Kartchner Caverns State Park — Attraction in Benson

TL;DR The caverns are well-run, conserved, and preserved. The campground is not well regulated or run in a way that is mindful to all. Excessive noise and light - just spend the night somewhere else.

I have been to the caverns multiple times and wanted to take my kids to experience it. The cave tour did not disappoint; Ranger Haley did a great job providing an informative and entertaining tour for all ages. This review exists to communicate the terrible conditions at the campground and ensure you know you are rolling the dice when camping there. I have significant tent camping experience throughout the state, the region, and the country. The facilities were great, above average, and nothing to complain about: running water, flushing toilets, family restrooms, free showers, electricity at the sites, maintained tent pads. What is totally unexpected, at least to me, are two things: noise levels and light levels are NOT regulated well or treated with any sort of deference. I camped on Thursday, October 12, 2023. It is the WORST camping experience I have ever had and I would never camp here again. When people choose to camp, they generally seek a genuine outdoors experience that is quiet and dark, especially at a self-advertised International Dark Sky Park. There are many natural reasons why a camping experience can be unpleasant, such as bad weather or wildlife encounters, but human-caused disruptions within the facility's control are really unforgiveable. On 10/12/2023, a large dance party was held in the picnic area of the Discovery Center with wedding-level speakers, a DJ, and light show that was audible and visible from my campsite (Site #49). It turns out that Kartchner Caverns openly advertises itself as a wedding or group venue. I could understand every lyric, the pulsing white light brightened the moonless night sky, and the bass was un-maskable. The party technically ended at 9 PM, but, as party-goers do, "one last song" was requested and granted and it did not end until ~9:05 PM. I observed partygoers urinating onto nearby trees that are next to picnic areas and hiking trails. Since it is an International Dark Sky Park, it is listed in the campground rules that no external lights are to be on past 8:30 PM. The quiet hours at this campground also begin at 10 PM, but at any OTHER campground this usually refers to generators or small parties not a 100+ person dance party. The proximity of the campground to the Discovery Center and the party area though convenient for cave tours, is simply unacceptable and un-fixable if they continue to allow evenings events. In addition to the excessively loud birthday party, most campers on this night were in RVs/campers/trailers and the vast majority of them had external lights on well past midnight (if not the whole night) that simply broke the rules and made it difficult to appreciate the otherwise dark sky.

If I had known these things beforehand, I would have preferred to stay at a hotel in Tucson and day trip...

We were here on 5/21/24 and arrived 45 minutes early. We didn't look at the little museum area inside the main building very much but we did sit and watch the video after the tour and were glad we did. We appreciated our experience much more. The staff is very particular about the cavern and we are okay with that. They are trying very hard to preserve the cavern environment and are proactive in doing so. Our tour guide was Bailey and she was fun and informative in telling the "rules" and educating the guests. We loved it and were impressed by our 1 hour tour experience and walked away knowing more abut caves than we had before. Two days later we were in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, NM on a self guided tour. All that we learned at Kartchner Caverns State Park was helpful as we spent 3 hours in Carlsbad. At Kartchner there are strict rules, no back packs, purses, pets, cameras, cell phones, food etc. They ask if the shoes you are wearing have been in a cave/cavern in the last year, if yes, they spray your shoes and to help bats stay healthy from diseases. If you accidentally touch something you shouldn't they prefer you tell them so they can flag that spot and clean it after the tour. No shaming the guests. It was not cold in the cavern. We wore shorts and t-shirts and were just fine in late May. We would recommend this tour to anyone there was a person in a wheelchair in our group and she did just fine. We would go back and do a different tour for another unique experience. After our tour we simply drove over to the cabin which we had reserved and stayed there for the night. It was a nice cabin for the 2 of us but it had a separate "room" with a pocket door with 2 sets of bunk beds. No running water but it did have a heater/AC and a microwave and mini fridge with cabinets, shelves, mirror, plenty of light a table and 4 chairs. There were 2 doors the "front" door was facing west to a grove of trees. There is a picnic table outside and a fire pit. We brought wood but ended up not making a fire. The bathrooms were mostly clean. The counters and sinks could have used a good scrub. There are 3 toilets and 2 shower stalls. The water pressure was fine. Only one bathroom was open at that time of year, not the one across the street from the 4 cabins "back" door which we thought was odd. There is a trailhead that starts from the campground. It was very pleasant but we did not go too far and turned around because we were unprepared for a hike at that time. We were simply curious. Not many other campers or RV's were there when we were there. We would recommend this State Park to our adult children and their families and go back with them! The photos are from...

We had tour guide chuck on our second visit here and were less than impressed. Several months ago, I did the tour with my mom and the guide was fantastic and gave so much info, and we desperately wanted to return with other family members. This time around, I was looking forward to getting the same experience and re-learning the small details that I hadn’t remembered and sharing it with new family members. However, with chuck, he seemed to just be into sarcastic jokes and talking about nothing. We asked him about the bats (which the caves are known for - and we got great info about on our first visit) and he gave us sarcastic responses about how bats leave in the dark and how they can’t teach them to use doors. He made me feel stupid for asking the question so I could properly relay the info again.

Then, in the room with the muddy tracks, we were taught initially about sloth findings and even bones from horses, etc. However, with chuck, someone asked if animals come in and chuck said no, there are no animals underground. So I corrected him to say that I previously learned that there were sloths prehistorically and more modern-day evidence of animals, to which he eventually admitted to.

While looking at kubla khan, he said “it’s 60 feet…or 58 feet… or 59.5 feet…I don’t remember I wish I would have written it down.” That seems like a basic detail to know about the main attraction of the tour.

He knew some details about the formations of rocks and chemical properties, etc, but gave such random details, that I really didn’t retain any info from this visit and I kept trying to relay the info to my guests that I learned previously.

He also gave very minor knowledge or information about not touching/didn’t warn about the importance or even ask if anyone had contaminated shoes/etc, didn’t take door closing and opening very seriously (he left it up to us to close? Which seemed weird)

I would not recommend chuck and I feel bad that these tour guests get the experience they do from him. I will have to google history and details about the cave so I can learn. I wish I could come back and have a redo.

Visitors should not be belittled or talked down to for asking questions and given the wrong information. Hopefully chuck was just having a bad day because this was...