I’ve had my eye on Minnetonka Cave since long before Utah’s Adventure Family was even a family. So on a recent trip to Bear Lake, we decided to take the plunge. This cave is only open in the summer months, so make sure to plan accordingly.
Minnetonka is a guided cave tour, and it is really quite busy in the summer. If you’re thinking about showing up at 9:45 and getting on the 10:00 tour, you’re going to be disappointed. That’s the reason they request that you get a reservation in advance for large groups (the problem is, you have to get it 2 weeks in advance). For families, it is simply first come, first served. Ticket prices change, so make sure to check the Forest Service for current pricing.
The cave is really nice, though. We’ve visited a lot of caves, and what we liked about this one is how open it is. Some of the caves we’ve been in have been pretty tight and in Timpanogos Cave, you have to do some pretty narrow stuff, even though it’s guided. Minnetonka though, is very open. It’s also very wet. This cave is alive, and water will drip on your head.
If there’s a draw back to this cave, it is the stairs. As you go down deeper into the mountain, you go down a lot of stairs (almost 900, they say). These stairs tend to be a bit wet and slippery in places, too. Our boys ages 3, 6, and 9, did very well, but we were glad that grandma and her bum knee decided not to come along.
One interesting thing we learned is that Minnetonka is a true cave. That is, it only has one entrance. In other words, you will go out the same opening you came in. This is not true of most of the other caves we’ve visited.
After all that waiting, Minnetonka Cave didn’t disappoint. You should definitely visit if you are in the Bear Lake area.
