Hairun Wicaksana
Are you looking for an adventure close to home? Explore the hidden wonders of Utah’s varied geography and discover 12 magical caves that will leave you awestruck! From secret hiding spots tucked away in remote hiking routes to wonders located within easy day trip distance, this list is sure to satisfy your curiosity. Don’t miss out on these incredible opportunities, check them out today!
The Top 12 Caves in Utah
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
- Address: 745 US-89, Kanab, UT 84741, United States
- Map: Click here
- Rating: 4.7 (4277)
- Phone: +1 435-644-1200
- Website: Link
- Opening hours:
Monday: 9:00 AM – 4:00 PMTuesday: 9:00 AM – 4:00 PMWednesday: 9:00 AM – 4:00 PMThursday: 9:00 AM – 4:00 PMFriday: 9:00 AM – 4:00 PMSaturday: ClosedSunday: Closed
- Reviews:
Easy to get around and a stunning location. Pictures don’t do it justice, you need to go there and see it with your own eyes! We didn’t have a lot of time, but visited close to sunset and it was beautiful.By Kelda Bassett (2 months ago)If you ever need to travel between Torrey and Bryce Canyon then you have got to take Scenic Hwy 12 through the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument! It’s a very scenic and a little bit scary ride but oh so worth it, there’s even a 14 degree grade in one spot. Oh the scenery, it was just magnificent!By Terry Mead (3 months ago)Drove from Bryce Canyon National Park to Capitol Reef National Park. Had to pass via Grand Staircase on Scenic Byway 12. Stunning views 😍 beautiful scenery for 65 miles, awesome smooth road, the drive was fantastic. So many scenic overlooks to stop by. Check out Devils Garden. It’s a hidden gem in Escalante. The road to devils garden is off road (dusty, gravel, sand), but the views are stunning 🤩.
Great views on the highway.By Avi NasH (a year ago)Incredible hike with gorgeous panoramic views. Depending where you’re headed, you really have to watch for the karins to stay on track. Bring a lot of water and prepare to stretch some muscles!!By Erin Engelmann (3 months ago)Beautiful scenery and ample hiking opportunities! Public restrooms were clean and well-stocked. Always a plus.By Eliza Robinson (11 months ago)Timpanogos Cave National Monument
- Address: 2038 Alpine Loop Rd, American Fork, UT 84003, United States
- Map: Click here
- Rating: 4.8 (1200)
- Phone: +1 801-756-5239
- Website: Link
- Opening hours:
Monday: 7:00 AM – 5:30 PMTuesday: 7:00 AM – 5:30 PMWednesday: 7:00 AM – 5:30 PMThursday: 7:00 AM – 5:30 PMFriday: 7:00 AM – 5:30 PMSaturday: 7:00 AM – 5:30 PMSunday: 7:00 AM – 5:30 PM
- Reviews:
The 1.5-mile hike up the side of the mountain was a bit of a workout, but the views along the way of the surrounding valley are spectacular. Hiking by myself at a decent pace took about 45 minutes, so definitely plan for longer if you’re with kids or taking a more leisurely stroll. My tour was set at 11:00AM, and when I arrived at the Visitor Center I was told to be up at the cave entrance by 12:30, to give you an idea of what the scheduling is like.
The caves themselves were awesome, and the ranger who led my tour was very knowledgeable and was able to answer any questions about the caves that I had. Will recommend to all of my friends and family in the area.
By Alexander Johnston (2 months ago)Great place to visit if in the area. The hike up is pretty strenuous and steep if you aren’t somewhat in shape. The tour is pretty interesting and the guides are very informative. The only con is the number of large kid groups. When the parents don’t keep them in line, they push to through the group and make lots of noise! This should be for ages 13+.By Brian Mitchell (2 months ago)Cave tour was excellent! The hike up is steep, and they expect it to take you up to 1 1/2 hours. But, if you get up early they’ll do their best to get you on an earlier tour.Our group spent about 1 hour total in the three different caves. They are all unique, and get more spectacular as you go along.
They’ve kept the caves very natural, so expect to need to do some serious ducking and crouching to prevent yourself from hitting the cave walls. Because of this I’d highly recommend not bringing a large backpack with you.
