I was starting to think that the old saying of “Once you’ve seen xxxxx, you’ve seen them all” applied to cave tours, but this one had a few twists and turns (pun intended) which sets it apart. First of all, the Lake Shasta Cavern is…on a lake. On the side without a road. So you have to take a boat to get there. And the entry is on the side of a mountain. So you have to take a bus up a very narrow road to get to the entrance. And the entrance is at the lower level of a fairly large cavern so you spend a lot of time going up steep stairs, cut in very narrow passages. Don’t go there if you are claustrophobic.
Ok, seriously, this is a major tourist attraction in the Lake Shasta recreation area, and the operation is geared towards much larger groups than the two local caverns I have posted about. The grounds on the I-5 side of the lake includes a nice visitors center, a large play area for kids (with a very large gold panning thing….they all seem to have this), and a long, steep path down to the lakeshore where the boats leave.
The boats are nice, large covered pontoon crafts, which ferry you across to a landing on the other side – they run every half hour since they stagger groups, unlike the smaller operations.
They also have an old WWII landing craft that is used to ferry equipment and fuel across to the cavern. They bought it in a government auction in the 50’s, and it turns out to be a survivor from the Normandy landings. Pretty cool. I did not see any bullet holes.
Once you get to the other side, they pile everyone into a bus, to get up the very narrow, steep, winding road (with sheer drop-offs) to the mini-visitor center up top (with bathrooms!). From there, a guide gathers the group up, and in you go.
This was not a natural entrance – the real entrance is a few hundred feet up the hill. To make life easier for tourists, they cut a new passage into the lower level. Thank you for that.
This is a very large cave, and the tour covers a lot of ground, All of it going up a series of stairs cut into the floor. All the passages and stopping points have either concrete or hard packed surfaces, which makes walking easy. They also have handrails throughout the touring areas. Best of all, there was only one place where you had to watch for a low hanging stalactite – I did not have to duck anywhere in the cave. Thanks again for that.
Most..make that…all of the features are the same as in the other caves – just more of them, and some of the rooms were fair sized. They also just completed an upgrade to the lighting in the cave, with LED’s in most of the railings, so you could see where you are stepping. There are a lot of steps – one steep passage had 80+ steps. And the steps were cut for small feet – it’s always a challenge for my size 13 gunboats.
The tour was fast paced, and I did not take quite that many photographs until the end. There’s that saying again – how many photographs for the same types of features do I need. Until the last room, which was spectacular. I should note that the guide was excellent – there were stops at the five rooms we visited, where she discussed the features, and a lot about the history of the caverns. Very interesting. And there were even benches to rest on in. A few places – a nice feature after walking up 3 or 4 stories of steep steps. Here are a couple of shots from the different rooms that we toured:
The high-lite of the tour was this last room – a light show, set to music!!! It was actually quite good, but one couple brought two young kids along, and the boy screamed through the entire presentation. Kind of ruined the moment. But it was still pretty cool – here’s a short clip. This is a family oriented vacation stop, so they have to handle adults and small children. There was also a woman with a very small service dog….which she had to hold through the entire tour. Whatever.
After the light show, we were told to head out the last passage, which led out to yet another series of small steps, going back down to the starting point. I had tired knees at that point. And once the boat dropped us off on the other side, it was yet another climb back up to the visitor center and the car. Sigh. Fortunately, you can either take the direct route – stairs, or use the switchback path. I chose the latter.
I did not need to go to the gym when I got home later in the afternoon (3+ hour drive) – I got enough of a workout on the cave stairmaster. While this one is a lot more “touristy”, it was definitely worthwhile for me, even with the long drive – the cave was beautiful, and it was definitely a unique experience with the boat ride and multi-level cavern. It was also the first time I’ve ventured this far North in California, and found a bunch of other places I’d like to visit.
I now have two more left in my underground California tour – one near Angels Camp, and the other close by in Murphy’s. I could theoretically do another overnight trip and get them both, but since it’s not too far from home, I’ll do two separate trips. After that, I’m through with caves – my summer bucket list keeps growing, and I’d want to hit some of these before I leave for Alaska. I looked at a lot of literature about the Mt. Lassen National Park, and may add that to my list, probably in early August.
If you are interested in visiting the cavern, here’s their website: https://www.lakeshastacaverns.com/
The Traveling Widower 