Coronado Cave Trail — Attraction in Arizona

What a great experience this was. I couldn't believe my wife went all the way in to the end of the cave. Cold outside, warm in the cave. Make sure you have decent lights. We spent about 30 minutes inside gazing about, but the very end is the prize. The walk in climbs briskly to the cave opening.

The cave entry first drops down across rock smoothed by others who have entered before us. The entrance continues to drop to a bottom, and then it went slightly up. As you continue back, stay right at a cave narrowing where you encounter a cluster of rocks. Disregard the tube on the far right that looks like it goes down into a tight tunnel, and follow the dirt trail under a ledge that allows you to continue back bypassing the rock cluster. The cave narrows, and then opens up in the final room where the formations are visible. Go all the way to the end to get an up close of a formation and turn your light off to see the faint light coming through a small air shaft.

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There’s parking at the gift shop, and, as we did, it’s only 1/4 mile walk down the paved road to the trail. There is a small parking lot at the trailhead, maybe 8 spots. The trail is all uphill on the way to the cave. There are lots of loose rocks, and some areas have carver steps but most of the trail is dirt and rocks. The entrance to the cave requires careful maneuvering over large rocks. I went in scooting down on my butt. Once inside the cave is flat and easily navigable. The website recommends 2 light sources and yes, you need them. Our flashlights were not strong enough. I would strongly recommend headlamps. There are several different and unusual rock formations. One resembles large teeth and another a face in profile. The temperature inside is comfortable, we were in short sleeves and were not chilly at all on April 21st. This is a fun hike with great views along the way. We even saw a deer in the...

The trail is almost entirely uphill, I wanna say it's about 1/2 mile. There is a bench halfway up to the cave, I would suggest a hiking stick/pole, water, and sunscreen while heading up. This is NOT a dog friendly hike. The cave is a lot of fun. There is a small tunnel that you can crawl down. It goes back a bit. For this, I would suggest a helmet, headlamp, knee pads, if you have them, and some sort of mask, or handkerchief. The dirt is really fine, you will be inhaling this. Again, so much fun! Also, the ladies at the visitor center were...