Prohibition CAVE TOURS

Explore the Lava Caves near Bend, Oregon!

PLEASE NOTE: Due to Forest Service closures, we will be guiding in Lava River Cave for the summer of 2025. So that you fully understand what to expect on your cave tour, please take a look at the tour details below.

Did you know there is a vast network of caves near Bend, Oregon? Strap on a helmet and headlamp and join our naturalist guides for a fun, educational, underground adventure! These tours are a great Bend, Oregon family activity.

CARE TO MAKE YOUR TOUR PRIVATE?

Any group tour of 10 or more people (or price equivalent) can be made private and customized to your needs. Learn more >>

About

Adventure: Wanderlust Tours is the premier destination for cave tours in Bend, Oregon! We have been guiding in Central Oregon’s cave systems for over 30 years. Join us on this epic subterranean tour in a cave system within the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. Our renowned naturalist guides will highlight sweet bits of these cool caverns that might not initially meet the eye. 

Naturalist Guided Experience: In 1916, Oregon reinstated Prohibition, (4 years prior to the National Prohibition). But just like today, Oregonians loved their alcohol and had a passion for producing. We will start the tour by exploring a cave in a system known to have been used to distill spirits (illegally)! Scattered around the sage-covered High Desert lie ancient caves, buried by the volcanic upheavals in centuries known to past peoples.

The Cave: The cave we guide in has no paved path or lighting beyond the staircase into the mouth of the cave. This stunning lava tube is the longest discovered lava tube in the state with a round trip of over 2 miles! Its is also one of the earliest discovered caves in the state of Oregon. Your guide will help you and your group experience this stunning cave ecosystem to the fullest!
Closed toe shoes are a must to navigate the rocky and uneven terrain. We will outfit each guest with a helmet and headlamp as well!

Cave Difficulty: Mother Nature has created a wonderfully diverse array of caves that offer a variety of experiences. The walking surface is uneven and can be varying degrees of rugged and rocky. In our estimation, this cave presents an easy to moderate degree of difficulty as it involves many fun opportunities for scrambling up/down/around rocky areas and 3 flights of stairs with a hand railing into the mouth of the cave. On all our cave tours, our guides are attentive to keeping the pace suitable to all members of the group so that everyone can move at a comfortable speed.

Distillery: After caving, we’ll head to a local distillery. Guests will learn both the history and process of distilling (legally). We’ll enjoy local libations and from your most favored spirit we’ve included a happy hour cocktail of your choosing.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to Forest Service closures, we will be guiding in Lava River Cave for the summer of 2025. So that you fully understand what to expect on your cave tour, please take a look at the tour details below.

Updated Tour Details for Summer of 2025

Due to Forest Service closures impacting the area where our usual caves are located, we will be guiding in a new-to-Wanderlust cave for the summer of 2025.

• Lava River Cave is open to the general public (via ticket, in an un-guided fashion) each week, Friday - Monday. If you join us on a tour during these days, it is very likely you will see other people exploring in the cave as well. Public access closes at 2:00pm each day, meaning that for the afternoon Prohibition tour, members of the public that were already in the cave by 2:00pm may still be inside, but no additional people will be let in besides our group.

  • For tours booked Tuesday - Thursday, the cave is not open to the public but is open to educational experiences such as school groups so it is still possible there will be others in the cave during the tour.

• The cave we are guiding in for the summer of 2025 is still considered a “wild” cave meaning that beyond the staircase into the cave, there is no paved path or lighting. We will outfit each guest with a helmet at headlamp.

• The cave is the longest discovered lava tube in the state with a round trip of over 2 miles! Its is also one of the earliest discovered caves in the state of Oregon.

• We only have access to this cave until September 15th. After that, we will be unable to guide in any caves until spring of 2026. We invite you take advantage the limited opportunity before we stow away our helmets and headlamps.

PLEASE READ: WHITE NOSE SYNDROME IN NORTH AMERICA

In March 2016, WNS was found in Washington state. Wanderlust Tours is committed to cooperating with state and federal agencies, as well as conservation groups, to provide information to the public on the value of bats and the threat posed by WNS. Some of our Bend-area caves serve as winter hibernaculum, and we will not visit these caves. We operate year-round cave tours in caves where our bats do not hibernate. WNS does not affect humans in any way. Learn more about WNS in the United State here.