Plan A Field Trip

Field trips at Timpanogos Cave National Monument are offered to 4th-12th grade classes. Ranger-led tours of Timpanogos Cave connect classrooms with the real world, deepening your student’s understanding of geology, ecology, and Utah’s natural history. To learn if a field trip is right for your class, please review the information below.

 

NPS E. Hedrick

Field Trip Information

Ranger-led cave tours are offered in May and August-October, weather permitting. Reduced rates are available for schools when applying with an Academic Fee Waiver.

The only access to the cave system is by walking a strenuous 1 1/2 -mile-paved trail, which rises 1,092 feet. Students must be prepared to hike a total of 3 ½ miles on this trip. Each group will tour Timpanogos Cave for 55-minutes before hiking back down. Both the cave and trail offer unique opportunities to create meaningful connections with classroom curriculum and learning goals.

Group Size

Our Fee Waiver program allows up to 2 days of 4 cave tours, 72 people per day, including students and chaperones. We require a minimum of 2 chaperones per tour. Students and chaperones are required to read and agree to our code of conduct to protect the health and safety of both students and the park’s natural resources.

Schedule

Plan for a 4 ½ -5 hour day. Due to staffing and tour logistics, we cannot adjust tour times or schedules to accommodate bus departure times. If this timing is unrealistic for your school, consider reducing the number of tours or trying our teacher-led field trip option.

A sample field trip itinerary is below:

Arrive	9:00*
Safety Briefing/Trail Prep	9:00-9:15
Groups Start Hiking	9:15, 9:30, 9:45, 10:00
Groups Start Cave Tours	10:45, 11:00, 11:15, 11:30
Groups Start Hiking Down	11:45, 12:00, 12:15, 12:30
Leave	1:45

*The arrival time is flexible depending on the distance of your school.

Ranger Presentation Requirement

To foster an enriching educational experience, we require that you also schedule a ranger-led classroom presentation before and after your field trip. This includes a 55-minute in-class pre-visit. The rangers will prepare students for the field trip, provide a space for questions, and connect the trip with their class curriculum. You will schedule these visits once your field trip application is accepted. If you are interested in a classroom visit without a field trip, please visit our classroom visit page.

Park Logistics

• Restrooms: Restrooms are available at the Visitor Center and at the cave entrance.

• Cave Trail: The 1-1/2 mile trail to the caves is strenuous, with a vertical elevation gain of 1,092 feet. For everyone's safety, pets and wheeled vehicles (including baby strollers) are not allowed on the trail. The visitor center and picnic areas are wheelchair accessible.

• Picnicking & Lunch: There are picnic tables at the River View and Swinging Bridge Picnic areas. Students may eat on the trail, but no food or drinks are allowed inside the cave system.

• Parking/Buses: There is designated bus parking near the Visitor Center. If taking private vehicles, try to carpool to guarantee parking availability.

• Bus Scheduling: We cannot adjust tour times or lengths to accommodate bus schedules. You must determine if this field trip fits within your school’s bus schedule.

• Visitor Center: Students may enter the Visitor Center when under the supervision of a chaperone. Educational exhibits are available for students to explore. Teachers receive a 10% discount on book sales at the Western National Parks bookstore.

Academic Fee Waiver

Applications for 2026 field trips are open now. Schools are eligible for up to 2 days of fee-waived tours, with a maximum of 72 people per day. If the number of participants exceed 72, payment by credit or debit card is required upon arrival. Pre-payment can be arranged, but refunds will not be issued.

Academic fee waivers are not granted on holidays or on weekends. A fee waiver may be revoked and a bill of collection sent to your school if your group behaves inappropriately, or if the group's activities indicate that the primary purpose of the field trip was recreational rather than educational in nature.

How to Apply

The online form for our Fee Waiver Application can be found below. Please fill out sections 1, 2, and 5. Applications for 2027 field trip dates opened on November 1.

Contact Us

For questions or comments about the fee waiver program please contact our Education Division.

 

Timpanogos Cave Academic Fee Waiver

To register for a field trip, please fill out the form below. Please fill out the "Academic Fee Waiver" section for all students, including those under 16 years old, by selecting "Yes" when prompted. Note that dates are first-come, first-serve.

NPS Form 10-1750 (Rev. 04/2021)
National Park Service

OMB Control No. 1024-0228

Learning Accommodations

Does anyone in your group need any accommodations?

Yes No

If yes, describe the accommodation need.

