The Grand Canyon Caverns (Havasupai: Ŧathiil Ñwaʼa or Ŧathiil Ñhaʼa, 35°31′44″N 113°13′54″W), located just a few miles east of Peach Springs, Arizona, lie 210 feet (64 m) below ground level. They are among the largest dry caverns in the United States. Dry caverns compose only 3% of caverns in the world. Because of the lack of water, stalagmites and stalactites are rare in the caverns.Use our Hualapai Reservation road trip website to visit Grand Canyon Caverns on your trip to Hualapai Reservation, and learn what else travelers and our writers recommend seeing nearby.
During the Mississippian Period, 345 million years ago, the southwestern United States was covered by ocean. Skeletons of sea life settling to the depths, created a mud with a high percentage of calcium. This eventually hardened into the limestone bedrock seen in the caverns today. Over millions of years, the bedrock was pushed up to over 5,000 feet (1,500 m) above sea level.
Approximately 35 million years ago, rainfall flowed into the rock, and eroded passages that lead to the Colorado River and what is now the Grand Canyon. Millions of years later, the evaporating water left calcium deposits on the walls and floors, creating the formations that can be viewed today.
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Grand Canyon Caverns reviews
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We have been to many caverns all over. This is one of the few dry caverns ( as most are wet ) in the US, so don't go expecting to see stalactites and stalagmites as they are not here, just know that.... more
We have been to many caverns all over. This is one of the few dry caverns ( as most are wet ) in the US, so don't go expecting to see stalactites and stalagmites as they are not here, just know that.... more »
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In interesting adventure that you probably wouldn’t stop at if just driving on the old US 66 and saw the road billboards..the caverns are 1 mile off the highway on a mostly paved road.. The caverns...
In interesting adventure that you probably wouldn’t stop at if just driving on the old US 66 and saw the road billboards..the caverns are 1 mile off the highway on a mostly paved road.. The caverns... more »
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I haven't been there for more than 20 years. It is still a pretty cool place to visit. They now have a place to stay in the cavern as well as a restaurant you can eat at in the cavern. Definitely a great place to experience the rt66 curio from times past. Check online because there are some new tours that would be awesome to do that take you off the standard trail. The RV park next to the caverns looked really nice but we didn't stay there. Update 4-02-2022 we have stayed at the RV park it is very nice. The owners are very accommodating we had a large group and they made it easy to camp together. We all went on the cavern tour and really enjoyed it. They have bathrooms with flush toilets and showers. The sites are nicely spread apart with trees throughout the park.
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The tour guide Dino was great. Very informative and cute family friendly jokes. The caverns are amazing. It's absolutely worth the stop and price of admission. There are steps and sloping paths it should be pretty accessible to most people. If you're more adventurous book online and they have spelunking and ghost tours. Unfortunately none were available when I happened to be here. They also have an underground restaurant which I'm planning to visit but I'll write a review of that. The food in the restaurant upstairs is excellent. I had the chicken sandwich which was nice and tender and the homemade pies are really homemade pies. Great crust and not overly sweet, just right.
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