Blanchard Springs Caverns — Attraction in Mountain Home

So... we did the dripstone trail a few weeks ago. This trail is about an hour long and pretty amazing to see nature's artwork underground. This is on a paved trail with no steps. You can take a stroller or wheelchair on this tour. The trail is nice and paved but not level. My family and I just toured the discovery trail. This trail is around two hours long with around 750 steps. This is NOT the tour for those with mobility issues, take the dripstone tour. You can see the natural opening and the underground river on this tour. Lots of large formations also. Another trip to blanchard and this time my son and I did the wild cave tour. I would like to thank Grant for being an awesome guide! This tour takes you off the beaten path to place not seen by the general public. If you are not claustrophobic and like adventure, this trip is calling your name. Cost is around $85 and is 4-5 hours long. You will be provided with outerwear and hard hat with lights. Bags will be provided to hold your snacks and water. This will have climbing over rocks, crawling some tight spaces. No bathrooms are underground... so what goes in, must come out. Boots are a must and you will not be allowed to go if you show up in tennis shoes. This is an...

This was my family's first visit to any cave and I appreciate this park so much. The facility was well maintained and all of the staff were incredibly kind. Sam, our tour guide was amazing. She had a great personality and did a great job educating us about the cave. It did feel a little rushed going through the tour. I wish there was more time to stop and gaze at the structures, but I understand it's a busy attraction. The tour would have been perfect except for some really annoying preteen boys who would not stop making dolphin noises and shouting. Their parents didn't try to quieten them not once, so they ruined an otherwise great visit. Sam tried her best to politely suggest they stop, but they just kept on and on. Both my children who were present are neurodivergent so I'm very familiar with hyperactivity, compulsive behaviors, and stemming. If that were mine though, I would have asked them to quit, or at least tried to redirect their behavior, which their parents didn't even attempt probably because those boys aren't neurodivergent - just entitled, privileged, and inconsiderate like their parents. If those were your kids, their behavior was not funny, entertaining, nor cute and you are jerks for letting them...

The cave itself is absolutely beautiful, only nature itself can take credit for that. The information given on the tour is fascinating, however the people giving the tours aren't very friendly. I won't say it was entirely unwarranted frustration the group we were placed with consisted of lots of tiny children, and a few very non well-mannered adults. The tour isn't long enough in my opinion not to really see and enjoy the caverns. The guides made it more about the history of the cave than the beauty of the cave. Maybe different types of tours should be offered for people who really want to see the beauty of the cave, an electronic audio guide like the ones they have at Carlsbad Cavern in NM might go over better for people who want to see the caverns vs hear about the caverns. I was forced to set in a pile of water and it wasn't a clean surface and my skirt was actually permanently stained from this, plus it was my birthday so that was kind of a bummer for the reminder of the day. I'm a travel blogger and have been to many caverns and caves and I just really don't feel like they have it together, maybe after being reopened for a while it will improve. Will definitely try again...