Boyden Cavern is a guided cave tour. Though it technically the cave lies outside the boundaries of Kings Canyon National Park, it can only be accessed by driving in the park on the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway. This cave requires pre-purchased tickets that you can get online. During the busy season tickets sell out, so you may want to buy them early.
Boyden Cavern
The first thing that you should know is that Boyden Cavern is not to be confused with Crystal Cave, which is further south in Sequoia National Park. Because Boyden lies in the Sequoia National Forest, some visitors have confused the two. Crystal Cave, which is larger and run by the National Park Service is a bit larger and nicer, but Boyden Cavern is definitely worth your time.
Climb to the Cave
Arrive 15 minutes before your scheduled tour at the small shop at the bottom of the mountain. Check in at the desk and then wait until your group is called. Luckily, the cave waiting area and the cave trail is almost always in the shade. There is a short, steep climb to the entrance of Boyden Cavern. Your group will make the climb at the same time. The climb only takes about 5-10 minutes. As with most caves, Boyden Cavern is not accessible to wheels, and when inside, you will be ducking and squeezing through a few narrow places in the cave.
Cave Features
The guides at Boyden Cavern are not park rangers, but they are well trained on caves and the cool features in Boyden Cavern. Our guide was great at pointing out some of the familiar cave features: stalactites, stalagmites, cave bacon, columns, and many others. He also showed us several of Boyden Cavern’s unique features. As veterans of many caves, we enjoyed the tour, and found it to be similar to others. At one point, they turned off the lights, plunging us into complete darkness. We’d seen this before, but what we hadn’t seen was the luminescence of a cave. The guide shined his flashlight on the stone in a smiley face pattern. Then he clicked the light off, and the cave was still grinning eerily at us in the complete blackness.
Wild Cave Exit
Boyden Cavern is a true cavern, meaning that there is only one entrance to the cave. Usually, that means that you go out the same way you came in. However, we were given the option to use the “wild cave exit” on our journey out of the cave. This meant dropping off the paved trail with the railing, into the natural bed on the floor of the cave. It wasn’t difficult, though it was a bit uneven and required a little more squeezing than the tour route. This exit gives you a feel for what it would be to explore without the modern amenities of today.We really enjoyed this final adventure, and we’d never done something like this before.
Boyden Cave is a great stop when exploring Kings Canyon National Park, so make sure to put it on your itinerary! Here are some detail about tickets and scheduling:
- Purchase tickets ahead of time. There were some times that had space for walk-ins, but during busy seasons that is not the case. You can get tickets at the Boyden Cavern website.
- Wear good hiking shoes because you will be hiking up to the cavern, and through the cave. No flip flops or slides.
- You can bring a bottle of water.
- The cavern is 55 degrees all year long, so bring a jacket if you will get cold. We thought it felt nice after the long, hot hikes.
- You will have to purchase admission to Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Park in order to access the cave.
- Tours are every hour and last about 45-60 minutes.
