Facilities

Club House

Laundry Room

Swimming Pool

Hot Tub

Fitness Center

Game Room

Rec Hall

Pavilion

Exercise Room

Restroom/Shower

Restroom Only

Shower Only

Restaurant

Groceries

RV Supplies

ATM Machine

WiFi

Dog Park

Cocktail Lounge

Dog Washing Station

Pit Toilet

Snack Bar

Play Ground

Sites

Water

20 Amp

30 Amp

50 Amp

Sewer

Cable TV

Services

Escort to Site

Self-Service RV Wash

Metered LP Gas

Firewood

Fishing Supplies

Pet Supplies

Onsite Rentals

Worship Services

Golf Carts

Fishing Guides

Onsite RV Service

Staffed RV Wash

Fishing Licenses

Complimentary Breakfast

Recreational activities in or near the park

Recreational Activities

Archery Range

ATV Riding

Biking

Boating

Body Of Water

Casino

Climbing

Dock

Driving Range

Fishing

Golf

Heated Pool

Hiking

Horseback Riding

Horseshoes

Kayaking

Lawn Bowling

Mini Golf

Paddle Boats

Pickle Ball

Putting Green

Ramp

Sauna

Shuffleboard

Snow Sports

Splash Pad

Swimming

Tennis

Wading Pool

Water Slide

Water Sports

Water Umbrella

Whitewater Rafting

Policies

RV Age Restrictions

Pets Welcome

Pet Restrictions

Pet Restriction on Quantity

Pet Restriction on Breed

Pet Restriction on Size

No Pets

Tent Camping Allowed

Folding Tent Campers Allowed

No Tents

No Overnight Guests

<h2>Overview</h2><p>Kartchner Caverns State Park offers a unique desert camping experience nestled at the base of the Whetstone Mountains. This park is managed as a desert conservation area, providing visitors with a quiet, pristine environment perfect for stargazing and enjoying the high desert atmosphere. RVers will find that the park focuses on preserving the natural landscape, making it a peaceful sanctuary for those who value tranquility and direct access to protected geological wonders.</p><h2>Location & Surroundings</h2><p>Situated just south of Benson, Arizona, this park is conveniently located for travelers exploring the historic southeastern corner of the state. The surrounding landscape features expansive <strong>desert vistas</strong> and rugged mountain backdrops that define the Arizona experience. Its strategic location allows for easy day trips to nearby historic towns, while the park itself remains shielded from the noise of major highways, ensuring a restful stay amidst the unique flora and fauna of the San Pedro River Valley.</p><h2>Amenities & Park Features</h2><p>The campground at Kartchner Caverns is designed to accommodate modern travelers with high-quality facilities. RV sites are equipped with <strong>full hookups</strong>, including water, sewer, and electricity to ensure total comfort during your stay. The park also provides paved parking pads, clean restrooms with showers, and a <strong>designated dump station</strong>. These amenities are thoughtfully integrated into the site layout to balance modern convenience with the preservation of the surrounding Sonoran Desert environment.</p><h2>Nearby Attractions & Things to Do</h2><p>The crown jewel of the park is undoubtedly the world-class cavern tours that showcase living limestone formations. Beyond the subterranean adventure, visitors can enjoy extensive <strong>hiking and equestrian trails</strong> that wind through the beautiful desert landscape. Bird watching is a popular activity here, as the area is a haven for diverse avian species. Furthermore, the proximity to the city of Benson makes it easy to visit local museums and cultural landmarks during your stay.</p><h2>Who This Park Is Best For</h2><p>Kartchner Caverns State Park is ideal for nature lovers, geology enthusiasts, and RVers who prefer a <strong>quiet, immersive setting</strong> over crowded commercial resorts. It is perfect for travelers who want to disconnect and spend their days hiking or exploring underground. Those who appreciate a well-maintained, scenic environment and easy access to outdoor recreation will find this destination to be a standout choice for their Arizona travel itinerary.</p>



Kartchner Caverns State Park is a state park of Arizona, USA, featuring a show cave with 2.4 miles of passages. The park is located 9 miles south of the town of Benson and southeast of Tucson. The park was founded to preserve the cave's unique features, including its rare boxwork formations. The park offers cave tours, camping, picnicking, and hiking. The cave is a "live" cave, which means that formations are still growing and changing. The temperature inside the cave is a constant 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius). The cave is home to a large variety of cave life, including bats, cave crickets, and cave spiders.

Kartchner Caverns

Plan your trip to Kartchner Caverns State Park in Benson, AZ. Enjoy full hookups, scenic desert hiking, and world-class cavern tours at this top-rated park.

Kartchner Caverns State Park, Benson, AZ: RV Camping Guide

Great educational and turist venue in Southern AZ. ADA compliant. This a pristine cave that was found in 1974 by two college students. They strove to keep it as natural as possible. So there a few rules and restrictions to keep it that way. There is some walking, but not bad. The docents are well versed. There is a bilingual option. Lot of the base facilities are closed. Great butterfly garden. Enjoy!

Awesome piece of well perverted nature! Awesome tour guides and friendly fun environment! Nothing is allowed in the cave including cell phone,  no pictures of the inside except on selected dates. But that how they keep it special for everyone!

