Exploring Ice Age history in a Cavern 210 ft below the desolate Arizona desert!

The whole world is familiar with the mighty Grand Canyon, with over five million visitors every year. But many people don’t know that the Grand Canyon has over 1000 caves hidden in its grandiose majesty. Caves and dry caverns that are filled with extinct ice age treasures, just waiting to be explored!

Only 335 of those caves have been explored and discovered and the best place to see the largest dry cavern in the United States is at the Grand Canyon Caverns in Peach Springs, Arizona.

Another hidden gem off of the historic Route 66, the Grand Canyon Caverns offer a spectacular tour opportunity. From easy tours that are wheelchair accessible to down and dirty, crawling on your hands and knees, spelunking….these caverns are an awe inspiring adventure.

No longer do visitors have to be lowered down on a rope with a coal oil lantern to explore this fascinating underground playground (although I would have really-really liked to do that)!

210 feet below the earth’s surface an elevator at the Grand Canyon Caverns goes up and down 21 stories every thirty minutes, transporting daring visitors into the depths of the cave system. The tour allows you to explore an underground motel room, a 166 year old mummified bobcat, bomb shelter government supplies, delicate calcium formations and amphitheater-esque rooms.

A tour favorite is “Gertie”, the extinct giant ground sloth. The word giant does not even compare to how tall Gertie stands and the immense size of her claws. These claws were so large that she left sizeable claw marks in the cavern walls that can clearly be seen on the tour. Experts believe that she fell into the cave through an opening (directly above the claw marks) and attempted to climb up the side of the cavern wall. What must have been a continued desperate attempt to free herself, left a haunting tale of how this mighty creature’s bones were laid to rest in a tomb 210 feet below the surface.

Peach Springs has a wonderful RV park, small store, museum, diner, motel rooms and they offer horseback riding and other tours to the Grand Canyon as well. So much to see and do in this small “off the beaten path” town. Bring your family bring your RV and stay at the Grand Canyon Caverns. Go down under and explore Ice Age history in the desolate Arizona desert!

The Totally Trailer Trio recommends making this a “must see” stop on your next Route 66 adventure cruise.

Massive caverns and amphitheaters underground at Grand Canyon Caverns

Government supply for nuclear war 

Well-lit, fenced and paved walkway wind through the tour of the caverns

Fondly referred to as "snow balls" these amazing geological formations litter the cavern walls and ceilings

How's this for vaulted ceilings underground?

Where else can you see a perfectly preserved 166 year old bobcat but in the Grand Canyon Caverns?

Little one has fun winding through the caverns and taking in the history and beauty

The walkways venture deep underground to explore all of the cave system- Looking down on our descent

Looking back at another massive amphitheater cut-out makes me want to explore here longer 

The cave and tunnels are nicely lit and create a stunning visual effect

The famous "Gertie" and little one. Check out the rocks to the left of the light...All of those white streaks are claw marks from Gertie!

Highly recommend the Grand Canyon Cavern Tours off Historic Route 66 in Peach Springs, AZ!

Our cozy campsite at Grand Canyon Caverns RV Park!

Queen Mine Tour and Bisbee

Bisbee.....what's a Bisbee? It's a mining town just a few miles south of Tombstone. This town also has history as it was part of the Tombstone story (Doc Hollidays girlfriend "Big Nose Kate" lived there and it's where people from Tombstone had to ride to get supplies). Once dubbed as the largest city between St. Louis and San Francisco, Bisbee was a real copper mine.

The Queen Mine operated continuosly for 100 years and was the largest production of all mining districts in the world...producing metals valued at 6.1 billion (valued in 1975)!! We got to take the tour of this mine! We got our own hard hats, very flattering yellow raincoats, a mining light and a ride on a mining cart 1,500 feet down into the mine. We saw the elevator shafts, original drills and leftover precious metals still in the mine. Our tour was led by an actual miner who worked in the mine and had a lot of interesting facts and stories to share. It stays 47 degrees down there, but that was nothing compared to outside.

The night we showed up in Bisbee it snowed on us and left a nice little blanket on the charming town (and our car)!This adorable town was built up around the mine, with most homes and businesses built directly into the mountain. With it's old buildings, unique setting, red and multi-colored rocks, a massive mining pit and a dusting of fresh snow; this was an absolutely charming town that we really enjoyed. The history behind the mine is fascinating, check it out: http://www.queenminetour.com/History

Tunnel coming in to the town of Bisbee, it had just started to snow

Queen of the Copper Mines, Bisbee has some amazingly colored rocks, mines and massive mining pits

Speaking of Massive Mining Pits....Check out the 850ft deep Lavendar Pit (water in bottom and snow around the top edges). That's a looong way down

Visitor information at the viewing site for Lavendar Pit mine (as seen in our pic above)

Light dusting of snow on the town of Bisbee (Queen Mine entrance seen in center of pic). It looks nice and sunny, but trust us...it was cold.

We took a drive through the heart of Bisbee one night. No one around and the street lights all lit up, surrounding old historic buildings and quirky shops; this was so much fun!

The RV park was attached to the Queen Mine, making it very convenient for us

Our car and trailer were attacked by snow during the night. By the time we took the picture most of it had melted, but we know our trailer and truck's tires were begging for some slippers to keep warm (they are southern california natives ya know)!

