Rickwood Caverns State Park Campground

Rickwood Caverns was the first car camping experience I ever had. My husband and I went sans kids to see if we liked tent camping and test out our gear. We are total beginners. 

We got there at 5:15 and the shop/office closes at 5pm. There was a sign with a phone number for assistance in late check in. No one answered and our VM was never returned. No big deal. We didn’t have a pass in our car and no one cared or checked.

The campground is small. Each of the primitive campsites has a fire pit and picnic table. Our table had seen better days and was missing one bench. Somewhere in the vicinity, there was a faucet for washing dishes, etc., but it was surrounded by a giant mud puddle. There’s another faucet area in the parking lot near the bathroom/shower building. 

We reserved site #17 and there were two other tents pitched nearby. I reserved the site on Alaparks’ website and I think I paid $14/night. The park is gated and locked each evening. It is an old state park and a bit run down. The bathroom/shower building is very old, but it was tidy and I did see someone clean it on Saturday morning.

We toured the caverns on Saturday at 10am with a small group and enjoyed the tour. Tours are discounted for campers. The tour didn’t include so much geological information as it was about rocks shaped as animals, etc. It would have been cool to learn more about the history and sciency stuff. Something really interesting about the history to me was that the caverns were basically blasted out and excavated by Boy Scouts in the 50s. Seriously. With dynamite. 

The caverns have steep stairs that can be muddy and wet. Lots and lots of steps, so definitely not an activity for folks with mobility issues. Children might struggle too. 

The park is kind of near a highway and I could hear cars in the evening and at night. 

Cell phone reception was fine. 

Temps were low 50s in overnight and bugs were only an issue around dusk. (This was in late April).

Because the campground is so small, primitive camping area is close to camper parking lot, so there was a little camper community close by but that didn’t bother us. 

Rickwood Caverns is a low frills place for tent camping for beginner campers. The caverns might be fun to tour again in December when they have their Christmas lights up.

We stayed for a week in the primitive loop and loved it! Besides one couple who was only there for one night, my family had the loop all to ourselves. There is a potable water spigot and trash cans, and the sites are well maintained. The ranger delivered firewood to us after hours for $5 a bundle. The bathhouse is within walking distance and was very clean. The check in and out staff was very friendly and helpful. There is a gate with a code for access after hours, which helped us feel safe. We have been down in the caverns before, so we didn’t go this time. The cave tour is a bit expensive and there are a LOT of stairs inside. The pool was closed because of the time of year we visited, but it looks very nice. We did not go on the trails, but my children foraged for sticks to use in our campfire. Unfortunately, there was aluminum foil and plastic in our fire ring when we got there, but I know the sites had been sold out the previous weeks. Though you can see the other primitive sites, there is more than enough space between sites. The RV sites are far enough away that it is very quiet at night (though you can hear interstate and county road traffic). It rained one entire day and night while we were there, and the road was questionable. I was worried about getting my SUV stuck. We would definitely visit again…mainly due to how quiet it has been each time we’ve stayed.

Made a weekend trip to Rickwood Caverns and it was nice. There’s not much going on other than the cavern tour which is pretty good. It’s about an hour and a half start to finish with a fair amount of walking. They give a small discount to campers but it was still $47 for a family of 4 (12 and up are “adults”, so we had 3 adults and one child). If you have $47 to burn, go for it. If you’ve been to Ruby Falls, you won’t see anything remotely as impressive. But this is about camping so moving on.

The sites are pretty small. We had site 10 and for our 30’ trailer, it was tight. Not really even able to put out our rug since the power and water were right out the door. Sites 1-5 are basically just a big open area with not much for boundaries. Sites 6 and 7 are where it’s at. 8 and 9 are not bad. 10-13 are very unlevel and again, small and one of them (#11) is taken up by the security guy who is super nice and can tell you everything about the park, especially the history as he’s been there 7 years as of this review.

I wouldn’t try to make more than a weekend of it here to be honest. There’s 2 trails but the entrance to the bigger one isn’t well marked and not kept up. It was too muddy to hike so I don’t know then contrition.

There is a pool (fed by cavern waters) but it wasn’t open yet (Memorial Day to Labor Day). It’s apparently very cold at first since the water is pumped in from underground. The pool look like it was pretty nice. There is a gift shop and the staff are all very nice folks. The bathhouse was very clean as well.

Having been there I’m not sure we would return but it’s worth a visit for sure.

This is a very small campground- 13 improved sites (nine of these have 50 amp electric and can accommodate all sizes of rigs; four are designed for smaller units and have 30 amp electric) plus five primitive sites, which have communal water only (no electric). There is zero privacy/separation between the improved sites, which would make the unimproved sites possibly more appealing (but further from the restroom and it was pouring when we were there). Improved sites are gravel and include a BBQ, fire ring, and a very large picnic table. Rates are $16 for a primitive site/$29 for an improved site plus a $4.75 processing fee for the first night of your stay. Senior discounts are given. 

The restrooms are functional and clean but basic. There was a leak in the roof from the pouring rain that could pose a slipping hazard. 

There are a large picnic pavilion and two short hiking trails of about a mile each. We hiked the Fossil Mountain trail, which is very rocky. The main draw to this park is the cave. Tours are offered four times daily, January through November. If you camp, you receive a discount on the tour. The tour is worth doing.

This was a small campground, and while initially unimpressive, we had a really great time here and there was surprisingly a lot to do and keep you busy.

When we first drove in to the "regular" part of the campground, I found it unappealing as it seemed more like a parking lot with a bunch of RV sites, but we were able to stay in the primitive camping "loop" and had SO much space and woods to run in, hills to climb, and space to explore. It was absolutely perfect for kids. There are only a few of these sites and while you can see them from each other, there is so much space between them that it feels more private. The sites were bordered by woods and hills which gave the kids lots to explore.

The pool was closed when we were there in April, but I believe they said it was closed indefinitely.

The cave tour are a real highlight of the park. The cave is fascinating and fun to tour too - lots of tight spaces and interesting formations. There is a bit of climbing (stairs) so if that's not your thing, you may want to think twice. We saw lots of super cute tiny bats but none of them ever bothered us.

There is also a cute playground for the little ones and a great hiking trail that was absolutely gorgeous.

Overall a surprisingly awesome park!