Next Step

School / Organization Contact Information

School / Organization Name (required)

Name of Requester/Contact Person (required)

Title / Position (required)

Contact Email Address (required)

Contact Phone Number (required)
123-456-7890 extension if any

Contact Mailing Address Country

I have a US mailing address

I have a mailing address outside the US

International Mailing Address (required)
Please include building number and street, city, state/province country and Postal Code

Mailing Address (required)

City (required)

State (required)

Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas Armed Forces - Americas Armed Forces - Europe Armed Forces - Pacific California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Northern Mariana Islands Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

ZIP (required)
Five digit ZIP code [99999]

Next Step

Group Details - Park Visit/ Field Trip

Name of Primary Contact Visiting if Different Than Above (optional)

Title / Position of Primary Contact if Different Than Above (optional)

Email Address of Primary Contact if Different Than Above (optional)

Phone Number of Primary Contact if Different Than Above (optional)
Format: 123-456-7890

Program Name or Subject Requested/Self-Guided

Grade Level(s) of Students (required)

Number of Staff / Chaperones (required)

Number of Students (required)

Preferred Date of Visit (required)
format mmddyyyy

My preferred date has been confirmed by the park (required)

Yes No

Preferred Program Start Time (required)

Alternative Date(s) (required)
Enter one or more dates .

Anticipated Arrival Time (required)

Anticipated Departure Time (required)

Mode of Transportation (required)

Disclaimer:

A park representative will follow-up to confirm group details once this request has been received and reviewed.

Next Step

Academic Fee Waiver

Visitors 16 years of age or older (including students, chaperones, and teachers) must pay an entrance fee at this site. Academic institutions (including schools) may apply for an academic fee waiver to cover the cost of these visitors. The number of teachers/chaperones that are covered with a waiver varies depending on the size of the group.

Would you like to request an academic fee waiver for your group?

Yes. I need to complete the fee waiver application. No I do not need a fee waiver.

For this section, all of the criteria fields and the acknowledgement checkbox are required for the waiver.

Certification

Academic fee waivers are not granted automatically. Applicant groups must show they qualify for the waiver. There are three criteria the group must meet to qualify for an academic fee waiver: eligibility, relevance of park resources or facilities to academic program, and academic purpose. Details of these qualifications are listed below. If your institution and purpose meet these criteria, submit this form.

Criterion One - Eligibility

Describe and/or attach current official recognition or accreditation as an educational institution by a federal, state, or local government or other documentation attesting to educational status, such as an accreditation letter, educational tax-exempt letter.

Attach Supporting Document for Eligibility (if needed). Acceptable document types: are Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word, and Google Doc

Criterion Two - Educational Purpose

Verify how this visit supports a specific curriculum for which academic credit is offered. For example, attach a course syllabus/description, course catalog, lesson plan, letter detailing the educational purpose, etc., and/or describe.

Attach Supporting Document for Educational Purpose (if needed). Acceptable document types: are Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word and Google Doc

Criterion Three - Relevance of Park Resources or Facilities

Identify the pertinent park resources and/or facilities and detail how they are relevant to support the educational purpose of the visit (attach letter or describe).

Attach Supporting Document for Relevance (if needed). Acceptable document types: are Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word and Google Doc

Authorized School / Organization Contact Name (required)

Title / Position

Acknowledgement (required)

The Recreation Fee Authority (16 USC 6802 Sections 3 a and b) allows for fee waivers only for bona fide educational and/or scientific institutions that are using the park for educational purposes. I hereby certify that the above detailed trip meets these requirements and therefore request that fees be waived.

Current official documentation of recognition of affiliation as an educational institution by a Federal, State or local government entity, or other evidence attesting to educational status is attached (e.g. accreditation letter, educational tax-exempt letter). It is insufficient to merely state or imply this on official letterhead.

By checking this box I acknowledge that I have read the Acknowledgement.

Date of Acknowledgement (required)
format mmddyyyy

Submit my Education Reservation Request

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NPS Form 10-1750 (Rev. 04/2021)
National Park Service

OMB Control No. 1024-0228

Notices

Privacy Act Statement

Authority: Public Law 114-289 National Park Service Centennial Act and 54 U.S.C. 100701 Protection, interpretation, and research in System.

Purpose: To administer education programs for education audiences including but not limited to school groups, scouting groups, extracurricular groups, and home school groups.

Routine Uses: To effectively manage requests for education received by the NPS, the Education Reservation Request Form is used to collect basic education reservation information to facilitate operational aspects of scheduling groups for park education programs, including in-park education programs, ranger in classroom programs, and/or online distance learning programs.

Disclosure: Voluntary, however, failure to provide the requested information may impede the ability to grant your education reservation request.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

We are collecting this information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501) to provide park managers and educators the information needed to schedule and conduct education program activities. All applicable parts of the form must be completed in order for your request to be considered. You are not required to respond to this or any other Federal agency-sponsored information collection unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB has approved this collection of information and assigned control number 1024-0288.

Estimated Burden Statement

Public reporting for this collection of information is estimated to average 5 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the Information Collection Clearance Officer, National Park Service, 1201 Oakridge Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80525. Do not send your completed form to this address.