visitors may buy bags of gemstones to mine through in the sluice boxes just outside the center, which is a fun way to start a rock collection. Ask for a free map of the Zen Garden Hike inside the Visitor Center.
BIRTHDAY PARTIES
Both Black Chasm Cavern and Moaning Cavern offer birthday party packages. Discounts are available when more than 5 party-goers are participating in any given activity. Party reservations must be made at least two weeks in advance.
Pair this with a trip to nearby Indian Grinding Rock for a daytrip.
2 Reviews
missbirdie
Reviewed on 09/17/2012
Our family recently visited Black Chasm Cavern for an outdoor excursion adventure: the Labyrinth Tour.
This trip is meant to be a 3-hour rock climbing and hiking adventure, but we were having so much fun, even our tour guide lost track of time and our 3-hour trip became an almost-5-hour trip!
Only children 8 years of age or older are allowed to participate in the Labyrinth Tour, so our youngest had to remain at home. I kept...more
missbirdie
Reviewed on 01/18/2012
This is not a long tour, nor does it delve deep into the corners of the cavern, but nevertheless Black Chasm Cavern is an awesome place to see.
Upon arriving, visitors are directed to the Visitor Center where tickets for the tours may be purchased. We were there with youngsters, so the Walk Tour was our chosen ticket. The Visitor Center serves as base: it's a souvenir shop, snack shop, information hub. Between the books, rocks, geodes,...more