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Caverns of Sonora

Photo: Caverns of Sonora / Used by permission / official promotional photo · source

🕳️ Caves

Caverns of Sonora

Sonora, TX · Texas Hill Country

About

Out on the dry ranchland west of Sonora, a staircase drops 155 feet into a cave that mineralogists rank among the most beautiful on the planet, and the reason is the helictites: thousands of translucent calcite crystals that twist sideways and curl against gravity, packed so thick in one passage it is called the snake pit. The guided Crystal Palace tour winds close to two miles past coral-like clusters, fishtail crystals, and the famous butterfly formation, all of it still wet and growing in 98 percent humidity. It stays an even 72 degrees down here year round, so the cave is just as worth the drive in August as in January.

Highlights

Crystal Palace guided tourRare fishtail helictitesThe butterfly formation155 feet undergroundNational Natural Landmark

Getting there

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Part of these collections

Curated guides that feature Caverns of Sonora.

America's Best Caves22 places

America's Best Caves

Step out of the daylight into another world: the longest cave on the planet in Kentucky, a desert chamber big enough to swallow a stadium in New Mexico, an underground waterfall in Tennessee, and a living crystal cavern in Arizona. Some you walk, some you ride a boat through, and one you crawl with a headlamp. America's great caves and caverns, from the national parks to the lantern-lit show caves.