Lava River Cave, Bend OR

We've been in caves before, but nothing like the lava river cave. A very cool experience and well worth the visit!

It's a good idea to make a reservation time before going. The rangers are very nice a helpful.
The cave itself has no light, you will need a good flashlight or you can rent theirs for $5.00.
Dress warmly, it's 42° year round.you'll want good shoes as well, there is some uneven ground. It's a two mile walk round-trip. Also, this is a self guided tour, Take your time.
That all being said, Enjoy your adventure, it is really fascinating. My family had a great time there

I would recommend buying a reservation ticket through the app (or website) before arriving. Pass is also required per vehicle. Be prepared for the darkness and slightly low temperature. Carrying babies is ok if you're prepared well. Otherwise, it's hard to finish the whole trip.

The cave in itself is beautiful, however, there is a 1.5 hour time limit from parking the car to moving car out of the park, regardless of how far behind the self-guided "tours" are running. You must wait for a orientation to be complete, which takes about 25 minutes and consisted of primarily joking around and NOT reviewing human cave safety, only about white nose syndrome, thus allowing a woman in with a 3 month old baby and another young child, who then had to be rescued out because she was injured and almost fainted. While the staff is nice enough and the cave is beautiful, I'm extremely disappointed in how this operation is being run.

They have a limited space in parking lot which needs to be booked online. We did not know that until we got there and we had to park on my way in the visitor center and walk to the cave. The cave itself is really nice and well maintained. I loved it. Parking was a big problem. Highly recommend checking out online before you go.
All the park rangers were really nice and helpful with everything. They had a good knowledge about the cave and its history. They have a flashlight for rental on site.

Been here off and on throughout the decades, always a great hike, a newer thing, make reservations online is a must as its very popular and not doing so, may get you turned away.

Bring a high powered flashlight, headlight, or battery lantern that can last at least 2hrs (hike is commonly much less time but being prepared is good) and bring a backup light. (You can rent handheld spotlights inexpensively).

Good footwear, warm clothes as the temp is about 40⁰, watch your step, it is a cave with no light other than what you bring, and uneven terrain (its a cave after all).

No food are drinks in the cave, however a water bottle is recommended, pack it in, pack it out.

What a great place to visit! We decided to come here on a whim one weekend. We got there early and had a very short wait. The park Rangers do a very thorough safety lesson, then you pay and make your way down to the cavern. They will offer you a lantern at a minimal price, but we had our own flashlights and declined their off. The cave is large and cold, so be sure to bring a jacket. The walk is about 1 mile from start to finish. All in all, we had a great time and would definitely recommend.

It was awesome. You make you're reservation in advance online at the time you want. It's only 2 dollars. And of course you pay the 5 dollar park fee. But its pretty cool. It's definitely cold and dark.

A must see if you are in the Lava Lands, just south of Bend. There are a few stairs to go down and of course back UP, but other then that is is a pretty simple hike. Make sure you are ready to be cold….

The Lava River Cave was a fun experience. Remember to book your parking time prior to going. We managed to go most of the way through the cave before we had to turn back because of time. The walk is fairly easy, but you need to keep an eye on the ground to avoid rocks and holes. I highly encourage the lantern rental to provide sufficient light. Also, remember to dress appropriately. The cave is chilly.

Do Not Rely on Cellphone Light in This Cave. Every person needs a good strong beamed flashlight to manage the uneven terrain, steps (lots of steps) and view the details of the walls and ceiling. We turned off our flashlights for a few seconds to experience total darkness. Spooky.
The inside of the cave: walls and ceiling look very much the same during the one mile walk. Most of the cave experience involves the twists and turns you take while venturing deeper inward to the deadend and then walk back the way you came.
Parking time is reserved online for $2.00. The entrance fee for your entire group is only 5.00.
It's refrigerator cool inside, 42 degrees and the stair railings are icy cold. Come prepared and you are in for a really great time. We loved it!

Highly recommend this amazing experience. Nice (cool) walk, you'll need something warm to wear inside and I can absolutely recommend the flashlights that they rent there ($5) as your phone light, or regular flashlight, won't be enough to see through the cave.

Reservations online for $2 per car, a Newberry National Volcanic Monument pass and $5 per flashlight rental. Wear a jacket, it's 41 degrees in the cave. It takes about an hour to walk 1 mile to the end and 1 mile back

It's the second or third time we've visited in the last decade. This time we brought our two young kids. We weren't able to make it all the way to the end because we were going slow and they were getting tired, but despite that, it was so cool!

Very cool cave! Pretty cold so bring warm clothes. The lanterns they rent are nice and bright and also adjustable which was nice. We paid $20 for 3. Also, I recommend reserving parking online as it gets busy and it's only $2. Unfortunately we didn't see any bats but saw a cool spider.

Recommend! Make sure you get a pass in advance on recreation.gov for parking. Also, bring your Northwest Forest Pass (they'll sell you a day pass if you don't have one). Don't wear flip-flops -your toes will freeze! The cave is 42 degrees, so felt great on the hot day we went, but you need a sweater. Pretty easy walk, but several (170+) steps to enter/exit the cave. They rent flashlights for $5- worth it!

An incredible natural phenomenon. Walking deep into the cave where there is no natural light but there is still life was a super experience. I was delighted to see how the lava had shaped the cave and how it had been colonised by bats, millipedes and spiders. A real treat. It is a long way and hiring a torch is a must, the floor is uneven and you need to see where to put your feet; and to look up to see how high some areas are.

Ita great. Quite the adventure. Bring a hoodie and flash light (or rent one for $5).

I didn't know that you need to reserve online ahead of time for parking though.
You get a time slot of 90 mins that you're allowed to use the parking lot.

I took my 2 and 5 year old.
I do NOT recommend going without a baby carrier. It's not safe for small CHILDREN. I was happy to have my toddler strapped in.
It's slippery, cold, and uneven ground. Hiking boots for all, especially children is smart.

I wouldn't recommend for people with some senory issues. It's really dark and silent.

My teenager aged kids loved the hike in the lava tube. It was cool literally and figuratively. We rented two lights at 5 dollars from NFS. And we took in a couple lights each. Make sure you have a bright light if you don’t want to rent. We did have to wait a bit to park. Hopefully that is solved with the reservation system.