September 2023 Update
In this newsletter: Road Updates, Store Updates, and Thank Yous!
Update from CalTrans on Highway 180
CalTrans has posted July and August updates detailing the situation on Highway 180.
Redwood Creek, Site 3
Many of you may recognize the Redwood Creek area from your drive down into the canyon. Some years it’s merely a thin line of water; some years, it is flowing enough to encourage folks to stop and take photos! Redwood Creek is just above Convict Flat, about 1.5 miles from Boyden, and near one of the turnouts with water for overheating vehicles. The winter storms have caused significant damage to the road at Redwood Creek. Initially, a tiny portion of the road remained (about 6 feet, including the shoulder). Unfortunately, after those initial inspections, the water flowed heavily again, and with the culvert blocked, the water washed over the remaining 6 feet, resulting in a complete washout. What remains is an 80-100 feet gap in the roadway. In many of our tours, we talk about the power of water inside the cave – this incident vividly showcases the power of water on the roadway! Typically, a washout would be backfilled and repaired to its original state, but the large canyon that has formed will likely need to be repaired with a new bridge instead. Since this washout occurred, no one has been able to travel past this section. While we hope the road closer to Boyden is doing well, we won't be able to check on things until this repair is completed. Caltrans will be sending out new updates when the design work is completed.
In some respects, this update brings encouragement; in others, it raises concerns about the possibility of opening on time in 2024. While uncertainties remain, we are actively exploring alternative funding options to ensure our business's survival until we can once again welcome you to the cavern.
Online Souvenir Store
Exciting news – we've added new items to our online store! We're expanding our offerings to include items we personally selected during the Tucson Rock and Gem show over the winter. These unique pieces are now available for shipping. Additionally, we're showcasing artwork from local artists and smaller designers we've collaborated with. Through our partnership with Printful, we bring you print-on-demand merchandise. One such artist, from a tour guest, is behind Little Coffee Pup – her creativity has brought forth captivating items that are now part of our store. We're also thrilled to introduce new wildflower watercolors created by my personal friend from Australia, Coral Pea Designs. These exquisite interpretations of local flora capture the essence of the canyon and its surroundings. If you're interested in seeing more merchandise featuring these designs, don't hesitate to request additions to our shop! Throughout the year, we'll continue adding items, maintaining the online shop even as Boyden Cavern reopens its doors.
We appreciate your support!
Following our last newsletter, we were humbled by the outpouring of gift card purchases and supportive emails. Your gestures mean more to us than words can express. Some of you also inquired about alternative donation methods, leading us to set up a GoFundMe page for your convenience. And don't forget, you can still purchase gift cards at a 10% discount using the code FUTURE180. As a for-profit business, we appreciate both gift card purchases and GoFundMe donations alike – your support matters to us, no matter the method you choose.
Thursday June 1, 2023
Background
In the winter of 2022/2023, California experienced weather like we had not seen in decades. Several atmospheric rivers dumped snow and rain in repeated storms back to back. This caused flooding, rock slides, mudslides, and road erosion in many areas of California.
Highway 180, which leads to Boyden Cavern, is traditionally closed each winter at the gate near the Hume Lake turnoff, approximately 13 miles west of the cavern. Our state highway department, CalTrans, manages this section of the road. They typically will evaluate the road throughout the winter as conditions allow, attempting to maintain at least one lane of access that is clear from fallen rocks and snow. This winter, they could not evaluate the road until much later in the spring due to the amount of snow and the obligations that CalTrans had on other sections of the highway that were temporarily closed due to rock slides. When CalTrans was able to attempt to access the highway past the Hume Lake gate, they discovered many areas of rock slides and road erosion where washouts compromised the stability of the road or even wholly washed it away. Within 2 miles of Boyden Cavern, one section is down to ½ lane in a section that is usually two lanes.
If the situation were isolated to Highway 180 approaching Boyden Cavern, repairs might be able to be completed earlier. However, there are many similar situations throughout California that need extensive repairs. Due to these situations, all resources are scarce: funds, gravel, workers, and engineers. Highway 180 in this area has no permanent residents and, as a result, is lower on the priority list.
Due to this situation, Boyden Cavern announced that there would be no 2023 season and refunded any tickets previously purchased. We will follow repair work closely and hope to have an update for the expected reopening in 2024. We would typically reopen on May 1, 2024, and hope to be able to do so if repairs are completed in time. Of course, we must get through another winter and have our fingers crossed for a healthy balance of needed snow packs without the damage-causing storms we had this past winter.
Wednesday April 26, 2023 Update
We are sad to announce that we are not expected to open for 2023. The conditions found on Highway 180 leading to the cavern are in need of such significant repair that it is not expected to reopen for this season.
At this time, we believe that the trail and gift shop are in fair to good condition, so there is a bit of good news with the bad.
We will be canceling and refunding all previously purchased tickets for 2023. Tickets for 2024 will be available in December 2023. We will always fully refund tickets that we are not able to fulfill.
If you wish to support us during this difficult time, you can purchase a gift card for yourself or a family member to use in the future.
Saturday April 15th Update
Hello friends and guests,
At this time we are cancelling and refunding all tickets purchased for May 1-May 14. We still do not have a date for completion of the road repairs, but I don’t want to cancel a ticket for a time we end up being open. We will continue to cancel any tickets for dates we are not able to be open at least 2 weeks in advance or as we get more certain information regarding the road. We are so sad to miss this beautiful early part of the season, but I know that CalTrans is working hard to complete the work needed.
Good news outside of Boyden Cavern is that the Grant Grove area and the foothills of the Sequoia National Park are both now open! Please visit https://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/conditions.htm for the best information about what that means for visitors, as well as information about other opening predictions. We are included in the “Cedar Grove” area for now. We were so pleased to see these areas reopen, and they both were as predicted or even earlier!
I will continue to update this page as I get information or every couple weeks. If you have any questions you can always email me info@boydencavern.com.
Best,
Maria Baker
Roads Update 2023
Due to the series of storms that hit our area Jan-Mar 2023, the road condition on HWY 180 approaching the cavern is very poor. CalTrans (our highway department) is working as quickly as they can to repair and reopen highways. However, at this time we do not know when the road will open for access to Boyden Cavern.
At this time, I am not changing our calendar availability until we get more certain dates. If you purchased tickets for our early season and we are not able to be open, we will automatically cancel and refund those tickets at least 2 weeks in advance.
This is a difficult time for us, as we are still recovering from the 2020 season. 2022 was an amazing season, and we were so excited to have every staff member who ended 2022 with us ready to start 2023 as well. Our thoughts are with anyone else in the area dealing with damage from flooding, rock or mud slides.
Please email info@boydencavern.com for any questions, cancelations, or refunds.