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Kartchner Caverns State Park (31°50′15″N 110°20′50″W / 31.8375°N 110.34722°WCoordinates: 31°50′15″N 110°20′50″W / 31.8375°N 110.34722°W) is an Arizona state park, located nine miles (14 km) south of the town of Benson (near Tucson) and is considered by many to be the "crown jewel" of Arizona's state park system.
The park encompasses most of a down-dropped block of Palaeozoic rocks on the east flank of the Whetstone Mountains in the Coronado National Forest. It is carved out of limestone and filled with spectacular speleothems which have been growing for 50,000 years and longer, and are still growing due to careful development and maintenance.
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The caverns were apparently unknown to man until 1974, when Randy Tufts and Gary Tenen, two amateur spelunkers found a narrow crack in the bottom of a sinkhole, and followed the source of warm, moist air toward what ended up being more than 2½ miles of pristine cave passages.Hoping to protect the cave from vandalism, they kept the location a secret for fourteen years, deciding that the best way to preserve the cavern — which was near a freeway — was to develop it as a tour cave. After gaining the cooperation of the Kartchner Family and working with them for ten years, together they decided that the best way to achieve the goal of protection through development as a tour cave was to approach Arizona State Parks. Tufts and Tenen even blindfolded state parks officials before bringing them to the site.In 1985, then-Gov. Bruce Babbitt secretly left the state capitol with two bodyguards and spent three hours crawling through the cave's tight passages to reach the cave's showcase chambers, including the Big Room, Echo Passage and Cul-de-sac Passage.[1] The discovery of the cave was finally made public in 1988 when the landowners sold the area to the state for development as a park and show cavern.[2][3]
The state spent $28 million on a high-tech system of air-lock doors, misting machines and other gadgetry designed to preserve the cave. There was some controversy over the use of these funds. Many thought that the funds could be better spent by updating the facilities at near by Colossal Cave. There was also a push for the Cave to be sealed and preserved as a scientific research facility and to not allow the public to access the caves at all. However, these were defeated and Kartchner Caverns opened to the public in 1999.
The cave has proven to be popular; over 750,000 people have visited the system in its first three years of the park's existence, a number over double what was projected in the 1992 master plan for the park.
The two major features of the caverns currently available to the public are the Throne Room and the Big Room. The Throne Room contains one of the world's longest (21 ft 2 in/6.45 m) soda straw stalactites and a 58-foot (18 m) high column called Kubla Khan. The Big Room contains the world's most extensive formation of brushite moonmilk; it is closed during the summer for several months (April 15 to October 15) each year because it is a nursery roost for over 1,000 cave bats.
Other features publicly accessible within the caverns include Mud Flats, Rotunda Room, Strawberry Room, and Cul-de-sac Passage.
Although the cave is largely uninhabited, bats do nest in the Big Room during late spring.
Several sections identified by the discoverers have not been prepared for visitors:
Frasassi
Caves [4] (Genga - Marche, Italy)Virtual tour from the Arizona Daily Star
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Kartchner Caverns State Park [1] is in the southeast Arizona in the southwest region of the United States.
Kartchner Caverns is an underground attraction. There is no climbing involved and the entire tour is accessible to people with physical handicaps.
There are hotel options in Benson, about 9 miles away.
For $22 per night, one can camp in the park. There are no limits on RV sizes. Campers can also choose from 62 campsites and must arrive before 5:30 pm. Hookups for water and electric are available at all sites and there is a dump station. For more information, contact one of the following numbers:
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* Benson San Pedro Valley Chamber of Commerce
520-586-2842 info@bensonchamberaz.com
* Arizona State Parks: 602-542-4174.
* Arizona National Forests: 800-280-CAMP
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Category: Outline articles
   | Friends of Kartchner Caverns State Park - Friends of Kartchner Caverns State Park |
| | Journal of Cave and Karst Studies - Journal of Cave and Karst Studies Volume 61 |
| | State Park website - Arizona State Parks |
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