Top Things to do in Texas
Top Hotels in Texas
- 1. Fairmont Austin
- 2. Drury Plaza Hotel San Antonio Riverwalk
- 3. The San Luis Resort, Spa and Conference Center
- 4. Blossom Hotel Houston
- 5. Hotel Contessa - Suites on the Riverwalk
- 6. Moody Gardens Hotel, Spa and Convention Center
- 7. Holiday Inn Resort Galveston-on the Beach, an IHG Hotel
- 8. Fairmont Dallas
- 9. Hilton Americas-Houston
- 10. The Beeman Hotel
The 10 Best Caverns & Caves in Texas, United States
Texas has great beaches for bird watching, boating, and fishing. Plus golf courses, cowboy and high art culture, and a rich history. Bask on the beach and bird watch between golf games before, during, or after spring break in Corpus Christi, Port Aransas, Crystal Beach, or South Padre Island. Explore East Texas from Dallas to Tyler, Texarkana, Jefferson, and Nacogdoches. Enjoy golf and big city life in Dallas or Houston. Visit Galveston's coastal Strand. Tour West Texas and Hill Country from San Antonio, New Braunfels, Austin, and Fredericksburg to Amarillo and El Paso.
Restaurants in Texas
1. Enchanted Rock Fissure
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 68 reviews
This cave portion of Enchanted Rock has over 45 established rock climbing routes.
Reviewed By Experience605204
Well, I loved to climb this amazing granite rock, the view is awesome and I want to come back soon with my partner!!
2. White Shaman Cave
3. Caverns of Sonora
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 429 reviews
The Caverns of Sonora is a National Natural Landmark and ranks as one of the most beautiful show caves in the world.
Reviewed By Sheraz31 - San Angelo, United States
I wasn't sure which tour to book so I called ahead, asked a bunch of questions, and then made my decision. My wife and I went on the Discovery Tour. The cost was $125 per person. On our tour, we were paired with two other people (five total including the tour guide). Everyone in our group was great. We had many conversations and got to know each other a bit. Our tour guide was named Bill. He is an expert cave explorer. I think that is safe to say since he's been doing this about 30 years and been in 500+ caves. Bill guided us through the caverns and made sure everyone was comfortable. He did a magnificent job of explaining everything (history, formations, etc.) and answering all of our questions. We took tons of our own photos and Bill also used one person's phone from our group to take pictures during certain "highlight" points. Our tour took just under four hours. You'll get wet at the very beginning of the tour and be covered in mud and dirt as you low crawl and high crawl (hands and knees) throughout several holes. Remember this when deciding what to wear during your experience. If you bruise easily, be prepared for bruises to show the next day. You may even have a few battle scars to show after you complete your adventure. You need to be in decent shape to accomplish EVERYTHING on the tour, but Bill will make sure you are comfortable before trying to crawl through a tight space or navigate a difficult entrance. The most challenging part of the tour is a very narrow incline, maybe at a 40 to 50-degree angle. It is so narrow that you can't really use your upper body/hands to help move you up. You have to use your feet/toes to push your body up. There is a certain way to do it. Bill can demonstrate the technique if you are interested in attempting it. Something tells me most people don't make it all the way up, assuming they attempt it to begin with. Of course, when Bill told me how difficult it was, I responded, "challenge accepted!" I can't help it, I'm competitive! Two of us tried it and we both made it all the way up (cool photos await you so bring a camera), but it required some effort for sure! If you don't think you can accomplish a certain portion of the experience, you don't have to. I'm a small guy (5'4", 135 lbs, 31" waist) and I barely fit through the two tightest spaces during the tour. We did have a taller, skinny guy, (around 6 feet or so) in our group, who was able to make it through every passage, including the aforementioned steep incline. A stockier person wouldn't be able to fit in all the spaces, but there are alternate routes. Many of the reviews state how hot it was, but I didn't find it hot at all. Wear long pants, long sleeves, and hiking boots or combat boots. You can also bring a small towel if you sweat a lot. The Caverns of Sonora staff will provide the rest: helmets, headlamps, knee pads, and water. You can bring your own helmet, headlamp, and knee pads if you wish. I wouldn't bother with elbow pads as they will make it harder/impossible to get through the REALLY tight spaces. One of the last things you will accomplish is a 50-foot rappel, but for those that have no experience rappelling, the staff will show you exactly what to do. After the rappel, you climb a ladder and take a long walk through the cave to exit it. You'll take a lot of stairs so be prepared for that. Bill takes the safety of guests very serious! I'm super adventurous and an adrenaline junkie. A few times I asked if I could do something...uhhh, a bit more adventurous (some may say dangerous), and Bill was quick to say no just to make sure we all made it back conscious and in one piece. Highly recommended! May even come back to try a different tour!
4. Enchanted Rock Cave
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 67 reviews
An interesting cave located within the Enchanted Rock State Natural Area.
Reviewed By J_Ctravel22 - Haslet, United States
We climbed Enchanted Rock and traveled through the cave. It was $7/person to enter the park and there are trails to the summit (don’t do the loop trail if you are want to go to the summit). Once you arrive at the summit continue to the top of the rock. You will walk down the back side where you will find the cave opening (see image below). Once you are in the cave someone has spray painted pink dots and arrows to help lead the way. You will need a headlamp once you are inside. Be prepared to get dirty and to squeeze through some tight spaces. Some rocks will be slippery if it has recently rained and hiking shoes will make your caving experience more enjoyable. Once you finish caving you will climb back over the rock to the summit or you must bushwhack down if it has been raining. We would not recommend if you are not in good shape, have a large body frame, you are afraid of tight spaces and don’t have a sense of adventure. We had a great time only wish we had checked the weather since we bushwhacked through pouring rain, thunderstorms and lightening.
