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Season Opens April 24th!

Hello Boyden Cavern Friends and Guests!!

We are so excited to open for the 2021 season! April 24th will be our first day of tours. Tours will be limited to 15 persons per tour, in line with current guidelines. We will increase capacity as restrictions ease. Masks are required for all guests and guides inside the cavern. We will continue our enhanced cleaning practices as well, including sanitizing hand rails after every tour, cleaning common areas, and sanitizing frequently touched areas. Our picnic area is ready for you to enjoy a lunch or snack by the river! Early season is the best season, so drive down the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway and visit Boyden Cavern!

2020 Season is a wrap!

Hello Friends and Guests!

Thank you all so much for your support this year. It has truly meant a lot.

We finished our season on November 15th. The road to access Boyden is closed all winter and we will be reopening on May 1st, 2021.

We have big plans to reconfigure this blog into more information about visiting the area (and hopefully many less COVID-19 or Fire closure updates!!!). So stay tuned for the latest information!

As always, we welcome any questions by email - info@boydencavern.com

I’m always happy to help you plan your trip!

No Tours Sunday November 8th

We will not be open to provide tours on Sunday November 8th due to the snow forecast in the mountains. Most of the folks who had reservations cancelled due to the weather, and since many of our guides have to drive home at the end of the day we thought it best to keep everyone home and cozy!

Tickets for the remainder of the season can be purchased online! Our last day this year will be Sunday November 15th.

Current Promo code for 4+ tickets in the group: FAM4FALL

Questions? Email us! info@boydencavern.com

Reopened (again!)

Hello my friends and guests!! I’m happy to say (again) that we are reopening (again!)!!!

We will be open at least to Oct 31st. Our tours are available for purchase in advance online, and we recommend that route especially for this part of the season because we can’t guarantee availability for walk-ups.

Our tours will continue to be private only (no strangers mixed in your group). Masks required and distancing on tours are marked out. We had a lot of great guests and great feedback when we were open before, so we hope to see you out recreating in as safe a manner as possible!!!!

NOW OPEN!

My wonderful friends and guests!! We are so excited to announce we have reopened for tours at Boyden for the 2020 season.  In order to give tours in the safest manner possible for our guests and guides, we’ve implemented the following:

·       Face masks/coverings must be worn when in gift shop and cavern. At all other times they should be worn when social distancing from people is not possible.

·       Please maintain physical distancing of at least 6 feet whenever possible. Signs, reminders, and flags will be placed in relevant areas.

·       We recommend that you purchase tickets online in advance. When you arrive just give us the name you booked under and we can get you checked in!

·       Please arrive at the gift shop at least 20 minutes prior to your tour. Your group will depart at your tour time.

·       Groups will consist only of people who live together, have traveled together, and purchased tickets together. We are not mixing strangers into groups at this time. Due to some of the smaller areas in the cavern this will enable you to maintain distance from other parties.

·       We have increased our cleaning processes. We are disinfecting high touch areas with a Clorox solution that is reported by the EPA to kill the coronavirus with 1 minute of contact. You can read more about our cleaning process on our blog as well.

·       Please come prepared with hand sanitizer and face coverings. We do not have any hand washing stations at the cave. We do have hand sanitizer and will be dispensing it to everyone at the cave entrance.

At this time, we discourage guests with pre-existing conditions, or high risk factors from taking the tour.  The cavern tour has some tight areas and can be an uncomfortable environment for some people.  Wearing a mask may exacerbate any breathing conditions and may make the tour more difficult for some people.

If you have any questions please email us at info@boydencavern.com

Construction Information

Hello Boyden Cavern Friends and Guests!!

I wanted to provide you with detailed information about construction near Boyden in the 2020 season.

CalTrans (our state highway department) is completing repair work on the bridge that is located right at the Boyden Cavern parking lot.

View of the bridge from the Boyden path

View of the bridge from the Boyden path

There is single lane control for approximately ½ mile surrounding the bridge.  Traffic direction is controlled by stop lights and delays are expected to be minimal.  As our parking lot entrance is located in the middle of the single lane control, there is a light directing traffic exiting our parking lot.  Guests visiting are able to enter our parking lot from either direction!  Exiting will be easy with the light system.

Guests with oversize vehicles (RVs, trucks + trailers, expedition rigs) have previously been able to park in turnouts (paved or gravel areas near the road for pulling over and parking) used as overflow parking near Boyden.  However, construction vehicles and supplies are currently in those turnouts and parking for large vehicles is limited.  We have space for 1-2 large vehicles in the far end of the parking lot near the restrooms.

If you have questions about construction, parking, or your oversize vehicle, please email me at info@boydencavern.com

Details about cleaning

We are committed to offering cavern tours in the safest manner for our guests and guides.  Read on below for more details on our cleaning processes in place at Boyden.

