Tours Daily, Rain or Shine
OPEN 9AM-5PM EVERY DAY, LAST TOUR AT 4PM
Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day
LOCATED AT:
2975 Cave of the Mounds Rd, Blue Mounds, Wisconsin 53517
MUSEUM-STYLE TOURS
available ONLY in the Summer and on select weekends.
Cost of Admission
Regular Tickets (13yrs+) – $24.99
Children (4yrs – 12yrs) – $15.99 / Tots (3 and under) – FREE
What to Do
A little something for everyone above and below ground. Admission gets you access to the cave, but the rest of the property is free to discover to your heart’s content. Most guests spend around 2 hours with us, but some easily spend a day.
Explore more of what you can do here below.
- Cave Tour
- Gem Sluice
- Geode Cracking
- Hiking Trails
Experience the jewel box of America’s caves. The cave is available for tours any day that we are open, no matter the weather outside.
A cool 50°F all year long, Cave of the Mounds is the perfect summer escape filled with cave formations in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors. Fossils of ancient life are also found throughout the rock, and the keen-eyed explorer will have no trouble spotting these.
Traditional tours last between 45min and 1hr, but Museum-Style tours can be enjoyed all day long, from 10:00am to closing time. A tour guide is required to be in the cave no matter the type of tour, so you’ll never be alone in the underground!
Discover treasure the old fashioned way. Purchase a bag of mining rough–or go all out for a Mega Miner bucket!–and head over to the sluice river out on the quarry floor. Find a sifter and dump in the sediment mixture little by little (or all at once!) to reveal your new treasures!
Every bag and bucket is hand-filled by our staff at Cave of the Mounds, which means you’re guaranteed treasures every time!
Bags are divided between fossils and gems, while buckets enjoy a mixture of both. Possible treasures include amethyst, emerald, obsidian, shark’s teeth, amber, fossilized wood, fool’s gold, and more!
Take a crack at nature’s lottery ticket. Geodes are rocks that have an ordinary outside appearance but reveal gorgeous crystals inside once broken. Each geode is one-of-a-kind and has never been opened.
Our geodes are filled with quartz, a common, sparkly mineral that looks like glittering snow. These crystals grow for hundreds and sometimes thousands of years, waiting to be seen by the most curious of visitors. It’s impossible to know what a geode looks like inside before it is cracked open–are you ready to try your luck?
Not all of Wisconsin is flat. In fact, almost the entire Western half is covered in hills and valleys that are being carved out by rivers and streams. This area, known as the Driftless Region, was untouched by the glaciers of the last ice age.
The hiking trails in our park allow you to enjoy the nature of the Driftless without having to climb extreme cliffs to get there. Currently, two trails are open to the public:
The Karst View Trail takes you on top of the Eastern Blue Mound, the second highest point in Southern Wisconsin. You’ll see sinkholes, travel over a stream, wander close to our Historic Brigham Barn, and see views all the way to Illinois. This trail is approximately 0.5 miles (.8km).
The Oak Valley Loop takes you down into the woodland valley and shows off a little of what Wisconsin looked like before European settlers came to the area. This trail will take you along an old creek bed, and you’ll maybe even see some wildlife as you go. This trail is approximately 0.5 miles (.8km).
Enjoy the View, Not the Feel
Caves like Cave of the Mounds are sensitive to the oils on your skin, which can stop their natural processes. While visiting us, please refrain from touching the cave’s rocks, walls, and formations. Thank you for helping us protect this natural wonder!
