The tour is a walking tour and it lasts about 45 minutes. The ceiling is a little low in some places if you are tall. Also, wear decent shoes as there is a little water in the cave. You will have to walk through some small puddles. There is also a flight of stairs that you will have to walk at the beginning and the very end. The cave is beautiful and the guide is very knowledgeable. Highly recommended.As of 9/2020 the cave is only available to tour by reservations only and the weekends fill up quickly so call ahead!

Very nice 45 minute guided trek through the cave just minutes from downtown Dubuque. I think the cost was about 15 bucks for adults. Nice and cool in the cave...GREAT for a hot day

This tour was fantastic! Very knowledgeable and friendly guide/owner and really cool cave with lots to see. The history of the cave and the background on the formations were really well weaved during the tour. The owner takes great covid precautions and warns of some things beforehand like your shoes may get wet, which was appreciated. Really cool place to visit, would definitely come again.

Julie was amazing!!! She opened just for us and personally guided us through the cave! Such a great thing to do during this unprecedented time. Its also great to do as a couple or a family.

Wonderful unique experience. Beautiful cave. Courteous, knowledgeable staff. Awesome gift shop with one of kind souvenirs. Small town Iowa charm on this stop with reasonable prices. Well be back for sure!

Awesome experience for our daughter and two grandsons who are from Mobile, Alabama! Our guide is a super kind person who goes out of her way to make the experience memorable and is full of valuable knowledge. Our grandsons will be telling their friends and teachers back in Alabama all about this must see destination!

Amazing to see!! Well worth the visit and Julie is a superb tour guide! We had an excellent experience there, I highly revommend it!

Great place. Not awared that due to Covid reservations were required, owner squeezed an extra tour since we were leaving town. Great price fun place.

Excellent tour with beautiful views! Our guide was the owner and she was amazing! So knowledgeable and really cared for the protection of the cave and crystals, hearing all of the facts of formation of the Crystals as well as how the cave became was fascinating! Well worth your trip, will definitely come back for the longer tour next time we are in Iowa!

See the rest for yourself!! Great visit. It’s amazing our earth!

Had a great time with my son and a guide going through this cave and viewed this amazing wonder of nature claiming back an old cave. We also viewed this underground crystal clear lake. Its worth the $15 price.Im told that plans are in the works for a mini disc coarse as well as several other special treats.

Figuratively as well as literal sense of the word, Crystal Lake Cave is indeed a GEM! While traveling it is inevitable one will see billboards and most likely give little thought to it thereafter. My significant other and I were very pleased with our visit there. Friendly staff, informative guide and a rock-hounds dream gift shop all combine to give you a memorable experience. This is a must visit... period.

Awesome wet, drippy cave tour at 52 degrees. Lots of neat unique formations. White onyx and pure calcite formations. Our 3 young kids loved it! Gem mining is available through the gift shop. Recommend getting the large tan bag to sift rather than the small bags. It is much more worth the price tag.

Awesome experience! Great for all ages. A toddler got a bit scared but otherwise great fun. The guide was super. A little cool and wet. Wear a jacket. Wear good shoes they may get a bit wet with the small puddles. Well worth the money.

Such a cool place! The guided tour is approximately an hour long. The tour guide was very informative (it blows my mind that shes able to remember all that information!) There are some really cool looking formations inside the cave. Definitely a unique experience!

This place is awesome!

A very cool cave, our tour guide Hannah tooks us on a very informative 45 minute trip through the cave. We had a group of 16 with 8 of them being kids and she did a great job. The kids loved it and so did the adults.

Neat little geological tourist spot. My girlfriend and I went on an hour long tour of the limestone cave and we had a blast! The stalactites were cool to see in person and I grabbed a lot of memorable photos.

A Cool place to visit! Literally.It was in the upper 90s today when we visited and I was about to die of the heat. That is until we went down into the cave. It was 50 degrees in there, and it felt great! I didnt want to leave. The tour was pretty cool too seeing all the different formations of stalagmites and stalactites.If you need a place to cool off on a hot summer day, this is a great place for that!

My husband and son loved it! The guide was excellent!

Pretty awesome views! Has a fun activity for the kids. Not a lot of parking. So glad we stopped here to visit!!

I beg you all to never visit this place if you knew what I know about it its owner its past and future you would never consider visiting this place again or ever feel free to write me for more specific details.

Well worth the short trip from Galena. A must if you are in the area!

The tour guide was very nice and we enjoyed our time at this wonderful cave.

This cave was a great experience, even for our kids ages 3&5. It is all very level, only stairs were down to cave and up from cave. The cave was well kept, and our tour guide made the tour fun. Good experience and I would recommend!

Very cool attraction. The kids loved it! Our tour guide was fantastic. Was worth the money.. would go again.

It was a blast! For $15 you get to experience the caves in the natural state! My 9 year old niece and 6 year old niece enjoyed it a lot! They are in girl scouts and wanted to get their cave badges. Make sure you take a light jacket with cause its only 52 degrees down in the caves year round! Our guide was AWESOME! She was knowledgeable!

