Arizona's Colossal Cave Mountain Park Reopens to the Public

The renovation process began in August when Ortega National Parks took ownership of Colossal Cave Mountain Park. Since the shift in ownership, several renovations to the cave's entrance
have been completed. The park opened a new gift shop, which is nearly triple the size of the previous shop, and features Colossal Cave T-shirts, memorabilia, stuffed animals, and souvenir items. Additionally, the cave's entrance received new patio furniture, an outdoor kitchen and restaurant, remodeling touch-ups, and more.

As part of the renovation, Colossal Cave Mountain Park also introduced new food offerings available for guests. The park updated its kitchen and now provides a full menu of freshly made signature dishes including hamburgers, hot dogs, pulled pork sandwiches, and pizzas.

Colossal Cave Mountain Park also eliminated the $5 entrance fee allowing free access to the grounds. It restructured its cave tours and created new tour options for guests. The cave now offers five separate tours: the Regular Tour, which is about a half-mile tour which explores the popular and easily-accessible parts of the cave; the Daytime Ladder Tour where guests can climb up ladders to visit off-route areas of the cave that have rarely been seen by the public; the Nighttime Ladder Tour with Dinner in which guests take part in the ladder tour and then enjoy a dinner by campfire under the stars; the Wild Cave Tour, where guests can follow the footsteps of early explorers through unlit and unmarked areas of the cave; and the Candlelight Tour, where guests explore the cave by candlelight to experience how explorers saw the cave when it was first discovered.

Colossal Cave Mountain Park plans to further update the park with continued renovations during the coming years. Future plans include making the park's campgrounds more family-oriented with playground activities. The park also plans to create a beer and wine garden serving spirits to accompany the new dining options now available, a zip line attraction, a historical tour of the Colossal Cave Mountain Park, and more.

For more information on Colossal Cave Mountain Park, please visit www.colossalcave.com, or call (520) 647-7275.