Restrooms: Boyden has 3 pit style toilets (no running water).  We will be taking care as always to keep the restrooms as clean and safe as possible.  They will be deep cleaned daily with additional cleaning and disinfection as needed.  Please bring your own hand sanitizer as there is no running water for hand washing anywhere at Boyden.

Picnic Area: We still welcome our guests to use our picnic area.  We will be spacing out the tables to encourage and remind guests of physical distancing.  Please remember that we are located at what is known as the Windy Cliffs!  When you set up your picnic be careful not to accidentally litter when the wind blows.  We will be disinfected tables at least daily, and guests are welcome to put down their own tablecloth.

Gift Shop: Masks/Face Covering required in gift shop.  Both doors will be kept open to encourage airflow, and we recommend one way foot traffic inside.  We will be doing a daily deep clean and paying special attention to high touch handles, etc for disinfection throughout the day.  We have rearranged the gift shop to focus on checking in guests who have purchased tickets in advance and selling tickets. 

Guests can utilize no contact credit card payments.  Hand sanitizer will be available in the gift shop.

Cavern: Masks/Face Covering required inside cavern. Handrails inside the cave will be sanitized between tours multiple times per day using a solution recommended by the International Show Cave Association to kill COVID-19 with low risk to the cavern environment.  All guests will be asked to use hand sanitizer at the gate prior to entry.

If you have any questions please email us at info@boydencavern.com

May 27 update

Hello Boyden Cavern friends and guests!

Even though I don’t have much of an update, I wanted to update you all!  We are still unsure of when we will be allowed to open.  Developed recreation sites in our area have been closed until June 30th, but we are working with the Forest Service to put plans in place to potentially open prior to that date.  First, we need the gate to open on Highway 180 to allow traffic in!  We expect that to occur within the next couple weeks.

You can still purchase tickets online! Our cancellation policy allows for you to reschedule at no cost for any available tour until the end of the 2021 season, or full refunds as long as you cancel 72 hours in advance.  If you notify us between 72 hours and the midnight prior to the tour, we will refund you minus a fee of 18%.  Same day cancellations are not refunded. However in the case of unexpected travel delays, illness, etc, we will always work to find a suitable solution!

We have plans in place to modify our tour offering to allow for the safest experience possible for our guests and guides.  Like many other businesses, this will include masks, increases in cleaning/disinfecting, physical distance signs and reminders, and separation of groups that did not travel/live together.  We will post again with details on our procedures when we are able to open!

If you have any questions, please send me an email info@boydencavern.com I’m happy to help you with cavern tour questions, or even questions about the area!

April 2 update and promo code

Hey all you cool bats and bears, it’s Maria here…

We can’t wait to get the Boyden season going, to see some familiar faces and meet new ones, and have a regular great day at the cave. Unfortunately, along with everyone else, we just can’t predict when that is going to happen. The US Forest Service have just announced closures of “developed recreation sites” through April 30th. Our season wasn’t even set to begin until April 24th, but this does at least confirm that we won’t be opening on time. We can’t predict how long the closures will last, but I can say that as soon as we are cleared to start the season, we will be ready!!

We’ve had a few friends and guests reach out to ask about purchasing tickets or gift cards in advance as a way to show us support during this time. We are small business owners in our second season of doing what we love, and this is such a kind offer. You can purchase tickets or gift cards by clicking the “Book Now” button at the top of the page. We will honor any online advanced ticket purchase through the end of the 2021 season, so you can feel secure knowing that a purchase to support us now will be valid when you are able to use it!!

As a thank you to anyone purchasing tickets or gift cards in the month of April, use code SEEYOUSOON to receive 10% off your purchase.

Stay home, stay safe, stay healthy, and we will hope to see you in the cave!

COVID-19

Hello Boyden Cavern Guests.

This is Maria writing. Along with my husband Daniel, and our son Calvin, we finally got Boyden Cavern reopened last year after almost 4 years of closure due to the Rough Fire. We did not expect to be starting our second season in the middle of such unprecedented times.

The situation is rapidly progressing and rules and procedures are added every day. I wanted to let you know that as of today, March 19, 2020, we are expecting to be able to open as normal when the road opens on April 24th.

Since so many things are currently unknown, we would like to extend our online ticket purchase refund/rescheduling policy to the following:

  • Any ticket purchased in 2020 can be rescheduled until the end of the 2021 season.

  • We will continue to offer refunds for any guest who requests it prior to 72 hours before the tour. Refunds requested between 72 hours and the midnight prior to the tour will be offered minus a fee of 18% OR rescheduled any time prior to the end of the 2021 season at no charge.

We want to sincerely thank everyone who visited us in 2019 to make our first season as Boyden Cavern operators a success. We are a small, local, seasonal business, so we appreciate any future guest who purchases tickets online in order to support our business at this time. Our family thanks you!

We will continue to post updates as we learn more and we plan to follow all guidelines put in place by the National Forest Service, the state and local government, the CDC and the WHO.

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