Activities
Oregon Caves National Monument is open year-round, although snow sometimes blocks the road to the park. Cave tours are offered from mid-spring (mid-April) to late fall (early November), and the visitor center is open when the cave is open for tours. The schedule varies from season to season, but tours generally start no earlier than 9 a.m. and no later than 6 p.m. except for candlelight tours offered on Fridays and Saturdays at 6:30 p.m. between late May and early September.
Cave-tour tickets are available only at the monument and are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Tours are 0.5 miles (0.80 km) long and last 90 minutes, although visitors can choose to leave the cave about halfway through the tour. The route requires negotiating more than 500 steep and uneven stairs and passageways with as little as 45 inches (110 cm) between floor and ceiling. Not recommended by the Park Service for anyone with heart, lung, or mobility problems, the tour involves a total climb of 230 feet (70 m). Children less than 42 inches (110 cm) tall or who are unable to climb a set of test stairs on their own are not allowed on the full cave tour. The Park Service offers a limited number of off-trail "Introduction to Caving" tours by advanced reservation only.
Since the cave is only 44 °F (7 °C) inside regardless of the outdoor temperature, the Park Service recommends warm clothing for its tours. Good walking shoes are needed to negotiate slippery and uneven surfaces. Not allowed on the tours are flashlights, backpacks, large purses, tripods, or pets. To protect bats from white nose syndrome, visitors must not take any clothing or equipment into Oregon Caves that entered any cave in Europe or any cave, mine, or bat hibernation site east of the Rocky Mountains in North America after 2005.
Several hiking trails wind through the monument and adjacent forest lands. Big Tree Trail, 3.3 miles (5.3 km) long, gains 1,100 feet (340 m) in elevation between the visitor center and Big Tree. No Name Trail, 1.3 miles (2.1 km) long, begins behind the visitor center, follows Cave Creek, crosses it, and then climbs steeply to the west side of the monument. Two short side trails lead from the main trail to waterfalls along No Name Creek. Cliff Nature Trail, passing over marble outcrops and through fir forests, winds for about 1 mile (1.6 km) from near the cave entrance past the cave exit to Big Tree Trail. Old Growth Trail, 0.8 miles (1.3 km) long, links the Chateau and visitor center to the main parking lot. Other named trails entering the park include Cave Creek, Mt. Elijah, and Limestone.
Lodging is available in the monument at the six-story Chateau, which has 23 rooms to rent. Hotels, bed and breakfasts, motels, and resorts in the vicinity offer a variety of accommodations. Although no camping is allowed in the monument, the Forest Service maintains two campgrounds nearby, and there are private campgrounds and recreational vehicle parks in the vicinity. The Chateau, generally open from early May to late October, has a restaurant, coffee shop, and delicatessen, and Cave Junction has several restaurants. The monument grounds include several picnic tables.
Read more about this topic: Oregon Caves National Monument
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