Exploring Grand Canyon Caverns

Exploring Grand Canyon Caverns

In the second week of June I decided last minute to go on trip with a group of my friends to Arizona.  I really needed a fun adventure and I also thought it would be a good opportunity to take pictures and take some video and maybe even shoot a movie. We made it to Peach Springs, Arizona along Route 66 and checked in at the Hualapai Lodge which is a part of the Hualapai indian reservation. Our plan that evening if we arrived early enough was to take a tour of the Grand Canyon Caverns which is also along Route 66 about 10 minutes from the Hualapai Lodge.

There were so many interesting things to see along the way the the Caverns including the Caverns Inn. We arrived at the Grand Canyon caverns and purchased our tickets for the tour. Our group got in the Cavern’s elevator which took us 21 stories and 210 feet underground. Our tour guide explained to us that the Caverns were discovered in 1927 by a man named Walter Peck who was on his way to play poker with his friends. He stumbled and almost fell into the hole and later came back with some friends with some rope to enter and explore the caverns. He was hoping to find gold in the caverns, but instead found iron oxide and rust. He also discovered two human skeletons and a saddle on a ledge 50 feet deep in the cavern!

It turns out that the skeletons were most likely those of two Hualapai Indians that may have been sick and buried in the cave to prevent infection to the rest of the tribe. These indians were not the only ones who met their untimely death in the caverns. The skeletal remains of a  giant ground sloth were also discovered in the caverns. This giant sloth has been extinct for at least 11,000 years and was over 15 feet tall. The sloth apparently fell into the caverns and most likely died of thirst. You can still see it’s claw marks in the walls. The caverns are so dry that you would not be able to survive there for more than three days without water. They are also a constant temperature of 56 degrees year round.

Giant Sloth

The Grand Cavern Canyons are said to be a site of paranormal activity and you can actually stay in a hotel “room” that is set up in the caverns. There have been stories of shadow people in the caverns whispering to people to “get up.” It is a interesting and creepy place and it gave me just the inspiration I needed for the movie I wanted to make on this trip. The caverns are even stockpiled with food and water supplies in the event of disaster or maybe a zombie apocalypse? If you are ever in Peach Springs make sure you take a tour of the Grand Canyon Caverns it’s well worth it!

After visiting the Cavern’s we stopped at the Cavern’s Inn for some beers on the way back to Peach Springs after taking pictures with the dinosaur first! The Cavern’s Inn is a fun place to stop. There is a 50’s diner “museum” and lots of classic cars at their vintage gas station. After that we headed back to Hualapai Lodge for dinner and to get some rest. The next day we would begin our journey hiking into the Grand Canyon to the Supai Indian reservation and Havasupai falls!