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 by Ephrem Green, Travel Writer

Two caverns in the central Sierra in the heart of California’s gold country are Moaning Caverns and Mercer Caverns.  Moaning Caverns is in the countryside southeast of Vallecito and just up the road a few miles Mercer Caverns is southwest of town of Murphy’s. Both are in Calaveras County. The two caves are different experiences and I will discuss several different points on this page.

I visited Moaning caverns on a cool rainy day.  My thinking at the time was that it underground and because of that it would be a good rainy-day activity.  It was dryer than hiking in the rain, however there were some wet places.  There were places where water dripped, presumably from cracks in the ground. I would guess that may the experience visiting either cave in the rain.  Dripping water is after all, how many of the cave formations formed.  So, that is something to be mindful of when visiting either location. 

Both caves are cool. They are around 55f to 60f.  There is no breeze.  Some people do bring a light jacket or extra layer.  Others, including myself wore shorts and a t-shirt and were fine.  I was active moving up and down stair cases most of the time.

The main sections of both caverns go down about 16 stories, which also has to be walked back up. Both Cave parks offer pleasant and relaxing picnic areas.  However, neither offer much in the way of refreshments. They both only have a refrigerator of cold drinks and some impulse candy selections.  I drove out to Moaning Caverns envisioning coffee and was hoping to get one when I arrived.

I was disappointed. 

Bring your picnic with you to either location if you like, but be advised that neither location allows you to bring food or drink in the caves.

Both Caverns also have panning troughs above ground set up outside.  Bags of sediment can be purchased from the gift shop that one can pan through to find semi-semiprecious stones. 

Moaning Caverns also offers a second type of sediment to pan in which fossils can be found.

Mercer Cavern

Mercer Caverns only one route to explore and it is the route that everybody tours when visiting Mercer Caverns.  The Mercer Caverns tour is about 45 minutes. Tour group sizes are about ten people.  Mercer Caverns does offer a good amount of variety in its one tour route.  The tour stays interesting with many twists and turns and variations in its rock formations.  Mercer Cavern is a series of narrow passages connecting a number of small open chambers.  The largest of the chambers felt like it was about the size of a three-car garage.  There were a couple of places where passage was low and it was necessary to stoop down to avoid bumping my head.  Mercer Cavern also had an exit which was different from its entrance, so there were only a few steps that were retraced from beginning to end, so tour continually changed the whole time. The Mercer Cavern tour is more of a loop than it is out and back.  That adds to the variety and interest.  Because the Mercer Cavern did not have any huge spacious chambers, Mercer’s rock formations were closer to see.  There were several places along the route where plexiglass was up to keep people from touching the rocks and protect the formations.

Moaning Cavern

Moaning Caverns offers two different tour routes.  One is called the Spiral tour. The Spiral tour allows for groups of up to ten people. It is about an hour long.  It is an out and back tour.  The steps down are retraced back up and you exit through the entrance where the tour started.  It is also about 16 stories down like Mercer Caverns.

The top of the Spiral tour is several flights of narrow steel staircases. They are steep like the ones that might be found on a ship. The passage in this section is a somewhat constricted and there is a place where I bumped my head. This top section is not a natural passage.  It was dynamited out.

The bottom of this top section opens onto a viewing platform that is at the top of a huge open cavern that is big enough for the statue of Liberty to fit in. This huge open cavern is natural.  People use to be able to repel down into the huge open chamber from a natural entrance that opens to the outside. However, the park no longer allows repelling. The natural entrance is fenced off for safety. The tour group gathers next to it at the start of the tour and proceeds down the stair cases.

It is an awesome view down into the chamber from the top platform.  There is a huge formation that goes down the wall of the chamber that looks like a giant chocolate fountain.

From the viewing platform at the top of the chamber you start down a long iron spiral staircase that came from a WWI navel destroyer.  It goes around and round down to the bottom of the cavern.

The second tour that Moaning Caverns offers is called the Expedition tour. It is advertised as three to four hours; however, the guide told our group that it once took over 12 hours because a claustrophobic guest panicked and got stuck in one of its narrow passages.

Gear is provided for the expedition tour if you would like to do it.  Advanced registration is required for the Expedition tour. It starts at the bottom of the Spiral tour.  I have not done the Expedition tour.  So, I can’t speak from experience regarding it. However, I was told that the tour goes through very narrow passages for much of its length.  You are required to be able to try out being in a tight space at the start of the Expedition tour.  If you are not able to handle it, you will not be allowed to continue on that tour.

Moaning Caverns does offer a photogenic opportunity for a group that would like to have a souvenir picture of themselves in the cave. The tour guide actually takes pictures of everyone and offers the opportunity to purchase a picture when you get back up to the top. 

Both Mercer and Moaning Caverns have additional great attractions nearby to combine into a memorable day trip. There are a number of vineyards, wine tasting, great food and boutiques in historic Murphy’s, New Melones Reservoir, Columbia State Historic Park just to name a few.