One room of the museum focuses on the human history of the area, starting with the Hohokam Indians who populated the region in the 10th century, while a second room takes up the history of the local environment.Ī second museum located on the ranch is the Civilian Conservation Corps Museum, opened in 2004. Sullivan in 1967 to replace the original adobe structure that was lost in a fire. The Ranch Headquarters House is home to a museum built by John S. Hayrides and stagecoach rides can also be arranged by reservation. Western trail rides are organized daily from the ranch, starting from the site of the historic Mountain Springs Hotel and Stage Station and following the old National Mail Stagecoach route through the unspoiled Sonora Desert. It has been around since the mid-1870s, and today features riding stables and areas for group picnics and cookouts. These include the Ladder Tour requiring hard hats and lights, the Wild Cave Tour through a quarter mile of unlit, unmarked, and rarely seen passageways, and the Candlelight Tour to experience the Cave in its original beauty.Īnother big attraction at the park is its working ranch, the La Posta Quemada. Other tours take small groups of visitors through parts of the cave that were closed to the public until the 1950s. Both flash photography and videotaping are permitted inside the cave. No special clothing is required in the cave, which is constantly 70 degrees and dry.

Waiting time is typically no more than 30 minutes after purchasing a ticket. The basic tour through its depths of up to six stories takes a little less than an hour to complete, accompanied by a trained guide who relates the cave's history, legends, and geology.īasic tours take place daily throughout the year and not pre-scheduled. The park's main feature now is Colossal Cave, which appears on the National Register of Historic Places and was improved with flagstone walkways, handrails and electrical wiring in the mid-1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.Ĭolossal Cave is 'dry'' or 'dormant,'' meaning a lack of water has halted the growth of formations inside, including a fascinating array of stalagmites, stalactites, helictites, flowstone, and boxwork. The network of passages had actually been used for centuries by prehistoric tribes before they were 'discovered'' in 1879. (Note: It appears that the original CCC camp SP-10 was sited at the current location of the El Bosquicito picnic area, but we cannot confirm that).Located southeast of Tucson, Colossal Cave Mountain Park has been a natural attraction since 1923 when the first tours of its underground caverns were arranged. The former well and stone pump house are at El Bosquecito picnic area. La Selvilla campground has very minimal improvements and a poorly maintained road, but El Bosquecito picnic area is quite nice and features concrete tables, stone stoves and a stone water fountain (now a faucet). The Arizona State Park Service oversaw the work.ĬCC workers constructed La Selvilla campground and El Bosquecito picnic area below the hillside, as well as a pump house to take water up the hill to the cave and visitors’ center. They improved access to the cave itself, built a large visitors’/administration center, laid out a campground and picnic area, opened roads and trails and built a water supply system. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) carried out major work at Colossal Cave and the surrounding park north of Vail AZ (now a suburb of Tucson, but far to the east in the 1930s).

Colossal cave vail arizona