Kartchner Caverns is a stunning limestone cavern system in Southeastern Arizona discovered in 1974 by two amateur cavers from Tucson. It is host to world-class cave formations considered to be the best of their kind in the world.
Discovered by explorers Randy Tufts and Gary Tenen, the cave was kept a secret for 14 years to protect it from vandalism and exploitation and to ensure the survival of its delicate ecosystem. Kartchner Caverns is a wet living cave into which water still percolates from the surface above and calcium carbonate features are still growing. It has an unusually wide variety of brilliantly colored cave formations, including the longest known Soda Straw stalactite formation in the world.
The contrast between the cave's natural 99%+ relative humidity and the dry desert climate above makes this cave particularly vulnerable. Unmonitored air exchange could quickly destroy the cave's delicate ecosystem, halt speleothem growth and diminish the cave's natural beauty.
Due to the caverns location in the middle of a transition zone between the Sonoran Desert and the Chihuahuan Desert there is a great difference between the annual evaporation rate on the surface (65 inches) and the evaporation inside the cave that averages a scant .08 inches per year.
The rate of evaporation on the outside is 800 times greater than the rate inside the cave. Admission of outside air into the cave would deplete the entire annual supply of moisture to the cave almost immediately.
Therefore, reducing the potential for increased air exchange was paramount in the development of Kartchner Caverns to maintain the moist microclimate of the cave and keep it alive.
The staff at Kartchner has been keeping meticulous records since cave preliminary development began in 1991. To aid researchers, there are 22 environmental monitoring stations that measure air temperature, relative humidity, evaporation rates, air trace gases and airflow in the cave 24 hours per day.
The three of us were simply amazed and astounded at what we saw today. The environment inside the cave was so different that anything I've ever experienced inside of the typical caves that I've visited on the East Coast. The humidity was the impressive in that it felt as if we were wading in water while we toured the cave.
But the formations took center stage, and the lengths at which the staff and park take to maintain the quality of this cave are astounding. At the end there was a breathtaking ethereal musical 'show' that gave us goosebumps.
What a magical place to visit.
The museum was also brilliant, and the kids and I spent quite a bit of time just exploring, touching and reading all of the fascinating displays.
Afterwards we drove to the trailhead for a short hike and found "To the Bat Cave" letterbox . We loved the stamp!
For more info on this wonderful place, click here.Kartchner Caverns
Jax and Jem at the front entrance to the park. Click for a larger image.
A fun cave model to see where we walked inside the caverns, and the formations we would see.Click on the pic to see larger image. The trail is lit up in blue.
A fascinating display of the cave types and locations in the US and Mexico.
Interesting information on cave hydrology.
Jackson and Jeremiah really enjoyed this interactive computer/movie display on the caverns. Jackson spent most of his time here learning about many details and facts on the caverns.
Some of the hands-on displays of cave formation inside the museum.
Since photos could not be taken inside the caverns, it is really generous of the park to have created some hands-on models, so that children and adults could experience what the formations would feel like, if they were real and had water running over them.
These caves and openings were a big hit for the kids (and adults) to climb through. It's amazing to imagine how cavers crawl and slither through such tiny openings, through dirt, mud, and sharp rocks, just to explore a cave. Jenna is a natural caver!
Jeremiah exploring.
Jackson shimmying through a cave opening.
Outside of the museum there are extensive gardens filled with striking and beautiful desert vegetation. There were butterfly and hummingbird gardens, which smelled so sweet.There were many different types of cactus, too, including this large prickly pear.
The Agave plant impressed me the most, in that many Native Americans used the entire plant to help them survive in the desert. They crushed and dried the leaves to use for baskets, sandals, ropes, ladders. And they used the flowers and heart as food, which after being cooked, is a sweet nutritious meal. These plants are all over the desert, and are magnificant when in bloom. The tall 'stalky' plant in frontis called an Ocotillo, of which there are 'forests' of them here in the Sonoran desert. Ocotillo are also beautiful with their fuscha pink blooms. 
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