Tour guides and employees in general had great personalities! All of them were smiling, knowledgeable, kind, made eye contact and they were patient with the children in the group. Great for a day visit.

The tour is about 45 minutes by guide. As in most caves, its a good idea to have a light jacket because its about 50 degrees. Hiking boots are recommended. The gift shop is not too big, but there is an interesting collection of stones. The staff there are kind and polite.

Its a neat place for kids. They need to repair there mining floam, staircase hand railings and a lot of there lighting.

This was an awesome cave, lots to see, easy walking too!!!!

This place is absolutely amazing

Absolutely beautiful and the guide was knowledgeable and energetic!

Tried to book a tour but nobody answers the phone. Tried randomly for 3 hours and gave up. Guess they dont want the busines.

Super cool! More extensive than we expected, and beautiful rock formations throughout the cave.

It is ok, not high ceilings but ok for kids. Take care if you are really BIG, there are narrow and low spots in the aisles.

Very interesting place to visit, the tour guide was knowledgeable and funny. We walked 45 minutes inside the caves. Unique place should be supported and protected.

Very cool.. My kids loved it.. It is chilly no matter the outside temp so follow the advise on their website and dress for the chill like we did and you will have a great time! Excellent tour guides.

Awesome place to go visit! A must see. The staff was super friendly!

Must stop when going through this part of Iowa!

This is a really cool little hidden gem a short drive from Dubuque or Galena. The cave had some neat history and interesting formations, and the tour guide was great. Great for a hot summer day, too, as the cave is always cool inside.

Little bit smaller than I expected. Overall good experience . Friendly staff. Not too expensive. Took my 5 yr old for the first time. He was all excited and enjoyed the time in cave. End of the day thats what matters

Nice cave. Lot of cool formations.

Highly recomend for a family trip!! They incorporate stories and imagery with the formations which makes it very kid friendly. It was about a half hour tour which is short for $15 a person bit it was a great experience. This cave was more cave like with sharp turns and tight spaces and low ceilings which was a great unique experience!

Fastest cave tour I have ever been on. Bring your track shoes. (Maybe limit group size.) Great cave from what I saw.

Interesting, but only 3 stars for two reasons. We were here a couple years back and that was 5 stars, guide was amazing and tour was longer. This time guide was poor, sounded like she was reading from a script, the tour was also so short, we didnt see all the things we did last time. They skipped sections we saw last time. Felt short changed. Will not be back.

Very interesting place! Guide was informative and friendly and did a nice job of pointing out the different formations inside of the cave. They do give military a discount! Very nice of them to do so.

Great price and the staff was wonderful!

Its fun but dress warm its cold inside.

This place is a totally retro cave like we visited when I was a kid. Guide did a great job. Small cave but fun. Swag in gift shop was too retro for my taste.

Stopped here on a family trip. My whole family loved it, even my 2 year old. You have to take the guided tour (otherwise you would definitely get lost in all the tunnels). Its easy to traverse, but there is water on the ground and some narrow and low passageways. There werent any bats when we went, but sometimes there are, so be aware of that. The guide told us they recently started spelunking in less explored areas. This is for adventurous people, who arent claustrophobic and dont mind belly crawling. Youd have to call for more details.

Im neutral they sent us away bc covid they mandate appt. Only

Tour was close to an hour. Plenty of interesting things to see within the cave. The people were really nice there. Worth seeing as a couple or with the family. Not recommend for folks that have trouble walking. Dont wear sandals!

Great experience though I would recommend getting closed toe shoes when going in the cave because there are cave kisses (aka water that has iron and calcium) and there are bigggggg puddles things are really expensive though for cloths but other than that really great experience and amazing for toursists

Was in Dubuque for an event and wanted to take my kids on something fun while in town. We go to zoos a lot so passed on the aquarium. Chose the cave. Kids had fun on the 45 minute tour but got a little long for the 5 and 2 year old. 8 year old really enjoyed it. Tour guide was okay...knowledgeable but didnt have the wow factor after paying $29 for admission. This is overpriced. Paid for a bag of sand and rocks to pan for in their outdoor panning station. The place just had tourist trap written on it but it was still a good way to let the kids run around.

Amazing place with very wonderful stalactites and stalactites. Not very expensive (14$ - adults, 7$ - childs)

Great to walk around here. On several spots it is very narrow and very low. The guide is brilliant and has very well knowlodge of the cave. Tells you a lot. Everywhere are marked spots with self given names. You must visit this cave and look for yourself. I can sure recommend this.

My kids loved the tour and sifting sand. We bought bags of sand with gemstones in them from the gift shop that had full size stones and a spear head in them. Well worth the trip!

My husband & I enjoyed our cave tour. It felt great inside the cave with it being hot outside. Our tour guide was great & very knowledgeable.

Stumbled on this place on the way to Galena. Worth every minute and penny. Awesome Rock formations, interesting trivia... Beautiful!!!

Was a very different cave than most I have been in. Some nice formations and a lot of narrow passageways. If you like caves, would recommend this one as it is different than the usual.

