Mammoth Cave in Utah: A Family Adventure
I learned about Mammoth Cave while camping at Cedar Breaks National Monument in southern Utah. We decided to drive the 16 miles to Mammoth Cave and see what the hype was all about. It was totally worth it. The kids loved it, we got out of the summer heat, and they could explore new things.
If you’re exploring southern Utah, plan to visit Mammoth Cave. It’s a short adventure for the whole family – but one the kids will be talking about for a while.
NOTE: Bring flashlights! Without them, you won’t be able to explore the lava tubes more than 10 or 20 feet – it gets dark quickly.
How to Get to Mammoth Cave in Southern Utah
Don’t confuse Mammoth Cave in southern Utah with Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. Your GPS may get confused when you enter Mammoth Cave, so just thought I’d point that out.
Mammoth Cave is east of Cedar City and west of Bryce Canyon National Park. Highway 14 connects Cedar City to Highway 89. Just east of Duck Creek Village is Mammoth Road, which heads north. Follow that road for roughly seven miles, the turn right onto a dirt road (you’ll see a sign letting you know when you need to turn).
Follow that dirt road and the signs to the Mammoth Cave trailhead. Parking may be a little challenging, depending on the number of people who had the same great idea you did.
A short trail takes you past a few picnic tables before you find yourself standing over a large hole in the ground. That’s the entrance to the lava tubes.
Army Crawl Through a Lava Tube
As we walked down into the initial entrance, we decided to go left. Roughly 30 feet into the cave, we were able to stand. We even grabbed a photo of the kids standing in the cave. But as we continued our way through the cave, the ceiling became short. Like really short.
Our young kids were slithering their way through the cave, while the adults were struggling to get through. Eventually, we laid down and crawled our way through the narrow path.
I recommend leaving camera bags, backpacks and everything else back in your car. It was difficult to maneuver with my camera bag as I army crawled through the cave. We would’ve turned back, but we saw light at the end of the tunnel – roughly 30 yards away.
Our kids thought that cave was the coolest thing. They did end up hiking through it a second time – and when they didn’t have slow parents lagging behind them, they made it through in about three minutes.
Hike Through the Largest Lava Tube
We saw a large fence stretched across a large cave entrance on the right side of the large hole in the ground. There was an opening at the bottom – as you can see in the photo above. So if you can fit through that opening, you can explore the cave. How good are you at playing limbo? 😉
Why do they have the fence? This cave is closed to humans October-April to protect hibernating bats. That means that while you’re hiking the cave in the summer months, it is possible to see a bat. One of my sons said he saw one.
Once through the gate, the large cave allows you to hike upright for quite a ways. However, the further in you go, the muddier the ground gets. The mud is pretty sticky – made me wonder if it’s more smashed up bat poop. Yuck!
Once you get far enough into the cave, bring your group together and turn out all the lights. As long as no other groups are shining their lights, you can see what darkness really feels like. You can’t even see your hand in front of your face.
When the cave became shorter to the point where the kids had to start hunching over or crawling, we decided it was a great point to turn around. We spent about 20 minutes exploring this cave – so it’s pretty deep.
Squat-Waddle Through the Shortest Lava Tube
Just north of the large hole in the ground (lava tube entrances), there a smaller hole that serves as a lava tube entrance to an upper level. A few of us decided to venture into this cave.
After descending 8-10 feet down the hole, we found ourselves on an upper ledge from the bat cave entrance. We headed down the lava tube, but right from the start, I had to hunch over. Twenty feet into the cave I had to squat-waddle. My boys were interested in going further in, but my daughter and I didn’t want to start crawling on the hard mud floor. So we turned around after getting about 40 feet into the cave.
Our legs were burning after squat-waddling back out of the cave. But we were all smiles as we laughed about how silly we looked squat waddling.
The Details
Address: 8 miles north east, along Mammoth Road, from Duck Creek Village.
Cost: There is no cost to park, explore the caves or hike in the area.
Hours: Mammoth Cave is accessible year round, but some of the caves are blocked off October-April to protect hibernating bats. The dirt roads are not plowed in the winter, so May-September is the best time to visit.
Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r4/learning/nature-science/?cid=fsbdev3_016108
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