Tabernacle Hill Lava Tubes

The kids had Spring Break toward the end of March, so Siara and I decided to take them on a trip to Southern Utah to get out.

The first place we stopped was the Tabernacle Hill Lava Tubes. The road was really rough getting there with lots of pot holes filled with water and mud. My car was a little low for some spots, but I tried to go slow and careful. There were large piles of black lava rock all around as we drove.

We came to a sign that said Lava tubes, so we knew we were at the right spot. The sign explained how lava tubes were formed and had an aerial image of what was left of the crater.

There was also a hill that people would drive or walk up to see a view of the crater.

We got out and started exploring. The tube entrances just look like holes in the ground.

The first one we went into was like a huge cavern. Pieces of the ceiling had broken off and there were holes where light came in. It was a little hard climbing over the rocks with Remi because the lava rock was sharp. Fortunately, there was a path going through the cavern. You can see Locke on it below.

Remi and I made it through to the other end, but, as you can see, she was pretty dirty by then. We brought flashlights, and she is carrying one.

The other side of this tube continued, but the roof had collapsed. We didn’t go explore it because it would have been too hard with Remi.

We went to the other side of the road and found another section of the tube with two entrances. We also found a small cave off to the side of it. We would have missed it if Link hadn’t had to go poo in a discreet area. (We did bag his poop when he was done.)

Siara and Locke explored one side of the larger section. The cave was a dark long tunnel that eventually led to an exit. Siara said it smelled like bat poop. I would have liked to have seen it ,but she was cold and nauseous, maybe due to elevation sickness. So instead the boys and I went and explored the other side. It was a giant cave. The entrance looked like the photo below (Photo from The Outbound Collective)

This is what the inside looked like (below). It went under the road and came back up where we started.

Remi and I went on a walk above ground to see if there was more, and we found this area (below). There is supposed to be another tube at the end of it and the crater is at the end of that. You can see the outlines of the crater in the background.

Siara wasn’t feeling well so we didn’t explore as much as we would have liked. Plus, the kids were eager to get to the cabin for some reason. But I looked forward to going back to the area and exploring more because I read that there are lots more lava tubes all around the crater.