Caving is physically challenging but no experience is necessary for any of our tours.

Participants should be fit; anyone who hikes, cycles, rafts, skis, or snowshoes will enjoy this unique experience.

Appropriate dress for caving is warm but not bulky clothes such as jeans/long pants and t-shirt plus fleece/"hoodie" on top. (We provide coveralls, kneepads, gloves.) You will also need good footwear - hiking boots are best but a trail/sturdy running shoe will be fine.

Rats Nest Cave

Tours go year round.

Rat's Nest Cave is a wild, undeveloped cave with no artificial lights, boardwalks or handrails.

We offer several tours into Rat's Nest Cave.

The Adventure Tour includes an 18m (60 ft) rappel on a "figure-of-eight" rappelling device. This is backed up by a safety line. No experience is necessary as we provide instruction. While inside the cave participants will be climbing, crawling and squeezing (through the "Laundry Chute"). Allow 6 hours return to Canmore.
The Explorer Tour is similar to the Adventure tour but does not include the rappel or Laundry Chute. Allow 4.5 hours return to Canmore.
The Canyon to Cave Tour (June 15 to September 15) is a full day in the mountains that includes an Explorer tour into Rat's Nest Cave in the morning and an interpretive hike to the Pictographs up Grotto Canyon in the afternoon. Grotto Canyon is a spectacular natural feature left by past glacial streams. View the Red Ochre Pictographs left by our Native Ancestors several thousand years ago. Learn about the historical, spiritual and cultural nature of the area and summarize the significance of the drawings themselves. Your guide will help you to discover and interpret the flora and fauna that inhabit this unique environment. Lunch is included. Allow 8 hours return to Canmore.

Participants meet their guide at SOBEYS (see map - "where are we"), a big supermarket located at Railway Ave and 10th Street in Canmore, Alberta. From this meeting place you follow us, in your own vehicle, for a 10 minute drive to the cave parking area at the base of Grotto Mountain.

After assembling the caving gear, participants head up to the cave on a rugged, mountain trail. The hike is 20-30 minutes through pine forest to a canyon leading to the cave entrance. Here you change into caving equipment - helmets, lights, coveralls, kneepads & gloves (all provided). You will receive a safety briefing prior to starting the tour. Your knowledgeable guide will take you on a natural history tour of Rat's Nest Cave, an exciting underground world - etched and sculptured over hundreds of thousands of years - through twisting passages and chambers of stalactites & stalagmites, animal bones and fossils then finally down to the tranquil pool in the grotto.

Rat's Nest Cave is a constant 5°C (41°F) all year. Why is that? Because caves reflect the mean annual temperature so no matter what the outside weather it's always pleasant inside the cave. Like most alpine caves, it is cool in summer, mild in winter.
Bring 1 or 2 small, wrapped energy snacks such as a granola bar, chocolate bar etc. for taking into the cave and bottled water for when you come out. We recommend either a compact digital or disposable camera with flash for taking photos. Anything you wear or take into the cave will get covered in fine mud, so avoid new fancy clothing or camera equipment. There are no facilities at the cave site so use the toilets in Canmore before you go.

Do not expect to carry anything into the cave. You will need to have both hands free at all times. Backpacks are provided for carrying gear to the cave.

All participants are required to sign a waiver prior to the tour.

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