Tucked along the side of Interstate 15 near Fillmore, Utah, Tabernacle Hill Lava Tubes is a wonderful playground for adventurers who love caves, caverns, and lava tubes. Tabernacle Hill Lava Tubes are these awesome underground tunnels formed by flowing lava during volcanic eruptions. The whole area is massive, with tons of things to see and tubes to explore. We spent a whole day there and only barely scratched the surface. If you have young children, they would totally love this place. Not only children, but we couldn’t have enough of it. In this blog, we will show you how to get there and how to explore some of the tubes that we did.
Parking for Lava Tubes:
38.9128208 -112.5311290
Wide dirt opening for parking
Free
None
There isn’t a set distance. You can explore as much as you want.
Easy
Takes average 2-4 hours or more depending on how much you want to explore.
Cooler months since it can get very warm there. Noon sun will give you really cool lighting through skylights.
Dogs are allowed but we don’t recommend bringing them inside the lava tubes.
Tabernacle Hill Lava Tubes is located west of Meadow and just southwest of Fillmore, Utah. Getting to this place is a fun adventure in itself. To get to the Tabernacle Hill Lava Tubes, you will be driving on 7.3 miles of dirt roads. The roads are well-maintained, with nothing more than a little bit of washboard here and there. Although you don’t need 4WD vehicles, we recommend bringing a high-clearance vehicle. If you continue to head over to Scout Tubes, you WILL need a 4WD and high-clearance vehicle.
From South of Fillmore, get off I-15 at the Meadow exit. Then, turn south onto Main Street. Follow Main Street to Center Street and turn right (west) at the sign for White Mountain. Follow this well-maintained dirt road for about 3.8 miles before turning left onto W 2300 S St/Squidike Rd. Stay on this road for about 1.8 miles until you see the sign that says “Lava Tubes 2.’ Here, turn left. This road is very bumpy. The further that you drive down the road, the more evidence you will see that this area was once a violent place full of glowing volcanic eruptions. Black lava rock stretches way off towards the horizon. In about 2 miles, you’ll reach the parking lot. It is a big dirt area with a big informational sign for lava tubes and Vulcan’s Subway
We were able to set our GPS to Tabernacle Hill Lava Tubes using Google Maps. We listed the coordinates for the main parking area above if you need them.
There are lava tubes on both sides of the parking area of Tabernacle Hill Lava Tubes. However, we started on the left side (if you are facing the small hill), just because. The first collapse you come to has access to 2 different tubes; the one on the far end is the darkest and deepest of the tubes in the area, and the closer one is the most photogenic.
If you plan on visiting, we recommend bringing a flashlight, grippy shoes, a helmet, and gloves. We found Tabernacle Hill Lava Tubes spontaneously on our road trip, so we unfortunately didn’t have gloves or a helmet. This lava rock is extremely sharp, and if you bump your head, you are most likely going to leave with some cuts.
To get to the lava tubes on this side, look for a large opening in the middle of the field, where the collapse of the lava tube is. You’ll have to climb up a pile of lava boulders to get into both tubes in this collapse. Make sure to be careful. Some of the boulders are sturdy, while others will roll out from under you. This is not the place that you want to fall.
Almost as soon as we entered the first tube, we left the daylight behind. I thought that this was going to lead us to a dead end. However, there was a lot more tube to be explored on the other side of a tight squeeze. This is the tightest of the tubes in the Tabernacle Hill Lava Tubes area that we explored. After the tight squeeze, we saw daylight and thought that we had reached the other side. That is, until Vy shone her light over to the left, exposing even more tunnels.
The tube off to the left is even smaller. While I was able to walk through a good portion of it, Dustin had to duck to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling. There are some really neat formations in this section. In some areas, the rocks look like soft, flowing fabric. As we continued, the tube got smaller and smaller until Dustin decided to stop. Since I’m smaller, I decided to press on. Eventually, it got too small even for me. Here, I also spotted a tiny bat. Not wanting to disturb it any further, we turned back through the tiny tunnel and exited out the backside of the cave.
