Kartchner Caverns State Park

About

Hidden under the Whetstone Mountains until cavers found it in 1974, Kartchner is a living cave where water still drips calcite onto formations that have been growing for 50,000 years. The Throne Room holds Kubla Khan, a 58-foot column that is the tallest in Arizona, alongside one of the world's longest soda-straw stalactites at 21 feet. You walk in through misting airlock doors that keep the air at 99 percent humidity, and cameras stay outside so the rooms of flowstone, draperies, and brushite moonmilk keep forming in the dark.

Highlights

Getting there

2980 S Hwy 90, Benson, AZ 85602