Caves

Arkansas Ozark Mountain Caves

North Arkansas is part of a geologic area known as the Ozark Plateau and contains over 4,500 known caves. While most of these are undeveloped, seven of them are open for tours. In these "show caves", you experience adventure, see beautiful calcite formations, learn of historical uses of the caves, and view fossil remains of creatures from the past. If you think our mountains are beautiful on the surface, you will be awed by the beauty below!

Show Caves

Of the seven show caves open in North Arkansas, three are within a 30 minute drive from Harrison, AR. Crystal Dome and Mystic Caverns are located seven miles south of the Harrison city limits on Arkansas Scenic 7 Byway with entrances about 400 feet apart. Hurricane River Cave is located 15 miles south of Harrison on U.S. Hwy. 65. Less than a one hour drive from Harrison, Cosmic Cavern is located near Berryville, Arkansas.

Mystic Caverns

Location: 7 Byway, eight miles south of Harrison
Phone: 888.743.1739
Web site: www.mysticcaverns.com

"The subterranean wonders of the two caves at Mystic Caverns prove that Arkansas' beauty exists even underground." Come experience a once-in-a-lifetime caving adventure through two of the Ozarks most beautiful caves, Mystic Caverns and Crystal Dome Caverns! Although their entrances are only 400 feet apart, Crystal Dome was discovered over 100 years after Mystic.

Readers' Digest - "The Most Scenic Drives In America"

You will follow the path the first settlers to this area traveled as a trained guide escorts you on your tour through Mystic. Tours leave every 35-40 minutes, and it takes an hour and fifteen minutes to complete the tour. The caverns are always a comfortable 58 degrees.

Mystic Caverns is located on Arkansas' National Scenic 7 Byway, eight miles south of Harrison Arkansas. Mystic Caverns has also added a hiking trail and a mineral collection for its guests. For hours and rates, call toll free 888-743-1739 or visit their web site.

Cosmic Cavern

Location: 6386 Hwy. 21 North, Berryville, AR 72616
Phone: 870.749.2298
Web site: www.cosmiccavern.com

During the cave tour, you can see the newly discovered area "Silent Splendor". Silent Splendor has been hailed as a must see in Arkansas. Silent Splendor houses one of the longest soda straw formations in the Ozarks measuring over an incredible 9 feet! As you journey along the inspected and safe walkways, you will see many unique and beautiful formations. You will witness stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones, sodastraws, helictites, cave bacon, draperies, and many other speleothems along the cave routes. Also, among the awesome cave formations, you will also get a chance to see a rare and threatened salamander, the Ozark Blind Cave Salamander.Cosmic Cavern is one of Arkansas' hidden treasures. You will see 2 bottomless cave lakes during your 1hr and 15 minute tour with one having cave trout in the clear, dark waters. The first lake, South Lake, has had trout in it for nearly 50 years. Some trout have gone blind and most have lost their color. The bottom or end of these lakes have yet to be found. Cosmic Cavern has been named as one of the top 10 show caves in the United States, so don't forget your camera as there are several photo opportunities throughout the cave.

Come and ask us why our bat population is just now returning after 70 years of absence and enjoy the warmest cave in the Ozarks, 64 degrees and 96% humidity!

Hurricane River Cave

Location: 15 miles south of Harrison on Hwy. 65
Phone: 870.429.6200
Web Site: www.HurricaneRiverCaverns.com

Hurricane River Cave offers regular tours, along level walkways, with two optional staircases. Duration: approximately 45 minutes. The cost is $11.75 for adults, $5.75 for children, age 5-12: plus state and local taxes. The tour includes an optional adventure trail, for a hands on, real up-close and personal experience and you are provided headlights for this side trip. No reservation is necessary for the regular tour.Hurricane River Cave also offer two extreme, wild tours, ( by reservation) which feature any combination of the following factors: cave boat tour; wading, and or swimming; climbing: vertical climbs, up and down; slipping, sliding, stumbling; hands and knees crawls; belly crawls; tortuous, irregular terrain; gooey, sticky clay; soupy, clutching mud, which can suck you down, up to your crotch; exfoliating, heavily, particulated water; ravine crossings, of indeterminate depths; bear beds; numerous bear claw marks; human remains, in two different locations (still there); sites where a saber-toothed tiger and many prehistoric short faced bears were discovered; extreme claustrophobic situations. Duration: 3-5 hours. The cost of these tours are $89.00 per person, plus state and local taxes. Group size ranges from 2 to 13 persons. Group rates are available. We provide helmets, headlights with fresh batteries, knee-pads, gloves; and a hot shower afterward, with towels.At Hurricane River Cave, you will be guided along a level ancient underground riverbed. These fantastic water-eroded passageways are the most unique of their kind among American show caves. The cave features stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, draperies, soda straws, rimstone dams, cave popcorn, columns, moonmilk, stalactoflats, canopies, along with rare and unique shields, and more!