The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time.
-Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, 1849
Lehman Caves is the longest cave system in the state of Nevada. Tours have been entering the cave since 1885, and you can become another visitor in a long tradition of explorers.
Lehman Caves is only available to enter on a ranger guided tour. It is impossible to visit the caves without having tickets on a tour.
Cave Tours are offered year-round except for Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. Times and tour types vary, see below for current schedule.
Two tours of Lehman Caves are currently offered in the summer months: Gothic Palace and Parachute Shield Tours. In the winter, only Lodge Room tours are offered.
Cave tours are regularly sold out, sometimes weeks in advance. Reservations and advance ticket sales are handled through Recreation.gov and highly recommended. Reservations become available thirty (30) days in advance.
Walk-up tours may be offered as scheduling and staffing levels allow. Tours booked through Recreation.gov are the only guaranteed tours. Do not anticipate or expect ticket availability if you do not have a reservation. Walk-up tour tickets are available at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center desk beginning at 8 a.m. on the day of the tour, and often sell out within the first hour. Tours with asterisks (*) on the daily tour schedule are planned walk-up tours.
Journey into Lehman Caves Safely
NPS
Cave Rules & Safety
White Nose Syndrome Screening is mandatory at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center. In brief, this process involves ensuring that no items enter Lehman Caves that have been exposed to another cave environment without thorough cleaning or disinfection. Help contribute to the safety of our bat population by leaving items that have been in other caves behind. Learn more about white nose syndrome at this link.
Please arrive fifteen (15) minutes prior to your tour time to check-in with the front desk at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center. Visitors who have not checked in at least five (5) minutes prior to their tour time will forfeit their tickets.
No touching of the cave is allowed.
Any tour members 15 and younger are required to have adult supervision at all times during the cave tour. Toddlers and children commonly become uncomfortable in a cave environment. Your ranger may escort a group or part of a group from the cave if any tour member becomes too disruptive.
Regular crouching is required to navigate smaller passages on the tour route. No crawling is required, and walking sticks or canes are permitted throughout the cave if needed. Handrails are available on all staircases and on many tighter parts of the tour route.
No bags are allowed inside the cave. This includes backpacks, camera bags, purses, fanny packs, phone hip holsters, or back mounted baby carriers. Front mounted baby carriers are allowed and available in small numbers for loan at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center.
No foods, liquids, water, chewing gum, tobacco products, vapes, or other contaminants are allowed inside the cave environment.
Claustrophobia and unease can be experienced on this cave tour due to the tight spaces inherent in cave environments. You have the option of being escorted out if these feelings are overwhelming for you or any group members.
The cave naturally remains around 52ºF (11ºC) and very humid year-round, so light jackets or long sleeves are recommended for long term comfort in the cave.
Click on individual tours for information on cost, duration, and more.
Duration: 30 minutes Distance: 0.25 miles / 0.4 kilometers Total Stairs: 0 Difficulty: Easy
Fees:
Adults (16 years and older): $8.00
Youth (5 to 15 years old): $4.00
Infants & Toddlers (under 5 years old): Free
Access Pass and Senior Pass holders are entitled to a 50% discount on cave tour tickets for the cardholder only. The discount will not apply to the entire group.
White Nose Syndrome Screening is mandatory on all cave tours.
This family-friendly tour takes visitors into the first two rooms of Lehman Caves before backtracking the route to exit. While following a ranger guide, the path begins in the Gothic Palace, then winds its way through the Rose Trellis Room, before returning and exiting through the entrance tunnel. In the Gothic Palace, expect to see an incredible variation of cave formations, like the famously unique cave shields, often absent or found in small numbers in other caves, but ubiquitous here in Lehman Caves.
Children under five (5) years old are permitted on the Gothic Palace Tour. Often, children can become upset in a new, foreign feeling cave environment. If children become too disruptive during a tour, a ranger may remove an adult and child to preserve the experience of the rest of the tour group at their discretion. Refunds are available if this occurs.
Tours are limited to 20 without exception. All adults, children, and toddlers need tickets. If you do not have enough tickets, you will not be allowed on the tour.
Duration: 60 minutes Distance: 0.5 miles / 0.8 kilometers Total Stairs: 69 Difficulty: Easy to Moderate. Tour goers will be on their feet for the entire tour.
Fees:
Adults (16 years and older): $12.00
Youth (5 to 15 years old): $6.00
Infants & Toddlers (under 5 years old): Free
Access Pass and Senior Pass holders are entitled to a 50% discount on cave tour tickets for the cardholder only. The discount will not apply to the entire group.
White Nose Syndrome Screening is mandatory on all cave tours.
This family-friendly tour takes visitors along a majority of the tour path inside Lehman Caves. While following a ranger guide, the path begins in the Gothic Palace, then winds its way through the Rose Trellis Room, Music Room, and Lodge Room. Along the tour route, expect to see an incredible variation of cave formations, like the famously unique cave shields, often found in small numbers but ubiquitous in Lehman Caves.
Children under five (5) years old are permitted on the Lodge Room Tour. Often, children can become upset in a new, foreign feeling cave environment. If children become too disruptive during a tour, a ranger may remove an adult and child to preserve the experience of the rest of the tour group at their discretion. Refunds are available if this occurs.
Tours are limited to 20 without exception. All adults, children, and toddlers need tickets. If you do not have enough tickets, you will not be allowed on the tour.
