Kartchner Caverns

Exploring the world beneath our feet

We  limit our world to what can be seen…the ground we stand on, the sky above us, and all that lies in between. Did you ever stop to think about a world we don’t often experience? The world beneath our feet?

Hike #27 on our 52 Hike Challenge takes us to Kartchner Caverns State Park about an hour’s drive from Tucson.

The history of Kartchner Caverns

 Imagine walking along the limestone hills of the Whetstone Mountains in Arizona, you come across a sinkhole. Could it be? You squeeze into the narrow slit in the earth and discover what you have been seeking for years…a cave! This is what happened to two University of Arizona students Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts in 1974.

For 14 years they kept the discovery to themselves, mapping and exploring in secret. Realizing that secrecy alone would not protect the cave from vandalism, litter, and theft, they set the wheels in motion for the state to purchase the property from the Kartchner family in order to develop the cave as a state park. Kartchner Caverns State Park was officially opened in 1999.

A Visit to Kartchner Caverns

 For our visit, we didn’t have to wiggle through a sinkhole; we followed our guide through a set of sealed, stainless-steel doors and walked under misters at the entrance to preserve the 99 percent humidity of the caverns. I have no pictures of the inside of the cave, as visitors may carry nothing inside including phones, food, or water bottles.

Unlike Randy and Gary, we didn’t crawl on our bellies guided by headlamps. Instead, we walked upright along paved pathways with guardrails and amber lighting that our guide controlled. At one point in the tour, he turned off the lights plunging us into total darkness.

 “Cave-dark is unlike any darkness you have experienced,” he said. “It is the total absence of light. Your eyes will never adjust, you can never see your hand in font of your face.”

 It was unnerving as I lost my sense of sight, and we stood in total silence except for…

“Listen.” our guide continued. “Do you hear it? Water dripping. This is the heartbeat of the cave–how we know it’s alive.”

He turned the light’s back on to reveal one of the cave’s famous residents, a slender, twelve foot long soda straw formation. A droplet of water glistened at its tip, lengthening the straw one miniscule bit at a time.

Our tour culminated in the Throne Room, a breathtaking cavern where a 58-foot high column named Kubla Kahn reigns. We sat on stone benches while soft music played and a light show highlighted one spectacular formation after another.

 I was enveloped in a sense of calm and peace, sheltered in this underground sanctuary that was unconcerned with the world above where life flies at us so fast we struggle to keep up or make sense of it all.

  Here, in this place, change occurs over eons. Patience in a drip. A heartbeat.

At the end of our 90 minute tour the steel doors closed behind us, sealing the cave once more. We are, after all, above-ground creatures who need sunshine and fresh air.

Yet, the world beneath our feet has much to teach us.