It had been years since I had last visited Blanchard Springs Caverns and after a recent visit…I don’t know why I stayed away so long! It was totally worth the 2.5 hour drive from Little Rock!
Blanchard Springs Caverns have been called one of the most beautiful caves in the United States and I agree that they must be. The incredible formations in this cave are absolutely magical.
Blanchard Springs Caverns
Here is everything you need to know before you visit stunning Blanchard Springs Caverns:
Location of Blanchard Springs Caverns
The caverns are located in the Ozark Mountains about 15 miles northwest of the lovely town of Mountain View, Arkansas on Arkansas Highway 14.
Address: Blanchard Springs Caverns 704 Blanchard Springs Road, Fifty-Six, AR 72533
It is also near one of my favorite state parks in Arkansas!
The Ozark Folk Center State Park is a perfect place for all ages to go to learn more about music, lifestyle, and culture of the Ozark Mountains. It is also one of the five Arkansas State Parks with a lodge.
Reservations and Tour Availability
One of the most important things to know is that you must make reservations in order to take a tour. This was new since the last time I visited.
Blanchard Springs Caverns is the only cave system owned by the federal government that is not in one of the national parks. You will make reservations through the federal system at Recreation.gov.
I have included the link to make it easier for you to find.
Here is the link to make a reservation to tour Blanchard Springs
The caverns are currently, as of August, 2025, experiencing severe staffing shortages.
In the past there were three different tours offered at the caverns, The Dripstone Trail Tour, the longer Discovery Tour, and the Wild Cave Tour which took more adventurous souls into the undeveloped parts of the cavern.
Currently they are only able to offer the Dripstone Trail Tour.
(We did speak with some of the park rangers after our tour and they are all hoping that the staffing situation improves so that they can offer more tours in the future.)
About Blanchard Springs Caverns
Blanchard Springs is a limestone cave system that is not only considered to be one of the most beautiful caverns in the world, but also one of the most accessible and well developed.
Best of all, this is a living cave system… which means that this cave is still growing and changing. There are thousands of dripping stalactites and rising stalagmites still slowly, slowly forming.
During the development of this cavern during the 1970’s everything possible was done to keep the environment inside the cave as close to the natural and original conditions as possible so that the cave would continue to live and grow.
Here are some more interesting facts about Blanchard Springs Caverns.
- There are three levels in the cave. The Dripstone Trail which we toured is the highest level.
- There are about 8 miles of surveyed passages in the entire cave system.
- The lowest level is actually underwater.
- There are estimated to be hundreds of thousands of bats that hibernate in the cave.
- The temperature stays at abut 58 degrees
- The spring that emerges from the cave was named after John H Blanchard who homesteaded the land around it in the 1860’s.
- Some of the formations that you will see in the cave pool of water, stalactites, stalagmites, columns, flowstone, delicate soda straw formations, and so more.
About the Dripstone Cave Tour
This tour will take you through some of the most gorgeous parts of the cavern including the Cathedral Room and the Coral Room.
You will meet at the lovely visitor center of the park and then be taken with your group down about 216 feet into the cave in an elevator.
After exiting the elevator you will enter the cave through an airlock. This helps keep the cave at a constant natural temperature.
The tour lasts about an hour but you will only walk about 4/10ths of a mile. There are even a couple of spots where you will sit in bleachers while the tour guide shows some of the highlights of the caverns and answers any questions.
It is not a strenuous walk and there are plenty of stops.
Your tour group will be led by a guide. Ours was excellent, he answered all questions patiently and thoroughly and pointed out all of the important formations.
In case you are afraid of bats…you will probably NOT see bats in this section of the cave. Although they once lived on this level (old piles of bat guano inform you of that fact) they are now mostly in a lower section of the cave that has a natural entrance.
What you will see on this tour are absolutely stunning cave formations. Honestly, these are SO impressive.
Here are some more things to know and a few tips.
- I would suggest wearing walking shoes with a good grip. The sidewalks in the caves are not slippery but they are damp and there is a bit of elevation change.
- You might want to bring a sweater as it does start to get a little chilly in the cavern once you’ve been in there a while.
- You will be asked not to touch anything that isn’t man made. This is because the oils from human skin stop the formations from growing.
- You are allowed to take photos and video while in the cave.
You will exit the cave after your tour through another airlock area and then back into the light outside. At this point a bus will be waiting to take you back up the hill to the visitor center.
When you exit the bus you will be asked to rub the bottom of your shoes on a soapy mat. (another reason to not wear sandals) This is to clean the bottom of your shoes in order to help stop the spread of white nose syndrome that has been killing bats in caves across the US.
We absolutely loved our tour and found the cave to be incredible.
One of my favorite moments was that first glimpse of the Cathedral Room. It’s huge, with soaring ceilings and formations that look like they’ve been sculpted by some otherworldly artist.
See the Blanchard Springs and Mirror Lake
Before or after your visit to the caverns I also highly recommend that you visit the Blanchard Springs.
You will drive out of the visitor center and follow the signs down the hill to a parking area. From here you will take a short, easy paved walk through the woods to a view point where you can watch the water pour out of the cavern.
After that I suggest that you go see Mirror Lake which is fed by the cold water from the cave. This is a beautiful trout pond that was dammed by the CCC back in the 1930’s.
Downstream from the dam you can also see the remains of an old gristmill that was once owned by John Blanchard. In my opinion this mill has one of the most unique and magical views in the entire state.
Quick History of the Caverns
Because of the spring that exits the caves it had been known for thousands of years that there was some type of cave system here.
However, it was so deep and flooded and hard to explore and that not many people had actually been inside.
There is evidence of ancient civilizations having been in the cave because of cane and wooden torch remains, but no evidence that they ever lived in or entered the caves regularly.
The first documented exploration of the cave was in 1934 and the first professional exploration was in 1960.
Blanchard Springs was actually considered for use as a fall out shelter during the Cold War. However, it was deemed unsuitable because the outside air doesn’t circulate through often enough.
According to our tour guide the first known people to have seen the huge Cathedral Room were a couple of teenagers exploring for fun in the 1960’s! Things were different back then!
When you take your tour your guide will probably point out the narrow space that the boys crawled through to reach this huge underground room!
After the caves began to be developed as a tourist attraction in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s divers entered through the spring and not only followed 4,000 feet of underwater passages, but also mapped five of the air-filled cavern spaces.
Blanchard Springs Caverns opened to the public in 1973 with the Dripstone Trail Tour after ten years of planning and development.
This is truly an Arkansas gems that’s worth the trip no matter where you’re coming from.
Whether you’re into geology, photography, or just love a good dose of nature’s beauty, Blanchard Springs Caverns will leave you in awe.
If you are in the area, you will definitely want to visit the music town of Mountain View, have the best hushpuppies ever at JoJo’s Catfish Wharf, and visit the Ozark Folk Center State Park!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
