gardner cave

Awesome was lots of fun, cave small but well worth it..on a hot day the cave will keep u cool.. it was a lot of fun

This was a great day out in the heat of summer. Long drive from Spokane but very pretty. Many other things to do on the way up if have time. Cave is lit. I took my 17 month old with in a back carrier. Worked well. My 5 year old loved it. Little scared when the lights go out but still loved it.

Visited the Gardner Caves for the first time! Well worth the trip. Our guide Juliana was most informative and helpful. From Metaline Falls (pronounced METAL LINE we were informed) is 1/2 mile to the turnoff and then about 7 miles (or so) on a nice paved road to the site.Lots of parking, bathroom, sign in sheet for the tour to the caves which starts at 10, noon, 2, 4pm. Be sure to put your name on the sign-in sheet as soon as you get there because there are only small groups taken in at a time and you will have to wait 2 hours for the next tour.Wait at the sign and soon the Park Ranger/Guide comes along to take you to the cave. About a 5 minute walk or a bit longer if you stop to rest. Paved walkway up an incline, bench half-way to rest. The Cave is actually a big hole in the ground, fenced and locked. There are metal grate stairs with handrails to get down into the Cave and once down there is a roomy horizontal fissure that you walk thru. The cave is well lit with floodlights, mostly metal grates to walk on, hand rails in most places. A few slippy spots on the limestone so do be careful. Cost is by donation in a locked box. Afterwards we went back into Metaline Falls (the actual "falls" no longer exist as they have been buried by the hydro electric dam) to go to Cathy's Café for the best PIE EVER...had Lemmon Meringue!! Thanks to my travel agent at TravelWizard for suggesting this fun weekend!!

Gardner Cave is relatively small and the tour will last about 30 minutes or so. The cave is lit up inside. A park official will give you a guided tour down to the bottom (about 90 ft down on metal cat-walks). Afterward there's a short hike to the Canada/US border that's worth hiking on. Other than that...there's not much else to do there. It would be nice if they made it available to campers and had trails there, but there are a lot of bears in that area. A ranger warned us to be on the look out for one that was spotted that same day.

did the cave tour this weekend, and it was very enjoyable. The Boundry Dam is near and offers tours (The Postman with Kevin Costner filmed here) and the Lions Club 90 min train ride is fun too. Highly recommend

This is a very interesting site. I never knew there were limestone caverns in Washington. This is the only one of the three known in Washington that has public tours. This is a fine example and the tour is very worthwhile. We plan to come back in the spring so we can see the pools filled with water. The hike does involve some stair climbing, but the accessible portion of the cave is only about 500' long so the tour is not strenuous. It is well worth the drive to see this cavern.

We enjoyed our visit to Gardner Cave very much. The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and she kept the tour interesting and safe. The best caving experience for anyone who is at all claustrophobic. The cave is very close to the surface and more than high enough to be comfortable to enjoy. We would recommend this attraction to anyone.

I have always loved Gardner caves as a great way to step out of the ordinary and into a nice, cool underground experience in the middle of summer. The tour guide entertains you with lots of fun historical anecdotes and even lets you see what it's like with the lights out. There are steps, but at an easy going pace. Take a tour of the dam on your way up or down Boundary Dam road. Then spend the time to walk the trail to Canada. It's a nice little trip, but be sure to check the tour times ahead of time.

Nobody seems to know about this cave! It was a great tour and the guide was a wealth of information and loved her job. Short switch back paved trail to the entrance of the cave.

Very interesting caves. Tours are certain times only and at certain times of the year so ensure you check on line for the tour time and date. Some folks have just "shown up" and there were no tours that day. It is worth the trip to see the cave. you can also hike a short distance to the Canadian Border. DO it.

I loved it and my boys had a great time .I want to go back again.Learning how the caves were made and how mother nature works was so fun and my boys went home and told there friends and even wrote about it for school.

You don't expect to find a cave like this in this corner of the world. Almost on the Canadian Border the Ranger lead tours are fun and interesting.

The walk up to the cave is very steep. It's paved but is still too steep for an electric wheelchair or anybody with mobility problems. The cave is a deep long hole in the ground. All stairs leading into it are very steep and narrow. Our 16 yr old son was able to go on the tour but my husband and I had to carefully make our way back down to the car and wait for him. Not all the cave has stairs or walkways, some is wet and slick rocks with nothing to hold onto to steady yourself. After waiting years to take this trip we were very saddened that it was too difficult for us. If you are unable climb 9 flights of stairs up and down this is not the place to go.

we took our young children here while we were camping at sullivan lake. they enjoyed the short tour (it was good for a 4 and 6 year old attention span) they were impressed at the formations. we enjoyed the extra 1/2 mile each way hike to Canda. our girl have enjoyed telling people they hiked all the way to Canada.bring a picnic there is a nice area to eat. you will sign up for a tour they are every 2 hours, but during peak seaon they will add extra spots if needed, so we had an hour to wait, just right for the short hike and a bathroom break.you will need a discovery pass or pay a $10 day pass to park. cave tour is free, but donations are accepted.before or after the tour be sure to check our Sweet Falls. a rest area between metaline and Ione (south of the turn off for the cave tour). a great water fall only a few hundred feet from the road on a handicap usable trail.

Excellent guide, neat area. Quick family fun, even for the kids!