Longhorn Cavern State Park

Do you love caverns as we do? Look no further than Longhorn Cavern State Park in Burnet, Texas. A cavern tour makes for a great day trip if you live in the area or a fantastic place to visit if you're passing through! Longhorn Cavern State Park is located in the heart of Texas Hill Country and just outside Austin, Texas.

We took a day trip here, and the fun started before we even got into the park, as the road is a little bit like a roller coaster with fast drops as you go up and down over the hills. We later learned on our tour that the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the road that leads into the park.

We started our visit at the gift shop. The gift shop was amiable and had a lot of souvenirs and different things to choose from. We got a toy for each of the kids, a sticker, and our tickets for the cavern tour. They also have pizza if you're hungry.

They have both a walking tour and a wild cave tour available. We did the walking tour on our visit. A guided tour is the only way to access and view the cavern.

After we left the gift shop, we headed over to the CCC building and checked it out while we waited for our tour guide to arrive.

When our tour guide arrived, he led us and a group of about ten other people down into the mouth of the cavern. Our guide was very knowledgeable and had a ton of fun facts about the cavern. Pretty soon after getting into the cavern, we could see a few of what our guide called Chicken Nugget Bats. We were able to get pretty close to them to take some pictures!

We found the cavern tour to be a non-strenuous walk. Our five and seven-year-old had no problems with the terrain. Our two-year-old stayed in the baby carrier the whole time. The cavern was well-lit with installed lighting, but just a word of caution if you have anyone afraid of the dark, there is one point of the tour where they cut the lights to show you what complete darkness looks like! Luckily our two-year-old was sleeping at that point because he might have freaked out.

Overall the cavern was stunning, with a room of crystals and large underground rooms. I won't give away too many details about the tour, but it was fascinating to hear about the history and past people that used the cavern over the years.

Our family loved the experience, and if you like caverns, we recommend checking out Longhorn Cavern State Park! Check out our YouTube video for this trip!