Crystal Lake Cave — Attraction in Dubuque

The caves were very interesting. The crystal formations are definitely worth visiting to check out. They provided coats for us as the underground is chilly, which we definitely appreciated. Since a tour had just barely started before we arrived, we were allowed to immediately join the tour instead of waiting for the next one to arrive, which we also appreciated. However our high school age tour guide definitely marred our experience, as for some reason, he decided to take it upon himself to insult me and my mother through the duration of the tour. VERY ODD, but I guess he thought he was being funny. In his "joking" nature, he kept calling me a "disappointment" for not having given my parents children and kept calling my mother "grandma." I guess he thought I was around his age which is why he decided to just stare at me and be so rude the whole tour. He was very oddly persistent in telling me in different ways that I wasn't popular with women, but I guess that's what just what some insecure high schooler would be focused on instead of, I guess, his job of being a tour guide? I suppose since his parents and younger brother were there along with me and my father he was in an overly relaxed mood. His mother kept apologizing to my dad throughout the tour, and my mom definitely did not appreciate the tone the 16 year old guide had throughout the tour. Maybe teach him a bit of professionalism, and when and when not to attempt whatever he thinks is "humor?" I guess don't go to the caves if you could be be mistaken for a high school age guy, because the hormonal 16 year old guide will be territorial and decide to insult you the whole tour and you'll have to just politely smile...

We really enjoyed this cave tour! We’ve been to multiple different caves in different states and this is one we would recommend. It wasn’t too far from downtown, there’s a small parking lot otherwise the cars line the gravel road entrance. There were outdoor bathrooms and a few picnic tables. It was $20 per adult for the tour. We went on the weekend and had to wait for 1 group to go ahead us so it was about a 30 min wait. The tour was about an hour and we were in a group of 19. Our guide Stephanie was great she was nice, very informative and talked loudly. She also really included the kids in the group. There are about 30 steps you have to do to get in and out of the cave which wasn’t bad at all compared to some we have been to. Some walkways can be pretty narrow and low where you have to duck to not hit your head. The caves were wet when we went and had a few puddles so I would recommend tennis shoes and a sweatshirt since it’s 52 degrees. There were the most crystal formations we’ve seen, a few new formations or special to this cave, and tons of stalagmites and stalactites! There is the crystal lake body of water down there which is cool and they have nicknames for a lot of the formations. The gift shop had the typical souvenirs you would...

Our tour was 26 minutes long on my phone timer and that included the many stops we had to do for other groups. the price of admission was 20$ per adult. The actual lake is a small hole you get to peek through and see a little bit of water. if you want to stop and take pictures good luck because the brand new tour guide they have will leave you behind and continue on his tour with the others. He will also talk mostly about him and his friends going on trips to other caves and what the crystals look like here inside the cave which is cool but it would of been better if actual history of the cave was talked about and not just that they look like a bird or a dragons mouth. All in all its a nice place but I don't think it was worth 20$, its more like a 10$ cave tour. They should also get adult tour guides with more knowledge of the place. A slower pace so people can actually see what they paid for would be a smart start as well. I drove 3 hours to see this place and I don't think I would make that trip again. Thank you for the...