Duration: 90 minutes Distance: 0.8 miles / 1.3 kilometers Total Stairs: 69 Difficulty: Moderate. Tour goers will be on their feet for the entire tour. Only the Inscription Room has seating.
Fees:
Adults (16 years and older): $15.00
Youth (5 to 15 years old): $8.00
Infants & Toddlers (under 5 years old): Not Allowed
Access Pass and Senior Pass holders are entitled to a 50% discount on cave tour tickets for the cardholder only. The discount will not apply to the entire group.
White Nose Syndrome Screening is mandatory on all cave tours.
This tour is the longest currently offered of Lehman Caves, and takes visitors along the entirety of the established tour route within the cave. While following a ranger guide, the path begins in the Gothic Palace, then winds its way through the Rose Trellis Room, Music Room, Lodge Room, Inscription Room, and the Cypress Swamp before finally reaching the Grand Palace. Along the tour route, expect to see an incredible variation of cave formations, like the famously unique cave shields, often found in small numbers but ubiquitous in Lehman Caves.
Children under five (5) years old are not allowed on Grand Palace Tours. Lodge Room Tours are the alternative to the Grand Palace Tours which allow children of all ages.
Tours are limited to 20 without exception. All adults and children need tickets. If you do not have enough tickets, you will not be allowed on the tour.
Duration: 20 minutes Distance: 0.25 miles / 0.4 kilometers Total Stairs: 0 Difficulty: Easy
Fees:
Adults (16 years and older): $5.00
Youth (5 to 15 years old): $2.00
Infants & Toddlers (under 5 years old): Free
Access Pass and Senior Pass holders are entitled to a 50% discount on cave tour tickets for the cardholder only. The discount will not apply to the entire group.
White Nose Syndrome Screening is mandatory on all cave tours.
Brief tours of the first room of the cave, the Gothic Palace, are available for those unable to negotiate the stairs and narrow passageways of the tour route. Participants join the first 20-30 minutes of a regular tour and are escorted out of the cave by a ranger.
For those in wheelchairs, there is no guarantee you will be able to visit the cave. The entrance tunnel is historic and not ADA-approved. A friend or family member must be available to assist those in non-motorized wheelchairs, and be comfortable navigating the wheelchair down a steep grade. Rangers are not able to assist with propelling wheelchairs. Wheelchairs are not available at the park.
First room tours may not be available on every tour, depending on staffing levels.
Duration: 60 minutes Distance: 0.6 miles / 1.3 kilometers Total Stairs: 0 Difficulty: Moderate. Tour goers will be on their feet for the entire tour. Only the Inscription Room has seating.
Fees:
Adults (16 years and older): $12.00
Youth (5 to 15 years old): $6.00
Infants & Toddlers (under 5 years old): Free
Access Pass and Senior Pass holders are entitled to a 50% discount on cave tour tickets for the cardholder only. The discount will not apply to the entire group.
White Nose Syndrome Screening is mandatory on all cave tours.
On the Parachute Shield Tour, your ranger will guide visitors from the Lodge Room through the Inscription Room, Cypress Swamp, Grand Palace, and finally to the Sunken Garden. Along the way, you'll discover cave shields, historic graffiti, and bubble trails - all testament to the cave's colorful past.
Due to an electrical problem with part of the cave's lighting system, the Parachute Shield Tour will replace all Grand Palace and Lodge Room tours through fall 2024.
Tours are limited to 20 without exception. All adults and children need tickets. If you do not have enough tickets, you will not be allowed on the tour.
Park Rangers will show you many amazing features of the cave
NPS / B. Mills
Daily Tour Schedule
Tour route availability and times change depending on the season. The complete schedule or variety of tours may not be published until one to three months prior to tour date. * indicates a walk-up tour. Walk-up tours are offered based upon available staffing, and are not guaranteed. Reservations are strongly recommended and visitors should not anticipate tour availability without a reservation.
Winter: November 1, 2024 - March 7, 2025
Gothic Palace Tour (30 minutes)
2:00pm*
Parachute Shield Tour (60 minutes)
10:00am (Sat/Sun only) | 11:00am* | 1:30pm
Gothic Palace Tour (30 minutes)
11:00am* | 3:30pm*
Lodge Room Tour (60 minutes)
9:30am* | 11:30am | 1:30pm | 2:00pm | 4:00pm*
Grand Palace Tour (90 minutes, must be over 5 years old)
8:30am | 10:30am | 12:30pm* | 2:30pm
During summer months, especially weekends, Lehman Cave Tour tickets will routinely sell out. Make sure to check for availability two to four weeks before your visit for the best opportunity to secure tickets. This is the only way to guarantee spots on a tour for you and your group.
Plan ahead and visit Recreation.gov or call their reservation line at (877) 444-6777 to book tickets in advance.
Refund and Check-in Policy
Refunds requested at least a day prior to the tour will be honored minus the $1 per ticket charged by Recreation.gov. Refunds cannot be provided on the the day of the tour.
Please check in at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center at least 15 minutes in advance of your tour's scheduled start time. If you have not checked in with the front desk to claim your reserved tickets within five minutes of the scheduled start time of your tour, your tickets will be considered forfeit. Refunds will not be provided for late arrivals or missed tours. Give yourself plenty of travel time. Wide loads and weather are some of a number of items which can slow your journey.
