If you are interested in cave exploring, Utah is a great place to visit. Utah is the host of over one hundred caves with names like Indian Burial, Lucifers Liar, Silly Putty (closed) and What the Hell Cave.

We visited Mammoth Cave Lava Tubes and Bowers Lava Tubes in Dixie National Forest. The caves were fairly large and impressive. Don’t forget your flashlight, it can get really dark and muddy in the caves. Please, please check out cave safety and ethics of caving before you go. The caves are closed off in the winter for hibernating bats.

To get to the caves you need to travel off the Forest Highway 050 onto a dusty dirt side road. As a truck passed us on the road, I can see a whirlwind of dust in my mirror.

Upon arriving at Bower Lava Tube we parked in the designated area and began our short quiet hike into the woods. In the middle of the landscape, you will find a hole in the ground where you will descend an 8-foot ladder. You can stand in the cave, but at about 100 feet you’ll need to crouch, look up and you will see a unique silver glitter residue on the ceiling.

Mammoth Cave Lava Tube area must have had some type of Mad Max event going on while we there. Upon arriving we were immediately assaulted with the sounds of buzzing motorbikes and off-road vehicle engines, riders decked out in full motor cross gear and dust holding thick like fog in the air. As we approach the mouth of the cave, it is congested with children and adults. Once climbing down into the cave the sound disappears and you are left with cave explorers, flashlights grazing the cave walls. The Mammoth Caves can become very small at some points where you might have to crawl and squeeze your way through, we went back after the crouching halfway. There are at least three ways to enter the cave and 2100 feet of exploration.