Instead of hiking high up in the mountains under the bright shiny day or under the cool night sky, you could also try visiting the Coronado cave, traveling inside its deep dark trails without the aid of the sun or the moon unlike hiking in the outdoors. But instead of using the classic lantern or candle to light your way, it is required for hikers in the cave to bring a flashlight (that works) instead which is also more effective than the other two mentioned earlier.
Before you and your friends could enter the cave, you should get a permit first which is free of charge from the Visitor Center. The cave is pretty long with a length of about six-hundred feet and only twenty feet high with a width of seventy feet along with several crawl spaces and passages but none of these paths are very extensive. A round trip hike in the cave usually takes about two hours.
Coronado Cave has also been called Geronimo’s Cave, Montezuma’s Treasure Vault and many more. According to legends the cave was used by the Apache Indians as a hide-out when being chased by the U.S. Army, and during the late 1800’s many arrowheads were found in the cave. The limestone that houses the cave itself was formed many seasons ago. As time went by, water seeped through the cracks between the limestone formations dissolving the Calcite grains and along the way different minerals in the rocks mixed with water. Particularly, the oxidation of iron which are in the rocks of the cave releases sulfur and mixes or combines with water to form sulfuric acid that is dissolved in the limestone inside the cave, forming various passages and caverns that can be seen in the present.
If you are tired of hiking the same bright shiny day mountain trails or the cool night ambience of canyon trails or any other similar hiking trails, try hiking in the cave. When hiking in the Coronado Cave, you can also see the magnificent wonders of nature through the various rocks that are formed here which cannot be seen in any outdoor hiking trails.