Vancouver Island has many cave systems to visit, but the caves at Horne Lake Caves Park have got to be the best on the island, caving here is something that all should do at least once in their lives. You can do quite a variety of tours here.
Up until the late 60s, the caves at Horne Lake Caves Park were unprotected but at the request of numerous spelunking groups, the area and caves were protected by the creation of the park, this was 1971. Now guides lead you through most of the caves, you can enter some smaller caves unguided. There is a cave and karst education center here where you can learn about caves and how they form. They have a fossil display here and Canada’s only cave theatre.
Most of the tours require a reservation but in the riverbed system, it is on a first-come, first-serve basis during the hours of 10 am to 5 pm from May until September. This tour is 90 minutes long and a great way to get the feel of caving. There is a 3-hour tour available also.
For those wanting more adventure, you can take one of the 4 or 5-hour tours or the 5-hour tour down the waterfall, this is intense. It is a 5-hour excursion that has cavers rappel down a 7-story waterfall into the depths of a cave and then climb back out on a cable ladder. This is a high climb, you should be in pretty good shape to take this adventurous drop into the dark underbelly of Vancouver Island. Whatever tour you pick, you will agree that these caves are pretty awesome.
There is no camping right at the Horne Lake Caves Park, but you can camp at the Horne Lake Regional Park, this is a very nice campground with areas for tent camping and RV sites as well. There are no hookups here for power or water, so please come prepared. You can also camp at the Horne Lake Outdoor Center which is not far from here. This is a great place for large groups like school trips. You can even stay in teepees. So come on up to Horne Lake, go caving, fish the lake, camp in a teepee, and just have one heck of an adventure.