5. Frio Cave
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 22 reviews
Tourists come to this cave at sunset to see the thousands of bats who live there as they fly out for the night.
Reviewed By RalphR131 - Spring, United States
Been there as a kid a long time ago. We have been back a few times to show the grandkids. Amazing to see so many bats fly out and how long it takes for them to exit. Also, some times you can watch a redtail hawk capture a bat for dinner. Worth the time .
6. Natural Bridge Caverns
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 3,847 reviews
Come on down (way down) at the largest underground attraction in Texas! Daily guided tours allow guests to explore large underground chambers and see huge formations. The largest room is bigger than a football field. Above ground, discover rocks, minerals, and rough-cut gems at the Natural Bridge Mining Company Sluice. The Canopy Challenge will test your agility on over 40 different obstacles while you are on our 4 story, 60 foot high Adventure Course. Then you can fly across the scenic Texas Hill Country on our zip-lines! (Canopy Challenge is open daily but weather dependent.)
Reviewed By 688kerstens - Tulsa, United States
We did both the hidden passages and the Discovery Tour and both were wonderful. We bought the combo ticket ahead of time online and you pick your time slot for the Hidden Passages Tour and when you arrive at Natural Bridge Caverns and check in they place you in the next availble timeslot for the Discovery Tour (which allowed us about 30 minutes down time betweent the 2 tours). The caves are very different but equally beautiful. It is VERY humid down in the caves and feels pretty warm. T-shirts and shorts are perfect. The hidden passages tour had stairs to climb and you went down and back up the same path. The Discovery Tour had some stairs but alot of ramps and you went one way through the cave. I would say both are equally difficult to tour depending on whether you prefer stairs or ramps. With that said-it is not difficult unless you have alot of issues with stairs. The tour guides give you plenty of time to rest along the way and they are in no hurry having the group move through the caves. We had all ages in our tour group from 2 year olds through elderly individuals. Very beautiful. Hard to appreciate the beauty from photos. On the premises is also alot of other fun things to do...a maze, zip line, panning for rocks. Very nice facility with food and drink available, nice restrooms, plenty of places to sit and relax. You can take a bottle of water down into the cave with you but that is it. Our tour guide, Harrison, for the Hidden Passages tour was wonderful! Try and request him if possible. Super funny and informative! Definitely worth the 30 minute drive from San Antonio!
7. Cave Without a Name
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 358 reviews
Eleven miles northeast of Boerne, in the heart of the scenic, rolling hills of the Texas Hill Country, Cave Without a Name is a natural, living cavern. Some say the most beautiful in Texas. The Cave is filled with spectacular formations of Stalactites, Stalagmites, delicate Soda Straws, Cave Drapery, magnificent Flowstones, Rimstone Dams, and more. Enjoy a tour of the six major rooms in comfort; 66 degrees year-round, easy walkways, brilliant lighting. Plan an unforgettable adventure you will remember forever...
Reviewed By readyandpacked
The Cave Without a Name is a small cave but didn't disappoint. Beautiful formations and just the thrill of being underground in a cave was all it took for our grandsons to be impressed. Our guide was informative telling us the history of the cave and giving us lessons on the formations. WARNING...there are steep stairs which were okay going down but this old out of shape granny, had to take several stops to rest and catch her breath!
8. Inner Space Cavern
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 682 reviews
Inner Space Cavern was discovered in 1963 by the Texas Highway Department. During construction of Interstate 35, they were required to do regulation core testing, which required them to drill into the ground. As they did this, they inadvertently drilled into the cave 8 times out of the 20 samples they took. Once they lost those 8 drill bits, they knew they hit a cave. They searched all over the surrounding area but could not find any access into the cave. So, they drilled a 2 foot wide hole down through 33.5 feet of limestone bedrock. The hole became known as the Discovery Hole as it was the very first entrance into the cave (and the only one for several months!). As they explored, they have found over five miles of cave, making Inner Space Cavern the fourth largest cavern in Texas!
Reviewed By Fbks712
We did all three tours at Inner Space Caverns... the regular public Adventure Tour, the off the beaten path Hidden Passages Tour, and the Wild Cave Tour. The Adventure Tour was a fairly classic cavern tour, complete with silliness about funny rock formations and little educational value. It is the only one accessible to people unsteady on their feet. The Hidden Passages Tour was far, far better and very worth the extra cost. It was educational and interesting and very easy to walk through unless your unsteady on your feet - not a paved trail. You're walking on rock surface. Seeing the bats up close was the best part. I'd recommend doing this instead of the Adventure Tour. You need bring no special gear and no special clothing. The Wild Cave Tour is all about learning and doing the work of cave exploration. It's dirty. You're crawling through some very small spaces. It can be scary and claustrophobic at times but exhilarating and fun. It's not for the barrel chested or XXL sized person, but it's a blast for young folks and the adventure-loving and dirt-never-minding among us. If you do the Wild Cave Tour you can probably skip the other two because you'll have seen much of the same things anyway. The guides were great! The caves were warm and humid. A highly recommended cavern visit!
9. Cascade Caverns
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 371 reviews
Cave attraction near Boerne, Texas (30 miles Northwest of the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas).
Reviewed By BigGreenTractor1
I recently visited cascade caverns. My tour guides name was stingray I was so pleased to have him he made everything so clear and informative when ever you go I would without a doubt try and go with stingray. Also I visited the gift shop I found out there incredible rock collection I was so amazed at the different size and shapes of all the rocks it’s definitely the place to go if you are looking for a specific rock or crystal. They have them all!
10. Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 2 reviews
