Florida Caverns State Park cave tour + things to do above ground 🦇 Florida travel blog

Hi there!

As you can imagine, THE thing to do at Florida Caverns State Park is to go underground and inside the Florida caves!

It will take you around 45 minutes to walk through the Florida Caverns State Park cave tour!

Florida Caverns State Park is a state park in the Florida Panhandle town of Marianna FL.

It’s one of the best state parks in the Florida Panhandle!

If can be reasonable to visit Florida Caverns State Park if you’ll be doing a Florida road trip that includes driving through the area of Tallahassee FL.

I stopped by Florida Caverns State Park as part of a multi-day drive from Pensacola to Orlando.

You can also make it a day trip from Tallahassee.

Tallahassee to Florida Caverns State Park is around a 1 to 1.5 hours drive. (map)

And although it gets a little further away, you could even make it a day trip from the beach towns of the Florida Panhandle.

Panama City to Florida Caverns State Park is around a 1.5 hour drive. (map)

Destin to Florida Caverns State Park is around a 2 hours drive. (map)

Pensacola to Florida Caverns State Park is around a 2 to 2.5 hours drive. (map)

👆 Map of where Florida Caverns State Park is located in Florida. Explore the map. Explore more things to do in the Florida Panhandle!

I went to Florida Caverns State Park, and these are the things you need to know!

Things to do in Florida Caverns State Park underground and above ground

1. Florida Caverns cave tour

Seeing Florida underground is THE thing to do in Florida Caverns State Park!

You can see Florida underground at Florida Caverns State Park through a guided cave tour.

The Florida Caverns Natural Area is a National Natural Landmark, as designated by the National Park Service and U.S. Department of Interior.

👆 Florida Caverns Natural Area has been designated a national natural landmark. This site possesses exceptional value as an illustration of the nation’s natural heritage and contributes to a better understanding of man’s environment.

A little bit more below about the important things to know about how to buy cave tickets and go inside the Florida Caverns.

But first we will continue with things to do in Florida Caverns State Park above ground.

2. Blue Hole Spring (Swimming in Florida Caverns State Park)

Florida is said to be home to over 1,000 springs!

There are over 20 Florida state parks with springs, and Florida Caverns State Park is one of them.

There is the Blue Hole Spring.

The springs at Florida Caverns State Park is for swimming… and views!

Florida State Parks say that the water temperature of Blue Hole Spring is a constant 64 degrees year-round.

So if mid-60s isn’t too cold for you, and you can handle coming out of the water to a cool air temperature, then you can go swimming in Florida Caverns State Park in winter, spring, summer, or fall!

There’s also a picnic area at Blue Hole springs.

Also see about what to pack for a trip to the Florida springs.

🦇

3. Tunnel Cave (Bluff Trail)

Hiking in Florida Caverns State Park

Well, you are going to a “cave” state park, so another “cave” for you while you are at Florida Caverns State Park is the tunnel cave!

This isn’t an underground cave, but it is above ground, and yes it is a tunnel that can feel like a cave!

The Tunnel Cave is a part of the Bluff Trail.

Bluff Trail is listed as a suggested time of 45 minutes.

You can also make it a shorter hike directly to the Tunnel Cave and back.

You can look for the trailhead of Bluff Trail from the main parking lot at the Florida Caverns State Park Visitor Center. (This is the parking lot you’ll go to for the cave tours.)

From the parking lot to Tunnel Cave, it might take you less than 5 minutes one way.

If you want to hike the full Bluff Trail, then you can also easily get to it directly after your cave tour. There is another trailhead for the Bluff Trail that you will see shortly after exiting the cave.

4. Florida Caverns museum

At the Florida Caverns Visitor Center you will also find a small museum that can give you some background on the Florida Caverns that you are seeing.

You can also get a pre-tour of the cave tour with the short video in the “theater” area of the museum.

If you arrive to sold out cave tours, this is the minimum you can do!

5. Florida Caverns State Park campground

There is a campground, so you can go camping at Florida Caverns State Park! The campground is for RV camping and tent camping. See more about the Florida Caverns State Park campground.

More things to do in Florida Caverns State Park

• Bicycling
• Boating
• Camping
• Paddling
• Picnic
• Swimming
• Guided cavern tours

See Florida State Parks for a full list of things to do in Florida Caverns State Park with details.

Download the Florida Caverns State Park map.

