Lake Shasta Caverns
Some places that I’d like to visit take some creative sales pitches for the kids. You just never know which ones.
Personally, I think heading underground to see what caves look like is pretty cool. Especially when there is a string of lights already installed and a guide who knows the way out. I wasn’t sure that the boys would think so as well. There are a lot of stairs, it’s dimly lit, and it’s cold. They might very well remember all this from our last trip. I practiced a few lead-ins before informing them where we were headed. “I bet Batman might live in a place like this…” or “we can find some things inside that are more than a thousand years old.” Turns out I needed no help. When I told them we were going to check out some underground caves, they were almost as excited as I was.
Lake Shasta Caverns, located 17 miles north of Redding, Ca., is a great place for the young cave explorer. The first clue that it is kid-friendly is the play area in front of the office. Here you can practice your climbing skills on a six foot climbing wall or hide out in a tree house carved from oak. At the office you can purchase a bag of mining rough and hunt for gems using the mining sluice. Look for quartz, ruby, sapphire, emerald and other gems or fossils. After purchasing tickets for the caverns, head down the hill to the shore of Lake Shasta. Here a boat ferries you for a 15 min. trip to another part of the lake. Then hop onto an air-conditioned bus which goes up another mountain to the beginning of the tour.
Lake Shasta Caverns is a horizontal cave rather than a vertical one. In other words, there is not as much stair climbing as you find in other California caves. The descent at the beginning of the tour is not difficult at all. There are several breaks along the way where your guide alternates between describing the geology of the formations, the history of the cave and of its earliest explorers. The second half of the tour is a bit more strenuous, but an alternate exit is available for those not up to any further ups and downs. Continue along a series of tunnels until you reach the “gallery” room, my personal favorite. This room is large and opens up at least several stories high. Here are “drapery” formations that span a long wall. The curves and interesting formations play with your imagination until you are sure you can see recognizable shapes. Before the tour ends you are asked to pose for a picture at a certain spot. The picture can be purchased for $10 at the end of the tour.
The whole trip lasts about 2 hours. If you are planning a caving tour to Shasta Caverns here are some tips to consider:
* Though I wore flip-flops and did just fine, a walking shoe with tread is advisable. There are places which are damp and can be slippery.
* Those with younger (and slower) climbers may want to stick to the back of the tour. The stairs require a single file line and so the slower kids may end up holding up a long line of people.
* There are many benches available for picnicking. You can bring snacks or lunch and make a half-day trip of it. Benches located under a shaded porch immediately after the tour provide some fabulous views, or use the benches at the front by the play area.
Shasta Caverns provided my family with tickets, however the post is written solely on our family’s experience there.
Sounds like a lot of fun. Love all the kid-friendly touches you mentioned.
Those caves look fantastic. Since you like exploring caves you might want to go to Guatemala because there is a complex of caves called the Lanquin Caves. They are so big that no one has ever found where they end. I had a lot of fun there.
Trip with the kids is absolutely a great way of relaxation and spending quality time with them. They appreciate more about little things they see about nature. Caves like this is really spectacular.
I live near Redding and should take the tour.