By Abby Thompson (3 months ago)Badass tour!! Wake up early for this spectacular centennial cave tour! Honestly my favorite part was the hike up, but the tour inside the 3 glorious caves was awesome! Super informative and fun! Great for all ages and all curiosities! Bring your water!By Matt Allen (4 months ago)The trail is steep and a work out. The views make the effort worth while. You can hike the trail only or visit the caves and trail. There are actually three caves on the tour. The rangers are very knowledgeable. Take a walk along the river by the visitor center. Very peaceful. Make sure to purchase tour tickets ahead of time on recreation.gov.By Daminick1980 (a year ago)Minnetonka Cave
- Address: Minnetonka Cave Rd, St Charles, ID 83272, United States
- Map: Click here
- Rating: 4.7 (792)
- Phone: +1 435-491-0618
- Website: Link
- Opening hours:
Monday: 10:00 AM – 5:30 PMTuesday: 10:00 AM – 5:30 PMWednesday: 10:00 AM – 5:30 PMThursday: 10:00 AM – 5:30 PMFriday: 10:00 AM – 5:30 PMSaturday: 10:00 AM – 5:30 PMSunday: 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM
- Reviews:
Our tour guide was great. She was very enthusiastic and loved sharing her knowledge of the cave with us. I would recommend getting your tickets early in the morning. We had a two hour wait and got there right at 10am. The rock formations were fascinating. There are 444 stairs inside the cave, so come prepared with good shoes and a jacket. It is 40 degrees year round. It is a great activity to get out of the heat and see some beautiful rock formations.By Kim Elggren (5 months ago)Really enjoyed our tour. The view to get up here was amazing. Note however, it gets cold inside the cave around 40 degrees all year long. So do bring a sweater, a long pants and a comfortable walking shoes with a good grip because it does get very slippery. There’s also more than 800 round trip stairs, and 72 of that is a single steep climbing. Cost is $8 for adults and $6 for children. Tour takes about an hour and so much fun. You will learn a lot from the tour guides.
Cheers!
By Edwin Ragadio (5 months ago)This is pretty cool, you would never believe how amazing the inside of the cave is by looking at it from the outside; it is millions of years in the making. Take a sweatshirt, it is literally 40° inside but once you start walking, you will warm up a bit. There are 444 stairs ( so the posted sign says) that you will climb up/down so wear good shoes because some spots can get a little slick.
There is even some bacon and a glow in the dark spot, you’ll love it.By Robert Boston (6 months ago)This cave is in a mountain, which is of course very cool. Tours run frequently during their open hours so it is not hard to get on one. There are lots of stairs, so many stairs, stairs galore. Some are a bit slick but overall not too bad and there are hand rails the whole way. Many cool formations in the cave (don’t touch!) and the tour guide was very good with a plethora of good jokes and information.By mary (5 months ago)These were really cool caves! Our guide was great and we learned a ton of cool things. Though you couldn’t really explore since it was a guided tour. I would definitely recommend this place to anybody who likes adventures. Just make sure you can climb stairs!By Natalie B. (10 months ago)Mossy Cave
- Address: Tropic, UT 84776, United States
- Map: Click here
- Rating: 4.4 (498)
- Phone: +1 435-834-5322
- Website: Link
- Opening hours:
Monday: Open 24 hoursTuesday: Open 24 hoursWednesday: Open 24 hoursThursday: Open 24 hoursFriday: Open 24 hoursSaturday: Open 24 hoursSunday: Open 24 hours
- Reviews:
I visited in November. The trail was icy so be careful! The cave was interesting with all of the large icicles. It takes about 20 mins to hike. You can not go in the “cave”; you can only view from a distance.By Ryan Mayberry (a month ago)This trail is short and fairly easy. It’s also like a two for one. You can feel this mini waterfall and the actual cave. Depending on the season, you either get moss or icicles in the cave. Parking however is limited here.By Traveling Terrezzas (a year ago)This is a nice rsther small park. You can see most of it fairly easily but if you feel so inclined you can walk up the incline for a long hard climb. I didnt make it all the way to the top. But this is a picturesque park that is always busy.By Will Stein (8 months ago)This is a must stop… not for the cave but for the waterfall and stream!!
Fairly easy hike.. the entrance sign says it is .4 miles to the cave that’s not correct. After the 2nd bridge there is another sign that also says .4 miles to the cave. It didn’t matter after we saw the stream and waterfalls the cave didn’t matter to us.
The stream was refreshing and easy to cross if you ventured down to it.
To the 2nd bridge it is about 1/2 mile from there you can see the waterfall. At that point you can venture down to the stream to access the waterfall. Use the path on the right just before the 2nd bridge.
The real treat is going up behind the waterfall. So be sure to hike up to it. It’s just another 1/4 mile or so past the 2nd bridge. At that point we realized the true beauty of the area. We ended up hiking along the stream for another 1/2 mile.
Neither of us expected the beauty or the extended hiking. We are in the area just for 3 days and will return to this point.
By Eric L (5 months ago)Nice short and easy hike with beautiful scenery. After passing two bridges, the trail to the left is Mossy Cave and to the right is Tropic Ditch Falls. The mossy Cave is very interesting to see water dripping from the moss under the rock. You can also walk under the second bridge and follow the river up to the falls and hide behind the falls when there is not too much water in Nov.By J Y (a year ago)Mammoth Cave
- Address: Duck Creek Ridge Rd, Duck Creek Village, UT 84762, United States
- Map: Click here
- Rating: 4.5 (467)
- Website: Link
- Reviews:
Super interesting, a little spooky.