The backside of the cave is pretty, but we didn’t find any major lava tubes to explore over here. There are small pockets, but that is about it. We ended by climbing out of the collapse to head back over to the parking area. Along the way, I discovered a tiny Lava tube, a small hole in the ground. Curious, I jumped in and was able to fit into the entrance. Dustin, on the other hand, was too big. This little entrance opens to a decent-sized chamber with a small opening, about 20ft away.
On the right side of the parking area for Tabernacle Hill Lava Tubes, you will find a much taller lava tube. For some reason, when we visited, someone had left what looked like a bunch of firewood in this cave. If you plan on visiting, please be sure to clean up after yourself. Even though you may think that these are just hollow tubes, these tubes date back between 14,500 – 16,000 years.
This tube is fairly short. Unlike the first lave tube that had no interruptions, this tube has several sections with skylights. These skylights were created when the ceiling collapsed. These skylights can be quite dramatic and photogenic if you visit at the right time of day. This is the end of this section of lava tube. You can either head back out the way you came, or if you want some excitement, you can find a spot to climb the sheer walls of the collapsed tubes.
This collapse continues on for some ways and eventually opens up to a wide expanse that has to be around 200 feet at its widest parts. If you are really determined, you can stay in the trench and walk over to the next section, or you can do what we did, and drive over to the next set of tubes, which you can find using these coordinates: 38°54’38.9″N 112°31’55.8″W
The first tube you will find here is at least 2 times the size of the tubes that we explored so far in the Tabernacle Hill Lava Tubes area. Unfortunately, it isn’t very long, but its scale is quite impressive. On the other side of it, you will find a huge collapse. At the time of our visit, this spot had its own ecosystem with green moss covering many of the rocks. On the back left side of the collapse, there is another cave. This cave goes in about 30 feet before ending abruptly. This area is massive, and there are tons of exploration. However, without 4WDs and a good map, we don’t recommend driving further to Scout Cave. That road is super bumpy, and you’ll get stuck without a 4WD vehicle. If you’re ready to leave, we recommend going back the way you came in.
Overall, this amazing spot is definitely worth a visit if you find yourself in the area. If you love lava tubes, check out Kaumana Caves in the Big Island, or Crater of the Moon in Idaho. If you love caves, check out Goshute Cave in Nevada. It’s a fun, wild cave. For official caves, check out Lehman Caves, Boyden Caverns in Kings Canyon, and Carlsbad Caverns.
Happy Adventuring. Don’t forget to check out the related posts below for more inspiration on your upcoming adventures. While at it, follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our YouTube channel! We’ll love you forever!
These are the gear that we personally use and find helpful for this particular adventure. Don’t forget to check out our Recommended Gear section as well.
Our favorite biodegradable, eco-friendly, reef-safe sunscreen!
This is Vy's favorite hiking bag! It has tons of room for snacks and water!
It's always good to bring a GPS tracker with you. We use the Garmin inReach.
This jacket is packable into a super small and light little ball. Perfect for when you just need a little…
This jacket is packable into a super small and light little ball. Perfect for when you just need a little…
Our favorite hiking/travel jacket. It's warm and packable, perfect to bring on a hike or a road trip.
Our favorite hiking/travel jacket. It's warm and packable, perfect to bring on a hike or a road trip.
If you tend to have foot blisters on hikes, get this! We use this all the time.
Our favorite head light! It's super bright and long-lasting. We bring this on hikes, caving, and more.
Compact GoPro pole that extends to 25", perfect to bring on your adventure.
This is our go-to camera for all of our adventures. It comes with us everywhere!
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Hi! We are Dustin & Vy, the proud creators of Live That Adventure. We created this website because we wanted to inspire others to live their lives to the fullest. On here, you’ll find everything from hiking, canyoneering, kayaking, and snorkeling to adventure and travel tips, gear reviews, and bucket list items such as bungee jumping or wing walking. We’ll show you the ropes so you can do them too!
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