Lava River Cave — Attraction in Sunriver

Cool, huge cave!!

This lava tube is gigantic - 30+ foot ceilings! even on a 90 day, it was quite chilly inside. I was super glad for the hat and headlight which were critical. I had a medium jacket and it got colder halfway through the tunnel, but I didn't need the gloves I brought (I expected more climbing). everyone noted runny noses at the end of the tunnel due to the cold. the first part was indeed a bit of a rocky climb into it, but overall the cave ground is more flattened with all odd steps up and down. we were all very glad to have both headlamps and flashlights. even with two light sources each, depth perception was difficult due to the deep darkness and odd flooring. I didn't feel it was claustrophobic - being 5 feet tall there was only one area where I had to duck a bit. overall the cave seemed spacious for a cave. parking was tough on a july weekday afternoon - we got lucky. took about 15 minutes to do the orientation and sign in to get to the cave. we went slow going in and taking pictures, so it was 45 minutes to the end (midway~30 minutes to sand garden). coming out, we went at a steady pace and it took 30 minutes. So overall, plan about 1.5 hours here to do this. saw tons of young kids... I think a lot of them wanted to be carried at the end because it was strenuous. it's a better teenager activity. no bats or critters, but there were some drippy areas with cave slime! you are there for the nature, after all. no stalagtites left in this cave...

Get over your spontaneous fear of the total dark as you descend, steel yourself up to the fact that it's a brisk and damp forty-two degrees (even as the summer temperatures bake above the surface), take a deep breath, pretend you have zero claustrophobia, and GO TO THE LAVA CAVE.

I don't know, call me a nerd but I thought this place was super cool. This underground lava tunnel goes for a mile underground, even crossing under the highway! At some points, the ceiling is impressively vaulted way high above your head; at other times, you may have to stoop or duck under some boulders to continue. The texture of the stone is always changing, and it fascinating to explore underground. It doesn't take too long, and an underground lava tube isn't something you visit every day. (Check out the Ape Caves near Mt. St. Helens too if you like this sort of thing!) Bring flashlights, headlamps, and glowsticks...but if you forget, no worries, you can rent a "lamp" for a few bucks.

There are some steep metal steps and slippery stone stairs near the entrance of the cave, as well as some uncomfortable jagged stones to navigate over. However, a lot of the more difficult terrain has a metal handrail to aid visitors. If you can continue beyond the initial descent, I found the remainder of the lava tube to be much easier to hike, with smooth sandy stone to trek on. Tough it out if you can... I saw older couples and very young kids: if they can do...

This is a fun place to stop if you are in the Bend or Sunriver area. There are places for RVs or oversized vehicles to park as well as regular vehicle parking but it fills up fast in Summer. It is free to explore the caves which is wonderful. Before you go inside the caves the park rangers do a brief speech asking if you have visited any caves before. They let you know about disease that can spread from other caves to bats. The caves are at a lower elevation and temperatures drop in the 40 degree range, so bring a coat if that is cold for you. Wear headlamps or bring flashlights because the caves are very dark. The caves are also longer than we expected. They are about a mile long. We brought our kids along for the journey. They enjoyed the cave. We had a guy say out loud “this isn’t a place to bring your baby!” I thought that was rude but I didn’t say anything. My daughter, at 16 months old and son at almost 4 years old did great. There are some bumps on the trail to watch out for, handrails everywhere but nothing too dangerous. There were other kids in there and a baby younger than ours being perfectly protected in her mother’s carrier. The cave may be too long for some. I would recommend checking out this cave but if you don’t hike to the end you aren’t missing much if you turn around early. The cave looks pretty much the same throughout but there is one spot that the cave narrows for a few steps so you have to duck...