Make sure you have torches/flash lights or head lamps.
A cellphone light is not that effective.Really cool and interesting colors and patterns on the ceilings. The further on you go the more you’ll be crawling and get dirty.
We found 3 different caves to go in.By Wade Bricknell (8 months ago)Fantastic place to take kids. The road to get there is a bit twisty turny and is all dirt, but decently maintained. Vans and other cars without high clearance or 4 wheel drive can make it with no issues.There’s a small dirt parking lot with a vault restroom available. Also lots of picnic tables available under trees.
If you take the path that leads into the picnic table area, just continue walking straight ahead to some lava rocks on the ground. This is the main cave entrance. It’s a large hole in the ground. Descend and you’ll see an opening to your right (you can go in, we didn’t really explore more than 20 ft here), and to your left is another opening with bars. If you want to do the whole cave system and come out the other side you will enter through the space in the bottom of the bars.
You can also go through the tunnel that is above. We did this, thinking it was the main cave. If you continue straight until adults have to crawl on their stomachs there will be a point that looks like it ends. Look to your left and there will be a small hole in the wall where one person at a time can squeeze through. This will allow you to continue going forward. I went with a 7 and 8 year old. We made it very far into this section until there was a point I was only capable of crawling on my belly.
If you want to access the cave from the other side, there is a trail that starts at the other end of the parking lot and leads to lava rock and a small gathering of pines. There will also be a metal bar opening here to climb through to enter.
If you want a short cave excursion that doesn’t require flashlights, there is a small stand of Aspens near the second entrance I mentioned. Right there is a small opening in the ground you can descend into and it only goes about 30 feet with light coming in from the other side. Kids can be lifted out by someone on top if you want to exit or you can turn around and exit the way you came.
Overall very fun and it was nice and cool in the caves, so this would be a good activity for the heat of the day. Bathrooms available, picnic tables and area available but no garbage service so pack out what you pack in. If you want to explore, BRING FLASHLIGHTS.
By Brooke Maxfield (6 months ago)Be prepared to climb down rocks to drop into the cave. We had little kids with us… so not as easy. Adults… no problem! Bring a flashlight! Beware of the bats!!By Lynn Martinez (a year ago)This place is GREAT to bring young kids who love exploring, or even just to wear them out a bit. lol Mammoth Cave is a series of lava tubes that are hollow. There’s one main entrance/cave opening with a few distinct short cave trails to follow. They only go maybe 100-150 feet deep, but they get narrow in parts. It’s slightly cooler air, but it feels great on a hot day! You’ll definitely need a Flashlight to go more than a few feet in, but each cave direction ends at an opening where you can crawl out, or get a great photo! Quite a few people road quads out to the location. There’s a few picnic tables to sit and rest at too, and a restroom. Oh, and it’s one of the few places you can get cell phone signal (if you were camping in the area and felt out of touch in the wild). 😂By Megan Morris (a year ago)Fun for some. Kinda freaky for others. I’ve been to several other lava tube caves before and love exploring them. But these ones get very narrow! In one direction you have to do some real spelunking on your tummy. Luckily we turned around before going that far, but we met other visitors who told us. We went in a directing that was a very cool tunnel but then it got more and more narrow. We could see the light at the other end so we kept going but I had a mini panic attack going through. We had to crawl for a short ways and we had 5 little kids with us including a little 1.5 yr old who bonked his head a couple times. It started raining outside and I could hear the thunder, so the fear of water coming in plus the claustrophobia with the little kids really got to me. But whew, we all made it! And for most folks, this really wouldn’t be too bad. Just bring some flashlights. Oh also note that the roads getting there are well kept, any car could do them.By Angel Morton-Nilsson (4 months ago)Tabernacle Hill Lava Tubes
- Address: Fillmore, UT 84631, United States
- Map: Click here
- Rating: 4.6 (323)
Snow Canyon – Lava Tubes
- Address: Dammeron Valley, UT 84783, United States
- Map: Click here
- Rating: 4.7 (276)
Sand Caves
- Address: US-89, Kanab, UT 84741, United States
- Map: Click here
- Rating: 4.7 (228)
Wind Cave Trailhead
- Address: Wind Caves, Logan, UT 84341, United States
- Map: Click here
- Rating: 4.7 (203)
Nutty Putty Cave
- Address: Utah, United States
- Map: Click here
- Rating: 4.8 (90)
Crystal Ball Cave
- Address: HC 78 Box 345, Garrison, UT 84728, United States
- Map: Click here
- Rating: 5 (60)
Rock Canyon Cave
- Address: Rock Canyon Trail, Provo, UT 84604, United States
- Map: Click here
- Rating: 4.5 (27)
Danger Cave State Park Heritage Area in Utah Thank you for reading! We hope this list helps you find the best caves in Utah. If you have any additional information, please leave a comment below!
See more: