Colossal Cave Mountain Park
A dry karst cave near Vail with 3.9 miles of mapped passages, used by Hohokam, Sobaipuri and Apache people.
- Rank in Arizona
- #242of 727 ranked
- Overall score
- Score 44.5 out of 100medium confidence
- Category
- Natural Landmark
Colossal Cave is a cave system in south-eastern Arizona, near the community of Vail and about 22 miles south-east of Tucson. About 3.9 miles of passageway have been mapped, and temperatures inside average 70 °F year-round. Earlier names include Mountain Springs Cave and Five-Mile Cave. It is an ancient karst cave, classed by guides as dry: its formations no longer grow, because the water that deposited the limestone has gone, feeding instead the nearby Arkenstone Cave, where formations continue to form. The cave was used from 900 to 1450 AD by Hohokam, Sobaipuri and Apache people, and was rediscovered in 1879. The park around it also holds a cowboy ranch museum, a butterfly garden, horse trails and picnic and camping facilities.
Where it is
Colossal Cave Mountain Park is a natural landmark near Tucson, in Pima County. It is one of the natural landmarks in this database, and appears in the statewide ranking of Arizona attractions.
How this ranking was reached
No official visitor count is published for Colossal Cave Mountain Park, so its score rests on public interest and tourism significance, and is capped below the level a measured attraction can reach. That is why the medium confidence above is not higher. The weighting is explained in full on the methodology page, and every axis is broken out under Facts and sources at the foot of this page.
Note on the data: No official visitor count is published for this attraction.
Sources
- Public interest: Wikimedia pageviews (en.wikipedia, human traffic), 2024
- Coordinates and designations: Wikivoyage(opens in a new tab)
- County: U.S. Census geography via FCC Area API, resolved from coordinates
- Official site: http://colossalcave.com/(opens in a new tab)
Record last verified 2026-08-12.
More photographs
Eegorr, CC BY 3.0 · licence(opens in a new tab) · source(opens in a new tab) 
Public domain · source(opens in a new tab)
Nearby attractions
9.3 miles away
Tucson Speedway
A 0.375-mile paved oval racetrack at the Pima County Fairgrounds, one of only three paved ovals in Arizona.
9.8 miles away
Saguaro National Park
Two districts of Sonoran Desert either side of Tucson, preserving the giant saguaro cactus the park is named for.
10 miles away
Rincon Mountains
A Madrean sky island range east of Tucson, rising to Mica Mountain at 8,664 feet and named for its cornered shape.11 miles away
Loma Verde Loop
A Saguaro National Park loop trail past mesquite woodland, a seasonal wash, and the remains of the Loma Verde Mine.
11 miles away
Manning Cabin
A 1905 log cabin in Saguaro National Park's Rincon Mountains, later used to house Forest Service and Park Service fire and trail crews.
Facts and sources
Place
- Category
- Natural Landmark
- Destination
- Tucson
- County
- Pima County
- State
- Arizona
Visitation
- Annual visits
- Not published
Ranking
- Overall score
- 44.5 / 100
- Visitation score
- No published count
- Popularity score
- 28.4
- Significance score
- 58.0
- Confidence
- medium
Visiting
- Official website
- colossalcave.com(opens in a new tab)
- Coordinates
- 32.0620, -110.6333
- Last verified
- 2026-08-12