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Mercer Caverns
Rating Details »
Categories: Amateur Sports Teams, Amusement Parks, Tours [Edit]
1665 Sheep Ranch RdMurphys, CA 95247
(209) 728-2101
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
8 reviews for Mercer Caverns
If you have never been on a guided cave tour, this is a great place to start. Unlike many tours, this one is easy and gentle. It usually takes less than an hour to do the whole tour, but you are on foot the whole time walking down carefully placed cement or wood stairs.
The history the the cave is facinating, and the fact that it is easy to bring kids along and casually walk down it without claustrophobia, is a total plus.
Some of the stalagtite and stalagmite formations and simply unique. The stories that go along with them, and the names they were given because of the way they look will make you laugh when you see the character in the formation.
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I went here with my fiance for my 22nd birthday on 9/21/09. We got there at 3:32. Lady at the front desk said we had to wait until 4:30 because the tour just left. We bought a gem stone mining kit for each of us for $9/ bag which was really fun. We got some really nice garnets and peridot along with other pieces. We also bought a bunch of stuff from the gift store and got two squished pennies because I collect them. Hehehe.
It was HOT AS HELL outside (and I'm from the south where it gets blazing and it was even hot for me.) so we asked if there was a water fountain - there wasn't. It was $1.25 for an 8 oz. bottle of water. That sucked.
At 4:30, the lady who told us the 3:30 tour had left told us (our tour group) that the tour was about to begin. YEAH, SHE WAS THE ONLY TOUR GUIDE. She just didn't want to take us on the earlier tour since it would have been just the two of us. There were 6 people in our tour - my fiance and me, an older British couple and two Mexican dudes.
The tour guide was a real b***h - she made snide remarks to the older British lady for wearing a skirt and sandal flats and she said she didn't know "what the hell sort of shoes I had on" and that I they were going to tear up my feet. Funny - I was wearing my pair of Vibram Five Fingers - they're specifically made for rock climbing. She acted put out that she had to give us all a tour and was super rude to the Mexican dudes when they tried to ask questions about the cavern during the tour.
The entire tour, the guide spoke so fast because she obviously wanted to get out and go home since it was the last tour of the day. It was like she was speed reading when she was talking. She literally did not pause for a breath. It didn't last anywhere near 45 minutes for us since we had the auction caller doing the tour apparently.
The story behind Mercer Caverns is interesting but I suggest that the private owners fire this chick behind the counter. She was extremely rude. So much so that after the tour, the British couple came up to us and complained about how rude she was. They said if she is so bored, she should get another job instead of being a jerk to people paying for the tour.
This cavern is pretty steep. My calves were hurting the next day. If you're tall like I am, you''ll have to do a lot of bending over because the stairs have about 3 feet of clearance. If you grab the lower rail rather than the top hand rail, you'll be fine.
This was a nice introduction to the caverns in the area. The tour is only 45 minutes and goes by quite quickly. As there were only the 3 of us we were able to ask questions and view the wonders of the caverns without being too rushed to keep on time.
The tour guide at the beginning did seems to recite the info by rote but as we got into the caverns we asked questions and she answered them politely but still imparted the set cavern tour info without seeming rote any longer.
It is steep on the stairs at times, it is narrow at times, and anyone who is unsure with their steps or doesn't like tight spaces I would wave them off to seeing these caverns.
The beauty of the cavern and it's varied rock formations was a nice addition to our visit while in Murphys.
This is such a cool thing to do if you happen to be around these parts. Not many places offer the opportunity to go 16 stories underground in to the middle earth. Our tour guide was very witty and entertaining and definitely sparked our imagination as we looked at all the different formations: Homer and Marge, Repunzel, the porcupine, etc. Go and you will know what I am talking about.
The steps are steep and not for the faint of heart. However, there was a little 9 year old girl on the tour with us and she did just fine. I wouldn't recommend it for any younger than that. Also, the tour takes you through some tight spaces where there is a lot of ducking and maneuvering going on so the big and tall be prepared.
Definitely very interesting and worthwhile!
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I went here last summer with the bf and we enjoyed ourselves very much. It was about an hour drive East of Stockton and the route is easy and scenery was alot of wide opened spaces. Bring cash, because I remember they charged to use your ATM. I
It's a guided tour through the cave, which goes underground I believe 16 stories. The steps are really steep and at some parts you gotta watch your head. The inside of the cave is remarkable, it was amazing to think that someone many years ago discovered this cave and now there are man made steps inside so the public can view it. Our tour guide was funny and witty and very informative on the facts of the cave and it's discovery. I remember the tour lasted about 45 minutes, you start and end on the same side of the cave.
Afterwards, we had a little picnic at the picnic tables they have at the location. It's really dry and hot there, we went in the middle of August. But the views are pretty, mountains and trees everywhere.
On our drive back we stopped in a little town called Valley Springs. Very cute, and quaint. We ate at an ice cream shop, which was packed, and the people were so friendly . I think they could tell that we weren't from around there. It's a nice little town, I enoyed walking around what they called downtown and poking into the little shops. The day was definitely worth the drive, I would stop by there if you were in the area, or if caves interest you. It's not like a hard core tour, like what I expected at first. There were a bunch of little kids on our tour, that asked a question every 5 minutes. It was cute though, and our tour guide had an answer to every one.
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We went to Mercer Caverns for the first time Sat 11/3/07. I saw the pics on the website: http://www.mercercaver..., but pics don't do it justice. You really need to see them for yourself.
It's 2.5hrs from Fremont and we got there at 9:55am for the opening of the place at 10am. You go to the store where you pay your $12 per adult fee. Bring CASH because if you use a debt card it's an extra $2!! NO Credit Cards allowed.
The 1st tour was at 10:30am so we had time to take pics, drink something, eat, use the bathroom. No drinks, food, purses, backpacks allowed in the caves.
Lots of stairs to climb but they are easy to do for most anyone. Just hold on to the handrails.
Cool calcite formations, stalactites & stalagmites, Gothic Chamber, Angels Wings, & Aragonite.
Tour is 45 minutes. Too short! Still Recommended.
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Caves fascinate me. I find it so amazing that they were formed over millions of years. All of those magnificent rock formations are so cool. Mercer Caverns definitely has its share of great features. My favorite has always been the Chinese Meat Market section. I swear it looks like the rocks are really veggies and meat. I highly recommend a visit if you are ever in Murphys.
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Went to Mercer Cavern with kids. It was OK. You go down some stairs and see the cave. The tour guide was all right. You walk down stairs and see rock formations. There was really nothing that had a wow factor for me. The tour was leaving every 45 minutes and we had to wait 45 minutes as we just missed a tour. There was about 20 people in our group, so that also detracted from the experience because there was so many people.
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