Important things to know before you go to Florida Caverns State Park

1. Can you go inside the Florida Caverns without a tour?

So one of the most important things to know about Florida Caverns State Park is that you cannot go inside these Florida caves without a guided tour.

You cannot go inside the Florida Caverns on your own.

So in order to see inside the Florida Caverns, you need to sign up for a cave tour!

In order to make a trip to Florida Caverns State Park really worth it, you need to do a cave tour.

Yes, it is a cool experience to walk inside the cave!

You will see a lot of different types of rock formations.

2. For the regular cave tours at Florida Caverns State Park, you can only buy cave tour tickets on the same day in person.

For the regular cave tours at Florida Caverns State Park, you need to show up to Florida Caverns State Park in order to buy cave tour tickets.

And the cave tour tickets are only sold for same day tours.

It’s also possible that cave tour tickets sell out.

See Florida State Parks for current information.

When I arrived to Florida Caverns State Park on a Sunday early afternoon in March 2022, there were still tours available for an hour later.

You may also try calling the Florida Caverns Gift Shop (who sells the cave tickets) to ask about how the cave tours are filling up for the day.

The listed phone number for the Florida Caverns Gift Shop is 850-526-2650.

3. How to buy cave tour tickets

The only way to buy the Florida Caverns cave tour tickets is at the Florida Caverns State Park Visitor Center on the day of your tour.

This is also the Florida Caverns Gift Shop.

After you arrive at Florida Caverns State Park, you will first pay the state park entry fee.

Then you can follow the signs for the cave tours and visitor center to drive to to Florida Caverns State Park Visitor Center.

It is at the Florida Caverns Visitor Center that you will buy the cave tour tickets.

4. There are NO cave tours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays!

So plan accordingly!

Once again, see Florida State Parks for current information.

5. Florida Caverns State Park is in central time zone.

Also important to know if you’re trying to make it for the first tour and you’re coming from eastern time zone!

6. There is also a “flashlight cave tour” at Florida Caverns State Park.

I did not find out about this flashlight tour until I arrived at Florida Caverns State Park. By then it was too late.

It was sold out!

I must say, I was initially so disappointed!

The flashlight tour is described as the “adventure” cave tour of Florida Caverns State Park.

You are required to bring your own flashlight for the flashlight cave tour of Florida Caverns State Park, and you have only a flashlight to light your way through the cave! (Well, collectively everyone’s flashlights who are in the group!)

I did a similar such tour at a national park cave in South Dakota, also called the “adventure” cave tour where you light your own way, and it was so fun!

If you will be driving down to Florida from the north, there is also a cave tour where you light your own way at a national park cave in Kentucky.

I imagine the flashlight cave tour at Florida Caverns State Park is also fun!

And what makes it even more disappointing that I missed out on the flashlight tour is that to my understanding, flashlight cave tours ARE possible to be booked in advance! This is what makes it so disappointing that I didn’t know about this before I went!

When I visited Florida Caverns State Park, there was no mention of this flashlight tour on the Florida State Parks website.

Instead, be sure to go to the Florida Caverns Gift Shop website for current information.

At the time of my visit, flashlight cave tours were only offered on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. There was one cave tour each evening.

I will also say though, after having done the regular cave tour, I didn’t feel as bad about not doing the flashlight cave tour!

You’ll see plenty of worthy rock formations on the regular cave tour!

Cost to go to Florida Caverns State Park cave tours

You will have 2 types of fees in order to see the caves at Florida Caverns State Park:

• The Florida state park entry fee
• The cave tour ticket

There is an entry fee for Florida Caverns State Park.

The cost of entry to Florida Caverns State Park is around $5 per car. See current fees.

If you plan to make this a year of going to a ton of Florida state parks, then there is also the Florida state parks annual pass.

The cost of the regular cave tour at Florida Caverns State Park is around $11 per person. See current fees.

The cost of the flashlight cave tour is around $12 per person. See current fees.

More Florida Caverns pictures walking inside the cave at Florida Caverns State Park!

If you didn’t see the video above, you can watch the Florida Caverns video on youtube!

And that’s a bit about a trip to Florida Caverns State Park!

I did the Florida Caverns State Park cave tour in March 2022. Your experience may vary! Things can change!

See more for your Florida road trip:

• Driving from Pensacola to Tallahassee
• Driving from Tallahassee to Orlando

HAPPY WALKING INSIDE THE FLORIDA CAVERNS!