When Mother Nature comes home from work, she takes off her hat, cries in it, and puts it upside down under the bed to be buried in clutter and made into a cave. Take a look at Mother Nature’s sparkling tearcrystals with today's Groupon: for $18, you get a one-and-a-half-hour ladder tour of Colossal Cave plus dinner at Colossal Cave Mountain Park, about 45 minutes outside of Tucson. A ladder tour is an evening exploration of Colossal Cave’s rarely journeyed side routes.

During the course of this 90-minute adventure tour, you'll explore the Colossal Cave, a miles-long system of underground "dry" caves, which means there is not enough moisture for formations to continue growing, and you won't need any special shoes or suction-cupped foot gear. With nothing more than a hardhat and headlamp, you and a small group of fellow spelunkers (7–12 people) will climb and squeeze through narrow tunnels and subterranean passages revealing exquisite stalactite and stalagmite formations. A knowledgeable guide talks about the cave’s history (it had been used for centuries by prehistoric peoples) and legends (it was a bandit hideout in the late 1800s).

After you've emerged from the depths of the earth's crust, a hearty buffet dinner will refill your Thetan vessel's inner grotto. The hearty and well-balanced feast will include grilled chicken, fresh vegetables, and a surprise dessert (if you’d like to find out buffet specifics or request vegetarian dishes, ask about the menu while making your reservation). Weather permitting, a bonfire on the ramada will toast explorers’ toes and scare off any ghosts or sandworms that may have followed them up from the cavern. Tours are held every Saturday night, and the deadline for sign-up is the prior Thursday, so be sure to call ahead for reservations.

All tour participants must be 12+ years old.

Reviews

Yahoo! Travelers give Colossal Cave Mountain Park four stars. TripAdvisors give it 3.5 stars:

• I enjoy this cave more than any "wet" cave. Cave has a lot of history/stories entertainment. Lots of eye appeal. – Yahoo Contributor, Yahoo! Travel
• The basic tour is great for kids to experience. Easy walk, not claustrophobic. Plenty of time to take photos. – babersgob, TripAdvisor