Kartchner Caverns

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After 3 1/2 months in Quartzsite, we began our trek East on April 8th. Our first stop was an West Pinal Park, south of Phoenix. It is not far off the highway and the sites were private and included a covered picnic table and grill. We enjoyed a walk around the park loop and beautiful sunset and sunrise. From there we headed to Benson, AZ. We spent 3 nights at Kartchner Caverns State Park. It was our homebase to explore Bisbee, Lowell, and the caverns. The park is a Dark Sky Park and the star gazing was the best we have seen so far. We took a cave tour, but unfortunately photography is not allowed. You will have to take our word that the tour was worthwhile. The cave tour does not have any stairs, so wheelchair compatible. We loved the "throne room". The caverns were discovered in 1974 by 2 college friends, Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts. The were exploring the limestone hills at the eastern base of the Whetstone Mountains "looking for a cave no one had ever found" and found it! This show cave has 2.4 miles of paved passages. The Discovery Center has an informative movie detailing the discovery and the process of getting the state of Arizona to make it a state park.

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Photos

Kartchner Caverns Discovery Center
Can you hear me now? Mike trying out the bat ears.

West Pinal Park
We took advantage of the grill and had burgers.

Park loop
The loop road made for an easy walk around the park after dinner. Lots of saguaro cacti and creosote bushes. There is some highway noise, but not too loud.

Easter sunrise
Beautiful morning. We were on our way after breakfast and watching an online church service.

Kartchner Caverns
Entry to the Discovery Center at Kartchner. The center is free and includes displays about the caverns. There are hands on activities and a movie about the discovery of the cave.

Butterfly garden at the Discovery Center
The garden included cacti and native plants. We did see some butterflies and a hummingbird as we strolled the garden.

Drilling
The garden also had displays of the equipment used to make the trails through the caverns.

Campsite
A nice back-in site. It included a picnic table and fire ring. We were right across from the camp hosts and next to the shower house.

Sunset
The sunset behind the mountains was beautiful.