The hook
The only limestone caves in California's state parks are hidden in a desert mountain range so remote you can get in only by reservation, and only a few days a week.
01Why it's worth it
Out in the Providence Mountains, deep in the Mojave, a pair of limestone caves run back into the rock, hung with stalactites and stone draperies and the odd knobby formations cavers call helictites and cave coral. The Chemehuevi knew them long before a couple named Mitchell developed them as a roadside attraction in the 1930s and named the two chambers El Pakiva, the Devil's House, and Tecopa, for a Shoshone chief. The state took them over, then budget cuts shut the whole park for seven years until it reopened in 2017. Getting in is deliberately hard: guided tours only, a few days a week, booked through a reservation line that answers the phone one day a week, plus a mile-and-a-half hike across the desert just to reach the mouth. All of which keeps it as quiet and strange as a limestone cave in the middle of the Mojave ought to be.
02How to experience it
It's in the Providence Mountains State Recreation Area, a long way off Interstate 40 in the eastern Mojave, about nine hours from the Bay and hours from any town. Tours run Friday through Sunday and reservations are taken by phone only, so plan well ahead; there's a mile-and-a-half round-trip hike to the entrance. Bring water and a full tank, and treat it as a full desert day out near Kelso Dunes and the Preserve.