black chasm cavern

We ended up doing this over President's Day Weekend, so they had added some extra tours, which was good and bad. It made the cavern very crowded, and the platforms your walk on are narrow. Also, the steps are a bit steep and not lit very well, That all said, this place was amazing once you got down into it. It's a short tour, it doesn't even need to be 45 minutes as the amount of area you actually visit inside is not large. I think it all that time, for us, because of a lot of shuffling of groups in a small space. So yes if you have never been to a cave, do this! It's close and pretty kid friendly. The tour guide was good and the experience, though taxing at some points, was very good! There's a large gift/rock shop, and picnic tables if you want to bring your lunch.

We took an overnight trip from the Bay to visit this hidden gem. As it happened, we were the only ones there at the time, so we got a private tour of the cavern from a friendly and knowledgable guide. (I've forgotten her name, unfortunately.) The tour itself is around 45 minutes, and they have a gift shop to browse in before or after. If you like caverns, you'll like this one. The variety of formations is rare and worth learning about. Everyone in the family loved our visit!

I have visited many underground caves and mines. This cave is very unique and interesting. The tour guides are extremely friendly, knowledgeable, and they seem to truly love sharing this wonderful place with visitors. The trip down is exciting and full of mystery. There are winding steps with handrails, so it is very safe and suitable for all sorts of people. The formations are beautiful and full of history. I highly recommend stopping here.

Black Chasm is cool cavern to visit. Not too strenuous of a hike down into it and a great little adventure.

By chance we happened to be visiting the area when they had a special psychic reading event in the cave. Fortunately, they had space available, and we quickly signed up. My wife is particularly interested in those types of events, and it was really cool to do it in the cave.I have been to this cave several times, and it's really one of the most spectacular caves in California. It doesn't have the massive open room and adventure events that you can get at Moaning Cavern, but it does have the most amazing cave formations I have ever seen. If you want adventure, go to Moaning. If you want to see formations, go here.

This was a great place for our daughter and her friend (both 8 years old). The cave was amazing and worth visiting. However, we found the tour to be too short. Having seen the cave, I would recommend looking for a tour that goes a little longer. The walking tour that we did was about 45 min, but it only covered three sections of the cave. We saw a blue pool of water at the very bottom of the cave but that was not an accessible area. The best part of this trip for the kids was the gemstone and fossil panning. For $6.99 a bag, the kids were able to pan for real gemstone and real fossils!! That was definitely the highlight of their trip! If you are traveling here from the Bay Area, you can definitely make this a day trip.

My wife loves geology and caves. We have been to many big name caves and lots of small caves like this one. I have to admit I was skeptical about this one at first, but since it was 103 degrees outside, and the cave boasted a year-round temperature of 58 degrees, it was an easy sell. The tours begin and end in the gift shop, run on the hour, and last about 50 minutes. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and along with the typical spiel about stalactites and stalagmites, had good answers to questions, including the harder questions my wife asked. The trail through the cave is rather steep and narrow with lots of steps, but I did it in flip-flops and they had no problem with that. This cave is know for its Helictite crystal formations, and geologically speaking they are very interesting, as were all the other formations.After the tour, take the short drive to the very small but quaint town of Volcano for lunch or dinner. It's worth seeing too.

Tours leave on the hour straight up. A beautiful experience. This was our first cave experience and it was awesome. I know there are other caves to be seen which are bigger, but if you are in the area, this is definitely worth a visit!

California Gold country is filled with little off the beaten path attractions and the Black Chasm Caverns is certainly one of them! One of the important things to keep in mind when planning a visit is tours leave 20 minutes after the hour and take place once an hour, so if you arrive at 11:15, you will likely have to wait until 12:20. The facility has a gravel parking lot, clean restrooms, and decent gift shop. The prices are reasonable. Outside of the gift shop they have water flowing through log pipes with sifters. Inside you can purchase bags of earth which either contain minerals, fossils, or arrowheads. This is a great activity for kids and each of our four (ages 8 - 13) thoroughly enjoyed. this activity. The cave tour itself takes you into 3 separate chambers. The temperature inside the cave is a constant 58F so plan accordingly. The first chamber shows the "pool" and has a drop of nearly 100' so take this into account. The other two chambers are relatively big. All in all you'll spend approximately 30 - 40 minutes in the cave. There are quite a few steep stairs to climb on the way out.This is a great place for family visit and is certainly worth the stop of you are in the area.

This was the 2nd cavern we visited in the area in July. This is a smaller cave in the grand scheme of things when visiting caves on a tour. They have interesting visuals.. but very limited. There is the usual gift shop and child activities. The company providing the tour is not state ownes, but a business doing it for profit. Save your ticket stub if your going to another one of their caves as you can get $1 off the next tour. The cave has interesting points to see and its only $15 per person. Note that the tour guides will talk most of the time explaining facts about the cave. This is an easier cave to climb if you have physical issues, but still over 100 stair steps. If you cant climb, steps, don't go.

I have done lots of caves around the world. This one is smaller then many of the other "show caves". They have the usual gift shop stuff and kiddie attractions. This is a for profit attraction linked with other cave businesses in the region. I would not consider this an "A" list cave, but if you have never seen one it is cool. Tour takes an hour and costs $15, not that much to see, tour guide talks most of the time, but is relatively amusing for the younger crowd.

An absolute delight. I have been here a number of times with our family and on a girl scouts trip. The caves and formations are beautiful and the staff are cheerful, helpful and safety conscious. The kids can also pan for gold and precious gems (stocked by the owner). This is a trip that can be enjoyed by every age. www.caverntours.com/BlackRt.htm‎For terrific photos go to this link https://www.google.com/search

What a wonderful experience. We got there early right when they opened and they took us right down in the cavern. The cavern is beautiful and well presented. The tour guide was fantastic! The facilities are clean and well laid out. There are many things to do including hiking and the kids can mine for gems or fossils. I would highly recommend this trip for families.

My friends and I really enjoyed going to this cavern! The formations are quite beautiful. Our guide Chris was fantastic! One of the best tour guides I have seen. He was very charismatic and knew quite a lot about the cave and its history. This cavern should be on everyone's bucket list for things to do in California!

We found this place by chance when we stopped for gas nearby and found a brochure...we're so glad we did! Our boys (ages 7 & 9) loved the panning for gems, and the cave tour was great. Very knowledgeable guide. Neat gift shop.