The old Queen Mining cart that took us down into the mine

3 little miners looking to strike it rich in a historical copper mine

No turning back now, we are committed to going 1500 ft down into a mine with a bunch of people. Thank goodness we have yellow slickers for protection...haha

Looking back down into the mine shaft. If you look above there is a marker indicating how far down you are (they had one every 100ft). Little one loved keeping count!

Inside the mine...off to the left is the elevator shaft along with the bell and a list of codes for emergencies

Two miners trying to retreat from the main copper room where there are still visible signs of minerals all around

Down at the 1500ft level we got off and walked around with the guide. They weren't lying when they said the mine stays about 47 degrees year round. Note to all, if you ever get lost in a massive mine, just look for the "Surface this way" sign...it's better than google maps! haha

Actual veins and remnants of precious minerals 1500ft underground. Look at the amazing swirls of color embedded deep within these rocks! We stood right next to it...quick where's my pick ax?

Original mining carts left underground

We followed the sign and made it out alive....apparently the yellow slickers and blue plastic hard hats are good luck! Although, I'm not sure what was colder?

Triangle T Guest Ranch

After the Living Caverns, we continued to head East to Dragoon, Arizona where we found ourselves at Triangle T Guest Ranch. This ranch was recently renovated thanks to a show called "Hotel Impossible". It was a real ranch with RV hook-ups, horse stables, Private cabins and bungalows, hiking/biking trails and some amazing grounds filled with massive boulders and great rock formations.

Triangle T Ranch

Our Campsite up against the boulders

The rock looked like a baseball glove

Campfire in the wilderness

We specifically chose this place for the rugged horseback riding in the picturesque setting. A certain little girl was so excited and loved her trail ride. She had a horse named "Chiquita" which was perfect for her. Mommy had a gorgeous horse named "Cisco" and Hubby had a feisty guy named "Romeo".

The Three Amigos

There was no real trail, as we wandered around the acreage surrounding the ranch on a perfectly sunny day....needless to say, it was a great adventure! After the ride, we walked around the ranch (which was deserted in the middle of the week) and admired the old stagecoach, played a little horseshoes and spent more time bonding with the horses and rock climbing. Our campsite was tucked up against a big boulder that had a split down the middle that we liked exploring. That night led to a big campfire and glo-stick dancing....Great time all around! http://www.azretreatcenter.com/ (Triangle T info)

Living Caverns!

The Kartchner Caverns in Benson, Arizona is something you have to see to believe...and since we were not allowed to bring cameras into the caves, I guess you will have to take our word for the amazing sights that sit underground. Since we were not allowed to bring cameras or phones into the caverns, we have included some other pictures of the caverns and the link to the park's website to see their photo gallery: http://azstateparks.com/Parks/KACA/gallery.html

State Park Sign

Walkway entrance to the caverns (we had to go through 6 temperature controlled doors)

Living Formations (they were still dripping)

The formations were unlike anything we have ever seen before and at times, left us in awe of God's work and creation that lie just under the surface of a tiny mountain in Southern Arizona. We stayed at the State Park Campground which was right next to the caverns and museum (and just feet from the snow covered mountain....Southern Arizona had snow)? Despite the cold and snow, we loved the caverns and museum (and some great hiking trails with views). On a side note, we did the Big Room tour, but there's also another tour and cave there called the Throne Room (which holds completely different formations, which we would love to go back and see one day).

State park campsite

Fork in the road - Hiking trails within the park

Corn Springs Campground

Normally Christmas time does not make you think of camping...but when you are "totally trailer" you will find any excuse to go RV'ing! We had a whirlwind Christmas vacation that started with Corn Springs Campground which is run by the Bureau of Land Management just off Interstate 10 (outside of Indio). Once off the freeway, there is an 8 mile dirt road to get to the campground. The first night we were the only people camped there (although it is a relatively small campground with only 9 spaces). The second night we had a visitor who was a little off his rocker...don't ask..... The story behind Corn Springs is that is used to be a main thoroughfare for indians. The area has a bunch of petroglyphs carved into rocks just off the main road. The very top of one of the rocks has a petroglyph that is believed to be images of corn. They believe that at one time, the area may have been an important crop producing place that was well hidden and safe for their tribes. This area also sits on a natural spring which feeds the oasis surrounding the campground. Hence the name....Corn Springs!! There is an interpretive trail that starts from the campground, in addition to easy hiking trails that had soooo many animal prints (check out our little bobcat prints) and of course, petroglyphs and peace and quiet. After Corn Springs we did one night of dry camping next to an old abandoned railroad off of Eagle Mountain Road. This railroad used to run into a now deserted Eagle Mountain Iron Mine". This real life ghost town has some interesting history which you can check out at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_Mountain,_California

 Corn Springs Petroglyphs

 The abandoned Eagle Mountain Railroad

 Corn Springs Oasis

 Corn Springs Campground Space #6

 Corn Springs entrance

 More Corn Springs Petroglyphs

 Now thats a desert road worth exploring!

 Wonder if we can get a pizza delivered out here?

Moonlight campsite next to the Eagle Mountain Railroad

 Little bit of Gods art work, in an old Desert Iron Wood Tree stump

 Corn Springs historical marker

Small tunnel under the Eagle Mountain railroad

 Bobcat prints?  Thats a AA battery beside the print, from what we understand cat prints don't show claw marks where as coyote prints will show a claw mark at the top of each toe pad.

On a mission to go somewhere