Frequently Asked Questions
Tour Times Info
WE ARE OPEN ALL YEAR, but available tour times and types are different depending on the season. Check specific times below.
Summer
Memorial Day thru Labor Day
Traditional Guided Tours at 9:15AM, 9:30AM, 3:30PM, and 4:00PM
Museum-Style Tours from 10:00AM until 3:00PM
Last entry at 4:00PM
Fall
After Labor Day thru October 31
Traditional Guided Tours
Weekdays: Every 30 minutes starting at 10:00AM
Sundays: Every 15 minutes starting at 9:30AM
Saturdays: 9:30AM, 10:00AM, 10:30AM, 3:00PM, 3:30PM, and 4:00PM
Museum-Style Tours on Saturdays Only from 11:00AM to 2:30PM
Last entry at 4:00PM
Winter
November 1 thru March 15
ALL Traditional Guided Tours
Weekdays: 9:30AM, 10:00AM, 11:00AM, 12:00PM, 1:00PM, 2:00PM, 3:00PM, and 4:00PM
Weekends: Every 30 minutes starting at 9:30AM
Last entry at 4:00PM
Spring
March 15 until Memorial Day
ALL Traditional Guided Tours
Weekdays: Every 30 minutes starting at 9:30AM
Weekdays: Every 15 minutes starting at 9:30AM
Last entry at 4:00PM
Tour times and type are subject to change. Last entry always at 4:00pm.
What is a Museum-Style Tour?
Museum-Style Tours operate much like how you would visit a museum.
Tour Guides are waiting in each room of the cave, ready to give you information, answer questions, or provide assistance as you make your way through the cave at your own pace.
When you receive your tickets, you will be assigned an entry window (for example, 12:15pm-12:30pm). You will enter the cave between these times.
Once in the cave, you may walk as fast or slow as you’d like, and you can be in the underground until 5:00pm or until our Traditional Guided Tours resume, whichever comes first.
What is a Traditional Tour?
A Traditional Tour is what you think of when you think of cave tours.
A tour guide will lead a group through the cave from start to finish, stopping in each room to point out interesting facts and formations.
When you receive your tickets, you will be assigned a tour time (for example, 11:00). You will enter the cave at this time.
Traditional Tours take between 45 – 55 minutes to complete.
What is a Self-Paced Tour?
General FAQ
For the preservation of the cave and the conservation of the grounds, ONLY GENUINE SERVICE ANIMALS are allowed on the park grounds, including the paved areas. This does NOT include emotional support animals.
For those travelling with dogs, we do offer two free-to-use kennels on the property in a shaded area across from the entrance. Keys for the kennels must be acquired at the ticket desk.
No, tickets may be purchased at the desk. Buying tickets ahead of time can save you some time at the ticket desk, but we operate on a first-come-first-served basis. Therefore, while you may buy tickets for a specific tour time, we cannot guarantee your spot due to influxes of visitors, and we cannot delay a tour if you are running late.
No. We are not a National Park; we are a National Natural Landmark, which allows us a partnership and distinction with the National Parks Service, but we are not government owned and do not receiving government funding.
We are open all year EXCEPT Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day.
Tour times vary depending on the season. See above for cave tour times. Last entry always at 4:00pm.
Nope! Cave of the Mounds is naturally a closed cave system, which means there is no natural entrance and the only way in is through the discovery site that we made by accident. Since there is no natural opening, no animals like bats, bears, or coyotes could get into the cave. Today, the entrance is sealed off by our gift shop building, preventing any animals from getting in.
The air in the cave is totally safe. As weather changes outside, so does the air pressure, and air gets pulled out and pushed into the cave like a pair of lungs. This is known as a “breathing cave.” Limestone is a porous rock that lets air in easily and actually filters it for us, too!
The total surveyed length of Cave of the Mounds (length of the cavern and every nook and cranny added together) is 1,692 feet. The straight-shot length of the caverns, from the South End Collapse to the end of the Dream River (as the bat flies, though Cave of the Mounds doesn’t have bats!) is approximately 750 feet. We walk about 0.6 miles on the tour.
Nope! Cave of the Mounds and the surrounding park grounds are privately owned by the Brigham family who descend from Ebenezer Brigham. Ebenezer was Dane county’s first European settler and came to Blue Mounds in 1828 for lead mining. The cave was discovered beneath his homestead in 1939.
In our cave, the average rate of growth for cave formations is 1cm³ every 100 years, give or take. This varies a lot depending on time of year, precipitation rates, and what part of the cave you’re in. Your hair grows more in 6 hours than the cave does in a year.
In order to protect the cave and allow us to maintain its natural beauty, the following are not allowed in the cave:
- Any food, candy, snacks, or gum
- Any drink other than plain water, EXCEPT during special events
- Large bags or backpacks
- Weapons or fireworks
- Cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, or vapes
- Tripods, monopods, or selfie sticks
- Hiking poles
- Back-of-Body child carriers or rigid child carriers (soft, front-of-body carriers ok)
Museum-Style tours will allow you to tour the cave in a similar manner to an unguided tour, allowing you the freedom to walk the cave in your own group, but guests are never allowed into the cave without a guide present in the cave. This is for the safety of our guests and the protection of the cave.
The cave is 50°F no matter the weather or season. A light sweater or jacket is recommended.
Absolutely. Thousands of children of all ages have visited Cave of the Mounds on field trips and with their families. Our guides maintain high standards within the cave to keep everyone (and the cave) safe, but a responsible parent or adult should supervise children at all times anywhere on the park grounds.
Unfortunately, the nature of the cave involves several staircases and uneven pathways. Wheelchairs and walkers are not allowed in the cave, though canes and individual hiking/walking sticks are allowed for mobility purposes.
The rest of the park grounds are open and accessible including the visitor’s center, gift shop, gardens, and trails.
Since we operate underground, most weather does not affect us in our day-to-day operations. Unless the storms are severe (i.e. tornado, road closures) or roads aren’t drivable (i.e. heavy snowfall), you can expect us to be open.
Any weather-based closures are posted immediately to our social media and phone message. When in doubt, give us a call.
Our average depth below ground throughout the tour is 43ft, and the deepest point is 70ft.
Room by room depth:
- South End Collapse 42ft
- Onyx Ridge 48ft
- North Cave 57ft
- North End Collapse 43ft
- High Tunnel 40ft
A quarry blast on August 4, 1939 created the first entrance into Cave of the Mounds, leading to its discovery and subsequent development into a tourist attraction. Prior to this, no opening existed, and the cave lay hidden nearly 50ft beneath the surface.
The vast majority of the cave is large, open space while the smaller areas tend to be around the size of a large hallway. There are two areas that are on the smaller side, but they are easily bypassed via extra pathways and rerouting without missing any of the cave.
If smaller spaces worry you, we recommend talking with the tour guides to get a better idea of the cave.
Yes, photos are encouraged! Flash photography does not affect the cave in any way, but selfie sticks and tripods must stay home.
If you are interested in taking photos for professional purposes, please refer to our photography permissions here.
