Peppersauce Cave

Useful Information

Location:	S Mt Lemmon Rd, Oracle, Arizona. Santa Catalina Mountains, 16 km south of Oracle, Arizona. From Oracle East Mount Lemon Highway and South Mount Lemon Road to Peppersauce Campground, 3.5 km after the campground at hard left turn with a small bridge and roadside parking. (32.52444, -110.70722)
Open:	No restrictions. [2026]
Fee:	free. [2026]
Classification:	Karst Cave Sacrifice Cave
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:
Guided tours:	V=23,000/a
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	S Mt Lemmon Rd, Oracle, Arizona.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1948	first description of the cave published by the Desert Magazine.
1951	article about the cave in the National Geographic Magazine.
2001	Peppersauce Cave Conservation Project (PCCP) established.

Description

Peppersauce Cave is a wild cave of the kind sacrifice cave. This means the cave is publicly known and visited by many people who like cave exploring as a sport. The cave has 23,000 visitors per year, a number which most show caves do not have.

The downside is the heavy vandalism and littering for over fifty years. The result was finally the discovery of E. Coli and coliform bacteria within the cave’s lakes in 2001. Obviously a result of people defecating in the cave. As a result the Peppersauce Cave Conservation Project (PCCP) was established in the same year. The group removed garbage and graffiti and completely cleaned the cave. As a result the bacteria had vanished in 2003. Additionally, there was an information kiosk erected at the cave entrance and a website created. The effort was honored by a grant from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), which allowed the purchase of the necessary equipment.

This is a wild cave, the level is easy caving or cave trekking. We have not found guided tours, but is you go on your own pleas follow the basic rules, good shoes, cave overall or old clothes, helmet with headlamp and at least one additional lamp. Never cave alone, tell someone where you go and when you expect to be back. Nice to haves are gloves, knee pads, clothes for change afterwards, plastic bag for the dirty equipment, some food and drink for a snack afterwards.