Beautiful State Park. Well maintained. I went on the Big Room tour, our guide was Rich. He was very knowledgeable, and had a wealth of really goofy jokes and puns. I enjoyed his sarcasm and wit, as I'm English born, and don't hear it very often in the US, so it was an added plus for me on top of his enthusiasm for the caverns and his wealth of knowledge. Very interesting indeed. The cave was pretty spectacular, and very humid, (99 pct). Thank you Rich. ... Afterwards I visited the cafe, the menu had quite a few choices, better than expected. My coffee was cold though, hence one star missing. Good coffee matters! 😜 I also got to watch a presentation on bats, and even touch a living bat and feel its heartbeat, which is very fast. This isnt an every day thing though, so dont expect it. All in all a beautiful visit, and I managed to spent 5.5 hours here. 👌🙏🙏

Excellent cave tour!! Professional presentation given by knowledgeable guide. We arrived a few hours early, bringing our own food to eat at the picnic tables. Very clean with garbage cans nearby and areas to grill using your own propane tanks. Inside the visitor center there are all kinds of well done exhibits & a theater showing an informative movie about the cave. Nice gift shop, cafe, and clean stocked restrooms. Friendly employees were helpful and you could just tell they love their jobs. Overall, a must see if you are in the area. Best to rsvp tickets well in advance. Hiking & camping available too. You do not want to miss this! I was wholly impressed with the thought that went into the guest experience!!

The cave tour was so amazing. It’s important to remember to see this cave you have to follow strict instructions to protect the cavern that is possibly the most beautiful and amazing thing on this planet. The story of how it became is very interesting. Take the tour you will love it as long as you appreciate nature.
There is a small botanical garden in front of the center. There is a gift shop and small cafe that serves sandwiches.
There is campground there that is quite nice. It’s kept up quite nicely. They have water and electric for your camper, a dump station and bathrooms equipped for handicapped. The bathrooms are kept up but needs updating. The only con I can come up with is that the bathrooms are so very cold I don’t see how anyone could possibly take a shower in such a cold room and the bed thing in the shower is so far away from the shower head that I don’t think it’s usable.
Hiking the trails around the cavern was nice.
I definitely recommend trip to the Kartchner Caverns.

No photos allowed inside, but that honestly made it even better. Kartchner Caverns is unlike anything I’ve ever seen — a state-of-the-art facility protecting one of the most beautiful natural spaces I’ve ever stepped into. Being inside the Earth like that… it’s humbling and breathtaking all at once. Must see!

One of, if not the best State Park in the system. The cave tours are excellent. The campground is top notch with well spaced sights. The surrounding area is rich in historical sites, and the Sonoita opportunities for food (The Copper Brothelbrew pub), wine, and distilleries is a great adult day trip. And, the incredible Empire Ranch is also near Sonoita. Wildlife opportunities are abundant both summer and winter. We really enjoy White Water Draw in the winter to see 10's of thousands of Sandhill Cranes. So, its just not the cave and campgrounds - there is a vast area to explore.

Site 44 (ours) was very unlevel/ 6” leveling ramps still was not enough! Website should apply this info on each space; take the time to do so! We left early because of this and no refunds! Website gives no idea if level or need super high lifters; awful! I have vertigo so it was not fun. Unless you personally go to rv park and chk each one, you may get one like ours that is more than 6” off! Be prepared. Campsite is clean, shower water is hot but hubby says in mens bathroom toilet paper rolls  are in a “ weird place so legs are catiwompass while sitting”…. Odd they would do that. $50 a night tho makes it hard to wanna go back. Nice views of mountains and they have a loop for hiking so that is nice. The unleveled lots make this hard to come back to not knowing if you choose online a decent spot… in pics they all look level. Beware! No one expects more than 6 inches!!!!! Also do not drink the water or use for cooking. Had brown , gray water with sediment come out. Use bottled water for cooking or drinking or coffee!

This is a nice park, plenty of hiking trails, not far from tombstone and Sierra vista. Cave is cool but not much else to do except hang out . Spots are big and lots of privacy so you can let it all hang out if you like, after dark gets interesting careful where you look you might get an eye full, just because Rv windows are tinted real dark doesn’t mean you can’t see through them at night especially if your inside lights are on. So bring your cards or Yahtzee or board games. Leave your inhibitions at home. No judgement here.

Majestic & otherworldly! We were extra fortunate to get spots on the monthly photography tour. Even the visitors center is beautifully designed, starting with the fascinating discovery and development story in a lovely amphitheater. Each staff member was genuinely proud of their part in the visitor experience - warm, friendly and knowledgeable. Can’t wait to return and share this special place with our visiting family and friends!

We stayed in the RV campground for 3 nights with our 2 small dogs. The weather was cool at night, but the days were mid 60's to low 70's. Close to Benson and Sierra Vista if you need supplies or to a restaurant.  Dogs enjoyed the trails and sitting out in the sun.  The night sky view was amazing.  Wished they had sewer hookups, but at least they have a dump station.  Camp host had 2 cats that would sit outside in the daytime.

Reviews

Kartchner Caverns