School Days

Lining up for the cave tour

On any given week day in April and May when you pull into the parking lot at DeSoto Caverns Family Fun Park you are likely to see big yellow busses and hear the laughter of children.
During these two months of the year, DeSoto Caverns hosts over 150 School Field trips. This equates to over 11,000 students, teachers, bus drivers and parent chaperones. Many of the schools are local to Alabama, but some travel from as far away as Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Louisiana.

Students enjoy a both fun and educational day in the park. Most all of the groups experience a one-hour cave tour where they learn how caves are formed, see many types of formations and experience "Total Darkness". They pan for gemstones and find their way through the 3/4 acre maze in the park. School groups who are not on a tight schedule enjoy other attractions such as the Cave Crawl Box, Wall Climb, Cannon Wars, and Spin N Tilt just to name a few. Many groups bring their lunch and enjoy eating under the Coosa Pavilion and playing in the playground located next to the pavilion. Others elect to have an old-fashioned wiener and marshmallow roast or pizza party.

Most all of the students arrive with a little jingle in their pockets and can't wait to get in the gift shop to search for that special souvenir. They munch on the homemade fudge made at the park and hand-dipped Blue Bell Ice Cream as they roam the isles looking for the perfect take away.
There is always a crowd around the Rock table which displays a broad selection of rocks and

Rock Collection

gemstones. Most little ones just can't resist a vial of gold, bag of gemstones, a piece of fool's gold or a crack open geode. Others go for the handcrafted marble turtles new this year at the shop. And then you have those that prefer a piece of Native American memorabilia such as an Indian headdress, tom tom, flute,or spear. Arrowhead, crystal point, and hematite necklaces are also among the most popular souvenirs and of course everyone wants to take home a sharks tooth.

Most school groups arrive to the park between 9 and 10 am and depart between 1 - 2 pm. We have a special group of students who just can't get enough in one day so they elect to spend the night. That's right.....in the cave.

Overnight Adventure

They bring their sleeping bags and after an afternoon of fun in the park, they journey into the cave for a special 2 hour lantern light tour and movies of their choice on a giant blow up screen in the massive cathedral room of the cave.

School group season at the park is always fun for the staff as well. We all look forward to serving the students. If you are a student reading the blog and would like to visit be sure to tell your teacher about our field trip packages. If you are a student who has experienced a field trip at DeSoto Caverns, please respond to the blog. We would love to hear about your experience!

New Attractions at DeSoto Caverns Family Fun Park

In addition to over 25 Wacky Attractions, DeSoto Caverns Family Fun Park is adding 5 new attractions to the park this season!  The new attractions include bumper cars, Tubs of Fun, a giant slide, bumper boats and a water roller.  Both the water roller and bumper boats opened April 1st along with the other water attractions in the park!