Westcave Preserve: tours, fees and reservations

Westcave Preserve, run by the nonprofit Westcave Outdoor Discovery Center on 76 acres near Round Mountain, opens to the public on a fixed schedule only: guided tours Saturdays and Sundays at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Weekdays are reserved for booked school groups and other programs, not individual visitors. The preserve's site states plainly that a reservation is required, that visits are by guided tour only, and that booking opens a month in advance (westcave.org, checked September 2026).

Tours cost $20 for adults and $10 for children ages 4 to 15 as of August 2026, per the preserve's site. Tickets are sold online, and a small nonprofit can change its rates without much notice, so check the current price when you book. The land is private, and the rules here are the nonprofit's rules rather than a state park's; our guide on how to check whether a spot is legal to visit covers what that difference means in practice.

The tour drops into a lush box canyon along a fast-moving stream shaded by bald cypress, where a fern-lined waterfall cools a shady grotto (Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine, Protecting paradise at Westcave Preserve). The walk starts on a flat trail through live oak and juniper savanna, then heads down on steps into the canyon. Formations like this wear quickly under open foot traffic, and the guided-only model keeps that traffic controlled: docents ask visitors to stay on the trail and not collect anything.

This page was compiled from the Westcave Outdoor Discovery Center's own site and Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine's account of the preserve. We haven't visited this site ourselves. Tour schedules and prices are set by the nonprofit and can change without much notice; verify current details at westcave.org before you go. Reservation rules last checked September 2026; pricing as of August 2026.