Colossal Cave Mountain Park

Colossal Cave

La Posta Quemada Ranch

16721 E. Old Spanish Trail
Vail, AZ 85641
(520) 647-PARK (7275)
(520) 647-7121

For over a thousand years people have known the beautiful desert area we now call Colossal Cave Mountain Park. It has been home, shelter, hideout, challenging workplace, exciting playground, tranquil retreat. On the National Register of Historic Places, the Park showcases crystal-filled Colossal Cave and historic La Posta Quemada Ranch, a working ranch for over 120 years. Spend the day: take a Cave tour, browse in the historical museum and research library, relax in the wooded picnic areas, hike, saddle up for a trail ride, sluice for gemstones-and explore our two charming Southwestern gift shops.

Location:

From east Broadway, take scenic Old Spanish Trail south for about 16 miles to the Park entrance; or take I-10 east from Tucson to Exit 279 and follow the signs north for about 7 miles.

Parking:

Several parking lots throughout the Park;
bus and RV parking available

Hours of operation:

Open every day of the year

March 16-September 15:
8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday-Saturday,
8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Sundays and holidays

September 16-March 15:
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday-Saturday
9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Sundays and holidays

Admission fees:

Park admission:
$3.00 per vehicle of up to 6 passengers.

Cave admission:
$7.50  Adults
$4.00  Children ages 6-12
Free for children 5 and under when accompanied by a paying adult.

Trail rides:
$20.00 per hour.

Group rates are available for groups of 15 and above with reservations.

Admission to the museum, research library, picnic areas, hiking trails, and gardens is free with Park admission.

Membership:

No. An annual Park pass is available.

Handicapped access:

Colossal Cave itself is not handicapped-accessible, nor are the hiking trails. However, the ramada and gift shop at the cave are accessible.

All of the Ranch facilities, including the museum, gift shop, and library are accessible

Lunch facilities:

Two open-air cafés

Gift shop:

Two gift shops, one at Colossal Cave headquarters, one at La Posta Quemada Ranch headquarters

Curriculum relevance:

Earth science, plant adaptations, wildlife, and Arizona history. We are an official Project Globe site.

Contact person:

J. J. Lamb, Education Director or

Lauren Hohl, Assistant Education Director
647-7121

Arranging a Visit:

We offer special tours and school tours at reduced rates for parties of fifteen or more who make reservations in advance. It is exactly the same as a regular tour, but given for your group only.

On tours and in the gift shop, we request a ratio of one adult per five to eight children. Children are always welcome in the gift shop, both before and after touring the Cave.

Special tours (adult groups with children):
$6.75  Adults
$3.25  Children ages 6-12

School tours (groups of children with chaperones):
$4.25  Adults
$2.50  Children ages 6-12

Ranch programs are $1.00 per child

Tour description:

Guided tours of Colossal Cave and guided trail rides are available every day. All the Park tours can be tailored to an individual group's needs. These include various kinds of Cave tours (on-route, Ladder Tours, Wild Cave Tours, Candlelight Tours) and trail rides (Breakfast Rides, Dinner Rides, Campfire Rides, Round-Ups).

Other kinds of tours and programs in the Park available to groups with reservations include

• Ranching and Cowboy Program:
  cowboys discussing life on a ranch and providing hands-on demonstrations of branding and roping
• Nature Trail Hike:
  stops at a variety of education stations along the way, including soil sampling and animal signs
• Archaeology Site Program:
  includes an opportunity to use a mano and metate, a stone tool for grinding grain.

Outreach programs

We currently provide outreach to elementary-age students on bats and ranching. We also have a variety of education boxes available for student outreach on Native American games, coyotes, tracks and scats, saguaros, soil sampling, and more.

page last updated July 4, 2003