Susan and I took a trip to Tucson in Winter 2020. I had two posts on the trip, here, and here. One of the places we visited was Kartchner Caverns State Park, where we took a tour of the cave. It was a great tour, but no photographs were permitted.
When planning this trip, I looked at the Arizona State Parks website, and when I looked at Kartchner Caverns, I discovered that they have a unique Photo Tour that is available only once a month. So I booked it! While the rest of my trip was freeform, this was the one event penciled onto my calendar.
The caves at Kartchner Caverns were discovered in 1974 by cavers Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts. These two knew that many caves were vandalized, so they kept it a secret for 14 years. They worked with the Kartchner family, who owned the land, and convinced the Arizona State Parks Board to buy the land and develop it as a tourist cave. Arizona State Parks did a great job of digging tunnels for easy entry to the caves, and they run really great tours.
The Photo Tour was great for me. I could bring my tripod and take long exposures. Here are some of my photos.
The cave visit was amazing! I recommend you visit Kartchner Caverns if you are in Southern Arizona!
Really spectacular. I’m so happy that you had such a good trip.
What an amazing opportunity you got to have photographic privileges in this cave. The photos look like a special effects visual tour………awesome and then some!
Your cave photos look like an ad to come visit. Spectacular photography!! You should be very proud of your artistic talent.