Boyden Cavern

Boyden Cavern is a show cave located in the Giant Sequoia National Monument of the Sequoia National Forest, along the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway in Fresno County, California.^[2] It is just west of Kings Canyon National Park.

Boyden Cave
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Location	Giant Sequoia National Monument, Fresno County, California
Coordinates	36°48′54″N 118°49′05″W[1]
Length	0.63 miles (1.01 km) surveyed
Geology	Mesozoic marble
Access	Public tours available

Cavern

The cave is a solutional cave formed in Mesozoic marble (metamorphosed limestone).^[3] It is a cave with many varieties of natural speleothems, including rare "shield" formations. Boyden Cave or Boyden Cavern is located in the deepest river cut canyon of the United States, the 8,200-foot (2,500 m) deep Kings Canyon. ^{[citation needed]} The cave entrance lies beneath the 2,000-foot (610 m) high marble walls of the famous Portals of the Kings,^[4] near the Kings River.

Tours

Regular tours of the cave are given by a licensed guide company from the last Friday in April to mid November.^[5] The tour includes the Pancake Room, a stalactite group called the Upside Down City, and a flowstone formation called Mother Nature's Wedding Cake. In the Bat Grotto bats spend summer days sleeping. The Drapery Room contains curtains, soda straws and helictites. The tour ends at a small subterranean stream. 0.63 miles (1.01 km) of the cave have been mapped.^[3]