Kartchner Caverns primer
The Kartchner Caverns, rated one of the world's 10 most beautiful caves, is an eerie wonderland of stalactites and stalagmites still growing beneath the Whetstone Mountains 40 miles southeast of Tucson.
• Park hours & fees »

Multimedia:
 Inside the caverns

Kartchner Caverns: Virtual tour
Kartchner Caverns is a wet living cave into which water still percolates from the surface above and calcium carbonate features are still growing. It has an unusually wide variety of brilliantly colored cave formations, including the longest known Soda Straw stalactite formation in the world.

More natural wonders
If you liked Kartchner Caverns, you'll love what else Arizona has to offer. Here are more places to explore:
• Monument Valley
• Saguaro National Park
• Chiricahua National Monument
• Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
• Petrified Forest National Park

More regional attractions
Southeastern Arizona is a place where visitors can get a look back at the Old West — an area once dominated by cowboys and Indians, and the cavalry. It's also the legendary home of the Apache leader Geronimo.
• Itinerary ideas for Southeastern Arizona

Side trip: Chiricahua National Monument
There are two things you should bring on a weekend trip to Chiricahua National Monument: a camera and a disposable camera, as a back-up.
• Story: Trail traces Apache wars of late 1800s