Lake Shasta Caverns — Attraction in Shasta Lake

I visited Shasta Caverns for the first time on June/13/2021. It was so Unforgettable! The tour was about 2 hours, it included a boat ride across Shasta Lake, a bus ride up the hill, and access to the caverns. So I had 3 adventures for the price of one.. I loved the boat ride, the views were so pretty and the ride itself was so relaxing.. The bus ride was quick and fun. When I entered the caverns, it was a little hot outside and a bit cooler inside, but it was not as cold as I had expected. I didn’t take the guided tours, so it was pretty much of a self-tour for me. However each of the rooms had tour guides. They were available to one & all and were able to answer all the questions I felt a need to know about. They were very friendly, knowledgeable, funny, polite, and very helpful. I also didn’t have to duck or crawl in this cavern, as I was able to remain standing up, and was able to walk the entire way through. My favorite two rooms were The Crystal and The Cathedral. These rooms are highly faulted and upthrusted with a bit of limestone crag along with some intrusive lava, which made for interesting water-formed stalactites, mites and some spectacular curtains. It was amazing. Mother Nature really opened my eyes, and my heart sang with the incredible beauty of the crystal.. I had to walk a lot of stairs, over all, I think it was over 800 stairs total.. On the way out, the views were amazing, with more than one breathtaking view. This is well worth the time & effort, so go check it out, at...

Shasta Caverns is the only Cavern that you have to take a boat ride and a bus ride to get to the enterance. They have a gift shop and visitor center with quite a few items available including food and drink options, this is also where you have to check in for your tour to get your boarding pass for the boat. They start their boarding call about 15 minutes before tour time and you descend out the back of the visitor center and down to the lake to board the boat. You take a boat ride accross the lake where you board a bus that drives you up to the top of the hill. There is a waiting area with a drink machine and some history on the caverns. We met our tour guide at the enterance and he went over the no touching etc rules and regulations. The tour you see 3-4 different rooms and types of formations. Be aware that this tour has alot of stairs. There's a few here and there at first when you go to the first and second room and once you head to the larger rooms you take 80 consecutive stairs before you get to the first room. You then take an additional amount of stairs in to the largest cave room I've ever been in. Where they have a light show which was incredible. The tour was fairly quick in each room and we didnt get the opportunity to take a photo of us together in the Cavern. When you exit the caver you exit at the top and descend countless stairs back down to the visitor center. My legs felt like jello by the time we were done. This was one of the better caverns I have been to and I...

The good...

The caverns are fascinating and beautiful. The overall experience is well worth the time.

The company was accommodating when I needed to change the departure time.

To get to the caverns you take a short boat ride to the other side of Lake Shasta, and load up on a bus to go the couple of miles to the cavern entrance.

There are roughy 50 Bald Eagles nesting on lake Shasta. We got to see one take flight while on the catamaran, only the second time for me to see a Bald Eagle in the wild.

There is a small grasses picnic table area and a small playground with a on mining table and for ten dollars kids can mine for rocks. My kids enjoy geology and therefore loved the mining.

The Bad...

The brochure forgets to mention that there are a lot of slopes, switchbacks, and steps. It is down several switchbacks or stairs and about 1/3 mile walk to the catamaran. Once across the lake you hike walk up hill for about 1/2 mile. There are a lot of switchbacks and stairs even before you get into the cave.

The ugly... The tour guide did not wear a mask. All the customers wore make but not the guide, not on the boat, not on the bus and not in the cavern! A lot of people have died from Covid and the lack reverence was appalling.

The odd... There is a D-day landing craft that the taverns use to transport tour...