easy
1 hour
Suitable for all fitness levels; minimal physical exertion required with mostly flat, maintained pathways.
Step into Texas’s underground world with Cascade Caverns’ Daily Downunder Tours. Discover ancient formations and a living ecosystem on this hour-long cave adventure just outside Boerne.
For All Ages! • One Hour Tour • Cave Touring since 1932!
Explore the enchanting Cascade Caverns®, a historic site with 90 years of public tours. Discover stunning formations like the Diamond Ceiling and Giant Molar, shaped over millions of years. Experience the unique blend of natural beauty and rich history as you wander through five captivating rooms of this geological wonder.
1 hour
The Lipan Apache people discovered Cascade Caverns® in the 1700s. They left behind artifacts which are still visible today. In the 1840s, Kendall County youth rediscovered the cave and carved their initials into stalactites in the first room. Cascade Caverns® became the first “private-touring” cave in Texas back in the 1870’s, and we opened to the public in 1932. We continue touring the Caverns today!
Over 100 million years ago, the Caverns were an ocean bed: time and receded water left behind a trove of shells that are visible today. Many of the cave’s spectacular features grew over millions of years as water mixed with Calcite to form a wonderland of dripstone and flowstone formations known as stalactites, stalagmites and draperies. The Cavern’s formations are 95% active due to the continued flow of water.
Some of the more notable formations in the cave are: 1) Diamond Ceiling; 2) Hanging Tobacco; 3) Giant Molar; 4) Peep in the Deep; 5) Solution Domes; 6) The Skull; 7) Travertine Dam; and 8) Twin Sisters.
Five rooms comprise the 1,100 feet of the Caverns’ upper level. The First Room is the coldest room in the cave. The Lake Room is the primary home of the cascade Caverns Salamander. The Imagination Room contains the Soda Straw Rainforest, Diamond Ceiling and Hanging Tobacco. Storm Canyon is the most dramatic room in the cave and it leads to the spectacular Cathedral Room with its 50+ foot ceiling and otherworldly solution domes which were formed by aquatic vortices over millions of years. The domes are so symmetrical that they almost look man-made.
We do not offer same day reservations for tours, however tickets can be purchased in person on a first come first serve basis. In addition, we cannot take single person tours. If you are visiting solo, we encourage you to book a tour others have already signed up for.
The cave floor can be uneven and slippery; good footwear ensures safe footing.
Cavern temperatures hold steady around 62°F, which can feel cool year-round.
Tickets are not available the same day online; in-person purchase is first come, first served.
Single visitors should join tours with others as solo bookings aren't offered.
Discovered by the Lipan Apache in the 1700s and opened to the public in 1932, Cascade Caverns is Texas’s first private touring cave.
Tours emphasize preservation of active formations—95% of these are still growing—while maintaining the cave ecosystem for rare species.
Protect your feet from wet and uneven cave floors.
Stay comfortable in the cave’s constant 62°F temperature.
all specific
Stay hydrated before and after the tour; water is not available inside the cave.
summer specific
Capture the stunning formations and unique cave environment.