Onyx Cave and Rock Shop — Attraction in Cave City

The cave tour was actually pretty cool. We had a group of 7 people and it was a nice quick tour for the kids.

When we arrived, we were rushed to buy tickets since the next tour was leaving in 3 minutes. Fine no problem. I have allergies acting up so I tried to choke out in my raspy voice that we were waiting on the rest of our party to come in. We paid and went on the tour.

When the tour ended and I wanted to explore the shop, I was followed so closely by the tour guide for a few minutes. I work retail, so I understand they want to prevent shoplifting, I’m not a shoplifter and make a healthy salary, but again no big deal, I get it. But she was literally in my personal space at one point and almost was touching me. So she asked to squeeze by, no problem.

I had picked up a tiny trinket box with pyrite ($4.99) to buy and was looking at another tiny trinket box with a green mineral in it ($8.99) and it slipped out of the box onto the floor. My daughter quickly picked it up and luckily there was no damage and it didn’t break. As soon as she picked it up, the main manager guy (didn’t get his name) rushed over and started loudly lecturing me about handling the boxes. My allergies are horrible so I can hardly talk, so I nodded my head in agreement. I couldn’t even whisper that I was sorry before he snatched the two boxes out of my hand and told me that I was about to drop the other stones by the way I was nodding my head and told me if I wanted to shop that I needed a basket. He pointed to a small basket in the corner of the store, so I got it and he put the boxes in there. I was so embarrassed because not only was it an accident, but he was so demeaning to me in front of my daughter, staff, and guests. I could have melted and wanted to cry.

I have worked in retail for 15 years and am a multi-unit business leader and I couldn’t believe how I was treated. I literally didn’t pick up any item that cost more than $15. I have a HUGE rock/mineral collection and I was initially impressed with the store a was planning on spending quite a bit of money, but, ultimately, am taking my business elsewhere. I shouldn’t have even bought the two items, but I really wanted those for my collection. I was just grateful that the cashier was so sweet and wrapped my items very well.

I recommend :

Re-training/coaching that male manager (tall guy with facial hair) on customer service. Have baskets in a visible area near the entrance or counter (not in the corner of the store hidden behind other things. Manager was great at greeting, why not offer baskets as guests walk in to shop?

I will not return and when people ask about my experience, I am going...

Onyx Cave is maybe a tenth of a mile off I-65, and I am sure thousands of people drive by on the their way to Mammoth without noticing this cave or even giving it consideration. Plus it's right across the road from the dinosaur tourist place, and it would be easy to think this was of the same ilk. But this is the real deal! My two teenage kids and I thoroughly enjoyed this cave experience.

After a short wait upstairs in the rock shop (which has some cool stuff at decent prices), our small tour of 6 was led behind the building and through a steel door into the cave. The early part of the tour feels like you are not going deep into the earth, but be patient. Eventually you'll decend about 40 feet down very sturdy steel stairs and find yourself in a truly amazing underworld cave, surrounded by stone flow, stalagtites, stalagmites, cave coral... Everything you hope to see in a cave. There are beautiful spaces, a few tight squeezes (fun not scary), and the whole path is well lit and the pathways are level for the most part.

Our tour lasted just under 40 minutes, led by a very friendly and knowledgeable young woman. Perfect amount of time and well worth the $8.95 admission. It's a bargain to see such a natural wonder. Only caution, there are a lot of stairs, they are all excellent with 100% solid treads and railings (and well-lit), but for older folks with knee problems or balance problems on stairs, this might not be a good choice. For everyone else though this a solid 5 stars....

I've been meaning to write this review for two months because I want you to know that this is the most personal, local flavor, and family friendly tour you can go on.

Our family is doing a national tour of the national parks and we running late for our Mammoth Cave tour when everything went wrong. The GPS took us the wrong way and we ended up jack-knifing our our RV trying to turn around. Needless to say we missed the last tour at Mammoth but the ranger recommended Crystal Onyx Cave because they close later.

We arrived less than 30 minutes before they closed and they still gave us an hour tour. I have four children under 10 years old and Scott (the owner) treated us like family. He makes it feel like it is your own cave that you are exploring. So, we had a great tour that the kids won't ever forget, but that is not where the story ends.

The parking lot is on the hill side so it was a bit too small for me to turn our motorhome and van we were towing around. In the process of loading and unloading our van off the tow dolly I missed a critical step and ended up breaking the tow dolly. It was dark and my kids were going crazy. Scott, without hesitation came out and helped me figure out what was wrong and fix the tow dolly. He basically saved our day.

If you want an unforgettable experience from the owners of the cave that treat you like family, you have to go to...