Lehman Caves Tours

Visit Recreation.gov to

Reserve Lehman Caves Tour Tickets

 

 

Winter Cave Closure

Beginning October 20, 2025, Lehman Caves will be closed for the Lehman Caves Electrical Project. The caves are anticipated to reopen for tours in spring of 2026.
The rest of Great Basin National Park remains open, and the Great Basin Visitor Center will be open 7 days a week.

Cave Tour Basics

The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time.
-Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, 1849

Lehman Caves is the longest cave system in the state of Nevada. Tours have been entering the cave since 1885, and you can become another visitor in a long tradition of explorers.

• Lehman Caves is only available to enter on a ranger-guided tour. It is impossible to visit the caves without having tickets on a tour.
• Cave Tours are offered year-round except for Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. Times and tour types vary, see below for current schedule.
• Two tours of Lehman Caves are currently offered: Parachute Shield Tours & Gothic Palace Lantern Tours.
• Cave tours are limited to 20 visitors each, and are regularly sold out. Reservations on Recreation.gov are highly recommended. Do not expect to see the caves without a reservation. All visitors, including children/toddlers/infants, are required to have a ticket to visit the cave.
• Walk-up tours (indicated with an asterisk * on tour schedules) may be offered as scheduling and staffing levels allow. Walk-up tour tickets are available at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center desk beginning at opening on the day of the tour, and often sell out within the first hour.

 

Journey into Lehman Caves Safely

NPS

Cave Rules & Safety

• White Nose Syndrome Screening is mandatory at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center. In brief, this process involves ensuring that no items enter Lehman Caves that have been exposed to another cave environment without thorough cleaning or disinfection. Help contribute to the safety of our bat population by leaving items that have been in other caves behind. Learn more about white nose syndrome at this link.
• Please arrive fifteen (15) minutes prior to your tour time to check-in with the front desk at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center. Visitors who have not checked in at least five (5) minutes prior to their tour time will forfeit their tickets.
• No touching of the cave is allowed.
• Any tour members 15 and younger are required to have adult supervision at all times during the cave tour. Toddlers and children commonly become uncomfortable in a cave environment. Your ranger may escort a group or part of a group from the cave if any tour member becomes too disruptive.
• Regular crouching is required to navigate smaller passages on the tour route. No crawling is required, and walking sticks or canes are permitted if needed. Handrails are available on all staircases and on many tighter parts of the tour route.
• No bags are allowed inside the cave. This includes backpacks, camera bags, purses, fanny packs, or back mounted baby carriers. Front mounted baby carriers are allowed and available in small numbers for loan at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center.
• No foods, liquids, water, chewing gum, tobacco products, vapes, or other contaminants are allowed inside the cave environment.
• Claustrophobia and unease can be experienced on this cave tour due to the tight spaces inherent in cave environments. You have the option of being escorted out if these feelings are overwhelming for you or any group members.
• The cave naturally remains around 52ºF (11ºC) and very humid year-round, so light jackets or long sleeves are recommended for long term comfort in the cave.
• Firearms and other weapons are not allowed inside Lehman Caves and any other federal facilities, even with concealed carry permits. Read more on firearm regulations in the park at this link.

Available Tours & Fees

Click on individual tours for information on cost, duration, and more.
Access Pass and Senior Pass holders are entitled to a 50% discount on cave tour tickets for the cardholder only. The discount will not apply to the entire group.

 

Gothic Palace Lantern Tour

Parachute Shield Tour

Introduction to Wild Caving Tour

 

Park Rangers will show you many amazing features of the cave

NPS / B. Mills

Daily Tour Schedule

Tour route availability and times change depending on the season. The complete schedule or variety of tours may not be published until one to three months prior to tour date.
* indicates a walk-up tour. Walk-up tours are offered based upon available staffing, and are not guaranteed.

Winter: October 20, 2025 - Spring 2026

Lehman Caves closed for installation of an upgraded lighting system. Read more at this link.
Great Basin National Park remains open for the winter. See Great Basin Visitor Center hours here.

Fall: September 2, 2025 - October 19, 2025

Gothic Palace Tour (30 minutes)
9:30am* | 1:30pm*
Parachute Shield Tour (60 minutes)
9:00am | 10:00am* | 11:00am | 12:30pm* | 1:00pm | 3:00pm

Summer: May 23, 2025 - September 1, 2025

Gothic Palace Lantern Tour (30 minutes)
10:00am* | 11:00am* | 3:00pm* | 4:30pm*
Parachute Shield Tour (60 minutes)
8:30am | 9:30am* | 10:30am | 11:30am | 12:30pm* | 1:30pm | 2:30pm | 3:30pm | 4:00pm*
Introduction to Wild Caving Tour (180 minutes)
8:30am (Saturdays and Sundays only)

Spring: April 13, 2025 - May 22, 2025

Parachute Shield Tour (60 minutes)
9:30am | 11:00am* | 1:30pm | 3:00pm*

Check the park calendar for tour times and other programs by clicking here.

 

Visit Recreation.gov to

Reserve Lehman Caves Tour Tickets

 

Secure your Tour Reservations

During summer months, especially weekends, Lehman Cave Tour tickets will routinely sell out. Make sure to check for availability two to four weeks before your visit for the best opportunity to secure tickets. This is the only way to guarantee spots on a tour for you and your group.

Plan ahead and visit Recreation.gov or call their reservation line at [phone] to book tickets in advance.

Walk-up tours (indicated with an asterisk * on tour schedules) may be offered as scheduling and staffing levels allow. Walk-up tour tickets are available at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center desk beginning at opening on the day of the tour, and often sell out within the first hour.

Refund and Check-in Policy

Refunds requested at least a day prior to the tour will be honored minus the $1 per ticket charged by Recreation.gov. Refunds cannot be provided on the the day of the tour.

Please check in at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center at least 15 minutes in advance of your tour's scheduled start time. If you have not checked in with the front desk to claim your reserved tickets within five minutes of the scheduled start time of your tour, your tickets will be considered forfeit. Refunds will not be provided for late arrivals or missed tours. Give yourself plenty of travel time. Wide loads and weather are some of a number of items which can slow your journey.

 

Group Tours & Field Trips

To arrange tours for school groups, please contact the park via email, or call [phone]. School group tours must contact us at least 30 days in advance. Find more information on planning a field trip here.
For information on after-hours photography for amateur and commerical photographers, head to the doing business with us section of the website.

 

More information about Lehman Caves

• 

  Fees & Passes

  Great Basin National Park has no entrance fee. Please check here for campground and cave tour fees and pass information.

• 

  Accessibility

  Great Basin has many accessible facilities, campsites, and programs. Learn how to make your experience the best here.

• 

  Service Animals

  Learn about bringing your service animal to the park

• 

  Caves and Karst

  The caves in Great Basin National Park have fascinating geology, fossil resources, and species diversity.

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  Cave Life

  Life is varied and interesting inside Lehman Caves. Learn more about the myriad creatures that call Lehman Caves and other caves home

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  Virtual Cave Tour

  Made with LiDar and photogrammetry use the virtual cave tour to explore Lehman caves.