Oregon Caves National Monument - A Trip 41 Years in the Making

Ghost Room

July 12, 2025—After living in Oregon for forty-one years, I finally made the nearly five-hour drive south to visit Oregon Caves National Monument. I had previously passed the caves several times while on my way to northern California, but I never had the time to stop and explore the caves. I was usually in a hurry to get to Redwoods National Park or to Trinidad Bay to go kayaking, or I was just too tired from a trip to either of those places and eager to get back home. But with family in the area excited to visit the caves, the time finally came to make the drive down there, though I don’t recommend what I did: driving down in the morning to take a tour than turning around later the same day to drive back home, which turned out to be absolutely exhausting.

Because of funding cuts, tours aren’t as readily available as they once were, so be sure to visit the caves’ website: https://www.nps.gov/orca/index.htm for available tours and times. You must register for a tour, which currently costs $20 per person—well worth the money.

The only available nearby lodging is a campground at the base of the mountain approximately three miles from the Oregon Caves parking lot. There is a chateau next to the caves, but it’s currently closed for renovation, which has been halted due to funding limitations. It’s a good place to stay if you want to spend a few days in the area because there is more to see than just the caves. There are several hiking trails in the area within easy reach of the campground. Other than the campground, your best lodging opportunities are in Grants Pass.

Bring food with you because there is no restaurant at the caves, and food is not allowed in the caves. My family and I chose to have a late lunch in Grants Pass after our visit.

I met up with my daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter in the parking lot. The drive to the lot was an adventure. The road is narrow with several hairpin curves, though it’s very scenic. Don’t rely on Google maps because the app will tell you that you have arrived at the caves when in fact you probably have a half mile to go before you get to the actual parking lot.

It’s a short hike from the parking lot to the visitor center where the tours start. You can register for a tour at the center. We were there on a Saturday, and there were still open spaces on some of the tours. There is also a small museum that tells you about the caves’ history and geology, and there is also a small gift shop.

The ranger gives a brief introduction about the caves’ history, safety tips, and about the bats in the caves before visitors enter the caves. If you’re squeamish about bats, you might want to reconsider a visit to the caves. I encountered two bats while in the caves—one flying around and the other just a foot from me asleep on a cave wall.

The first thing you’ll notice is the vast temperature difference once you enter the cave, so it’s recommended that you wear a light jacket, sweatshirt, sweater, or long-sleeved shirt. The other important thing is to wear clothing and boots that haven’t been in any other caves. This is for the bats’ protection from white-nose syndrome, a fungus infection that’s deadly to bats. Flashlights and headlamps are not allowed—there is lighting inside the caves—and flash photography is strongly discouraged for the benefit of the other visitors and especially the bats.

The path inside the caves is paved, so any normal walking shoe (not flip-flops or sandals) should work well. There are numerous stairs you must descend and climb, so keep that in mind if you have knee problems, and some of the stairs are narrow. Some of the steps are rocky, so I chose to wear hiking boots specifically for that reason.

While in the caves, I observed numerous fascinating geologic formations: stalactites and stalagmites, draperies, columns, and flowstones. Three types of rock make up the caves: marble, granite, and sedimentary rock. But the highlight of the trip for both me and my family was the bats we encountered. I’m not sure what bat we spotted flying around—the cave is home to Townsend’s big-eared bats, big brown bats, and six other species. The bat we encountered clinging to the cave wall asleep was a big brown bat. Also observed in the caves were the bones of a black bear dating back over 1,000 years ago.

The caves also showed damage from visitors many years ago. They broke off chunks of stalactites and in one room had scrolled their names and messages on some of the drapery. Over the years, drippings from the ceiling coated those writings, basically laminating them and making it impossible to remove the graffiti. Some of that graffiti dated back to the late 1800s.

The Ghost Room is the largest cavern in the cave. You’ll descend into the room and eventually climb back out of the room. At one point on the tour, the ranger turns out the lights so you can experience what the original discoverer discovered when he went in looking for his dog. If you have a fear of the dark, it’s probably best to avoid this tour. There were several tight spots where I had to squeeze through and duck really low. Mostly, you need to watch your head to avoid banging it on outcroppings of rock or low ceilings.

Once the tour ended, my daughter and granddaughter chose to take the easy trail back to the visitor’s center, while my son-in-law and I chose to hike the Cliff Nature Trail back to the center. That trail offers hikers a pleasant view of the Illinois Valley.

While maybe not as large or as impressive as Carlsbad Caverns or Mammoth Cave National Parks, you also don’t have to drive as far or fly to get there. I highly recommend visiting the caves.