Pretty awesome cave tour here in Iowa. They do have other tours where you get to crawl deep into the caves compared to the regular tour. Great for kids and nice to cool off from the summer heat lol.

Nice tour for families. Bring a headlamp or flashlight to see better.

I was expecting this to be like maquoketa caves. But you have to pay for a tour. It is neat thats there are real crystals in this cave but you are not allowed to touch them. I completely understand though. I just think its a bit expensive and not what I was looking for.

Fun stop while in the area. Definitely recommend close toed shoes due to small amounts of standing water. Really enjoyed the tour and the area.

So much fun for the family!!

Our kids really enjoyed the tour. Staff was friendly. The panning for fossils was neat with several shark teeth in it.

Fun family friendly cave walk. Inexpensive. About 45 minutes guided tour

This was a great tour. The tour guide was great and the experience was amazing!

My husband & I decided to travel to Crystal Lake Caves on a spur of the moment decision one Saturday morning a few weekends back. It was our first time visiting a cave & enjoyed it very much. We loved seeing the different formations & the tour guide was informative. We had good laughs about the cave dripping on me & my hubby was at the end of tour group, so he often go stuck being the one having to stoop down under low overhangs while the guide talk...not a complaint, we got giggled about it along with other tour members.I recommend visiting Crystal Lake Caves for a first cave visit. It was fairly cheap to do the tour & lasted awhile, maybe an hour...I didnt keep track as we having a good time. We were allowed to take pictures & did so quite a bit.

The tour was good but very rushed...but we went on a holiday weekend :/ . It is a very gorgeous cave system and it has some awesome and unique features and formations to look at!

Cave was beautiful. Our tour guide WIll was awesome. Knew how to work a crowd and keep it interesting.

Very enjoyable expirence! The cave was beautiful and our guide Kathryn was friendly & informative!

The cave is a great place to visit, tons of rock formations a d lots of history. It can get wet down their so dont forget some good shoes.

Great tour guide! Pretty cave. Good prices.

Really pretty limestone cave! Easy for people to walk in, too!

This is an awesome experience!! The tour guide was awesome, patient and answered every question thrown her way. This was a spur of the moment thing we decided to do when we were in town for a weekend getaway with a couple friend of ours. We all thoroughly enjoyed it.

Awesome cave, a lot of fun, it is gorgeous inside, I highly recommend

Beautiful formations an easy walking tour for young and old . Grandkids were in awe just like their parents were years ago.

Nice cute cave. Privately owned and nice staff. Thought it would be more than what it was.

I absolutely LOVED this place! Great for family outings, dates or personal trips. The type guides are fantastic! You learn a lot. Its a nice sight. The view of the water underground is breathtaking! We picked up a pressed penny and a Geode to break open with our kids.Next time my husband and come back we plan on scheduling one of the private tours where you get to go through the crawl spaces with a guide!Highly recommend Crystal Lake Caves to everybody!

I really enjoyed it! As did all kids I was with. Make sure you bring a sweater and shoes that can get a little wet. Guide was quirky and fun, and gift shop was neat and well put together.

My son and I went on the Wild Cave Tour for his 13th birthday. Wow! What an amazing experience. We have been to Mammoth Cave, Meramec Cave, Cave of the Mounds, etc... this was by far the best experience of them all. Crawling through passages that are barely wide enough to get through, drinking from the underground spring, seeing the forming stalactites, all were amazing. The guide was great also (Eli). It is muddy so dress appropriately.

Great place to see and the tour guides do an amazing job!

Very fun to visit again. Awesome tour guide!

Very nice place , but be careful , specially big person - watch your head , water proof shoes maybe good idea and light jacket

Great stop on a hot day. Been in caves before. This one was more personal of a tour. It was fun. Not too long. Enjoy exploring.

It was so beautiful in the cave. So many different formations to see. The owner Julie was wonderful! I would recommend seeing this amazing cave. The crazy part is you would never know there was a cave in this hilly field .

The end of the cave was closed because of drainage/rain water issues and couldnt see the Lake. Formations are cool.

Great Tour Guide! Very knowledgeable and Informative!

Wonderful nature, you can find out how amazing could be under this ground that you walk on it.

Took family their for the first time really awesome learn alot great thing to do with everyone .

Crystal Lake Cave is a awesome place! I would recommend this to anyone that loves to go spelunking.

Neat to see so close to home. No long but not too short. Cool even in summer. A coat, fleece or sweater is good. the path is not claustrophobic. I would call and confirm hours before venturing out. The cost is modest and the location very convenient to Dubuque

Was a fun place

Very neat tour! Kids loved it and we will be back soon!

Fun experience to share with your family. I was surprised this cave was tucked away so close to home. Be prepared to wait until the tour time. You need to purchase your ticket and wait until it starts. Call ahead to find out the intervals so you can minimize your wait. We missed the tour by a few minutes and had to wait a while with toddlers.

Great tour guide easy pace to view.

My family had a great time. We had ages from 3 to 40 and all had fun. Might want to bring a jacket, its a constant 51 degrees in the cave year round.

Best part of are trip was going to this cave we all loved it !!!