If you’re looking for a fun Florida adventure, the Florida Caverns is the spot. Florida Caverns State Park offers a full range of activities such as cave touring, hiking, biking, boating, camping, horseback riding and even golfing.
We recently planned a day trip to the Florida Caverns. This is a perfect getaway for the day or for overnight camping. If you are looking for a day trip from Pensacola, it’s just two hours away. We decided to pack a lunch and head to the caverns for a picnic before the tour.
Florida Caverns is one of the few state parks with cave tours that are open to the public. On the tour you will see beautiful limestone formations of stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, flowstones and draperies and learn how they are formed.
Hiking/Geocaching – Bluff Trail is approximately a thirty minute walk where you can see some of the other caverns and find geocaches along the way.
Swimming – During the spring and summer seasons, there is a nice designated area with a deck for swimming. It’s surrounded by a grassy lawn for sunbathing or picnicking.
Camping – It looks like anything from a tent to an RV can camp here. Reservations can be on ReserveAmerica.com or by calling ReserveAmerica at (800) 326-3521, TDD (888) 433-0287.
Boating – The Chipola River and a freshwater spring in the park are nice areas for fishing, canoeing and even boating.
Biking – There are miles of hilly roads through the state park for a great ride while visiting.
Golfing – The park features a nine-hole, New Deal-era golf course set on rolling terrain. Golf course: (850) 482-4257
Horseback Riding – There are no horses to rent, however, they have stables available if you bring your own horses while camping.
Location of Florida Caverns
Located three miles north of Marianna on State Road 166.
There are no cave tours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays each week. However, canoe rentals are available at the Ranger Station on days the cave tours are closed.
For more info call: (850)482-1228.
Photos of the Florida Caverns
What an amazing place! I have an Aunt who is in her 90s that grew up in that area. She says when she was a kid her mother would take her and her brothers there and they would crawl through the caves with a light. She remembers one cave where they crawled along a ledge above the underground part of the river. She said that was very scary but that they loved climbing through the different caves. This was long before the caves were “discovered” – it was just a place the locals knew about.
We toured the big cave but I’m not sure I’d be brave enough to crawl through the caves she described!
Wow I bet that was something else. Not sure I’d be brave enough to crawl around in the caverns either. When they turned the lights out it was dark. Would certainly need some backup flashlights.