Celebrate Cave Week!

Cave Week takes place during the first full week of June.

Chimney Cave, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico.

NPS image by Dan Pawlak.

Celebrate Cave Week!

Cave Week is an awesome opportunity to enjoy, celebrate, and learn about caves in parks. Celebrate these fascinating underground worlds that are home to unique wildlife and provide exciting recreational opportunties.

Many U.S. parks, Parks Canada sites, and even NASA participate in Cave Week via social media posts, cave tours, exhibits, school events, web pages and much more. To be involved in Cave Week check out your nearby park's website or social media to see what they have going on.

Cave Week started in 2018 as a grassroots effort the celebrate caves in a handful of parks. It has since grown, expanding even beyond the National Park Service. The focus of the week is on caves and karst. It celebrates their importance, geology, history, biology, current research, exploration, and restoration. Cave Week is also the perfect opportunity to promote other, lesser known sites across the US, Canada, and the world.

Share your #CaveWeek! Join the vibrant virtual community of stewards, educators, and cavers in celebrating #CaveWeek, and share opportunities to interact.

Find Your Park

Interested in learning more about specific cave types? Discover parks with cave and karst features below.

U.S. National Park Service Sites

Solution Caves

Solution Caves

• Buffalo National River, Arkansas - Geodiversity Atlas

• Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico - Geodiversity Atlas

• Coronado National Memorial, Arizona - Geodiversity Atlas

• Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, Kentucky- Geodiversity Atlas

• Great Basin National Park, Nevada - Geodiversity Atlas

• Jewel Cave National Monument, South Dakota- Geodiversity Atlas

• Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky - Geodiversity Atlas

• Oregon Caves National Monument, Oregon - Geodiversity Atlas

• Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Missouri - Geodiversity Atlas

• Russell Cave National Monument, Alabama - Geodiversity Atlas

• Timpanogos Cave National Monument, Utah - Geodiversity Atlas

• Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota - Geodiversity Atlas

Learn more about solution caves >

Sea or Littoral Caves

Sea or Littoral Caves

• Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Wisconsin - Geodiversity Atlas

• Channel Islands National Park, California - Geodiversity Atlas

Lava Tubes

Lava Tubes

• Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Alaska - Geodiversity Atlas

• Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho - Geodiversity Atlas

• El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico - Geodiversity Atlas

• Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, Hawai'i - Geodiversity Atlas

• Lava Beds National Monument, California - Geodiversity Atlas

Learn more about Lava Caves & Tubes >

Ice Caves

Ice Caves

• Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho - Geodiversity Atlas

• El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico - Geodiversity Atlas

• Lava Beds National Monument, California - Geodiversity Atlas

• Sunset Crater National Monument, Arizona - Geodiversity Atlas

• Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska - Geodiversity Atlas

Learn more about Ice Caves >

Karst Landscapes

Karst Landscapes

• Buffalo National River, Arkansas - Geodiversity Atlas

• Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Missouri - Geodiversity Atlas

• War In the Pacific National Historical Park, Guam - Geodiversity Atlas

Learn more about Karst Landscapes >

International National Park Sites

Parks Canada Sites

Parks Canada Sites

• Cave and Basin National Historic Site—in Banff National Park

• Bruce Peninsula National Park

• Wood Buffalo National Park

• Nahanni National Park Reserve

• Mount Revelstoke National Park and Glacier National Park

• Cape Breton Highlands National Park

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Discover more!

• 

  Become a Junior Cave Scientist!

  Explore the fascinating and fragile underground world of caves, learn about caves in parks, and complete fun educational activities!

• 

  Geology Fundamentals

  Discover more about rocks and minerals, geologic time, plate tectonics and more!

• 

  Cave Safely, Cave Softly

  Care for these amazing, fragile environments and learn how to Leave No Trace through caving safely and softly.

Learn More

Still digging for more information? Check out these highlights from parks and related links.

Caves in Parks

 

• Oregon Caves National Monument & Preserve, Oregon — Timeline

• Lava Beds National Monument, California — Pictographs / Petroglyphs

• Craters Of The Moon National Monument & Preserve, Idaho — Cave Formation

• Great Basin National Park, Nevada — Shields

• Great Basin National Park, Nevada — Cave Life

• Great Basin National Park, Nevada — Discovery

• Timpanogos Cave National Monument, Utah — Cave / Karst Systems

• Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota – Boxwork

• Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota – 150 Miles

• Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota – Air Movement

• Jewel Cave National Monument, South Dakota - Cave Explorers

• Jewel Cave National Monument, South Dakota – Geology

• Jewel Cave National Monument, South Dakota – Cave Exploration Questions

• El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico – Lava Tube Formation

• Coronado National Memorial, Arizona – General Info

• Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, Hawai'i – Lava Tubes

Related Links

• National Cave and Karst Research Institute

• National Speleological Society

• National Natural Landmark—Caves

• NPS—Karst Landscapes

• NPS—Fossils and Paleontology