Parking
Park at Crystal Cave Parking & Trailhead at the end of Cave Road, reached from Generals Highway. The large lot has seasonal flush restrooms and picnic tables. Cave Road bars combined vehicle-and-trailer lengths over 22 feet.
Overview
About Crystal Cave Trail
Why go
- A short walk reaches a distinctive marble cave entrance
- A guided tour adds a rare underground visit
Heads up
- The steep, uneven stair return is harder than the mileage suggests
- Cave entry requires an advance guided-tour ticket
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Sequoia map
Full mapElevation4,583–4,902 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
8 active Sequoia alerts
- InfoGenerals Highway weekday hazard-tree removal delaysMentions Generals Highway, referenced in this guideExpect weekday delays of up to 30 minutes total on Generals Highway between Highway 180 and Giant Forest, 8 a.m.–5 p.m., while crews remove hazard trees; the highway remains open.Official details
- CautionStage 1 fire restrictionsStage 1 fire restrictions are in effect due to high fire danger and catastrophic-wildfire risk; the restrictions reduce the possibility of accidental human-caused fires that could threaten visitors…Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Sequoia Tour Guide
Your drive to Crystal Cave Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Sequoia National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Sequoia audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Crystal Cave0:00 / 0:36
“You're nearing the parking area for Crystal Cave, a marble cavern with hanging mineral draperies and stalagmites. If you enjoy geology, this makes a good change from the giant trees.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Sequoia Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Road Begun for Logging
- Life in the Cave Stream
- Scratches Left by Ice
- The Squirrel Behind the Cone Scales
- 71 audio storiesacross Sequoia’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, Mountain Lion, Bobcat, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 99 trails, 68 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“…The kids and my husband and I all agree that the narration really added to our experience driving through the parks. We learned so much about the history and the flora & fauna.”
Trail guide
Hiking Crystal Cave Trail
The walk to the caveCrystal Cave Trail is a paved out-and-back from Crystal Cave Parking & Trailhead to the cave…
Crystal Cave Trail is a paved out-and-back from Crystal Cave Parking & Trailhead to the cave entrance: about half a mile down and the same way back, or 1 mile round trip. The path loses about 320 feet before the uphill return. Allow roughly 30 to 60 minutes for the outdoor walk itself; the separate cave tour takes about 50 minutes. The interior's own half-mile loop is part of the tour, not this trail. Cave entry is by guided tour, with tickets reserved online in advance.
The climb backThis is a short hike with a real uphill finish.
This is a short hike with a real uphill finish. The pavement is uneven, and stairs and railings break up the descent; the way back up is the tiring part. The stair climb is described as roughly twenty stories. Rockfall from the steep slopes above is a known hazard, and poison oak grows beside the tread. The route is not wheelchair accessible.
A marble cavern with a long historyThe trail reaches a broad rocky cave mouth in the canyon of Cascade Creek.
The trail reaches a broad rocky cave mouth in the canyon of Cascade Creek. Crystal Cave lies in a marble bed about 200 feet thick in the ridge between Cascade and Cave creeks. Two park employees, C. M. Webster and A. L. Medley, found it while fishing along Cascade Creek on April 28, 1918. It opened to visitors in 1940. The cave's delicate formations are seen on the guided visit, not along the outdoor trail.
Starting from the parking areaFollow Cave Road from Generals Highway to Crystal Cave Parking & Trailhead.
Follow Cave Road from Generals Highway to Crystal Cave Parking & Trailhead. The large lot has seasonal flush restrooms and picnic tables, but no water is available at the cave. Cave tickets are separate from park entry, and the road does not allow a vehicle-and-trailer combination longer than 22 feet. Plan hiking time separately from the tour.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Sequoia
691 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
17 sightingsMountain LionMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
18 sightingsBobcatMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
24 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
15 sightingsGolden EagleMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
20 sightingsSpotted OwlMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Sequoia. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
