Moqui Cave

Sandstone cave converted into a roadside museum of Native American artefacts

Moqui Cave is a natural sandstone cave about 8 km north of Kanab on US-89, converted in the 1950s into a commercial attraction that mixes genuine palaeontological and archaeological interest with classic American roadside showmanship. Inside the cave, displays include dinosaur tracks, mineral fluorescents, Native American pottery and artefacts, and a collection of sandstone formations. The temperature inside stays around 10°C year-round regardless of the desert heat outside.

It is unabashedly kitschy and the displays mix the real and the questionable in a way that archaeological purists will find uncomfortable. But as an example of a certain tradition of American roadside attraction — the eccentric cave museum — it is genuinely entertaining. Entry fees are modest; the cave is seasonal (closed in winter). Worth 45 minutes if you are passing on US-89.

things to do sight museum
A story
Moqui Cave began its tourist life in the 1950s when local entrepreneur Garth Chamberlain converted a natural sandstone cave into a bar and dance hall. The cave maintained a constant cool temperature year-round — ideal for a saloon in southern Utah. When the bar business ran its course, Chamberlain replaced it with a collection of Native American artefacts and fossils, some of legitimate archaeological significance. The combination of neon signs and dinosaur tracks gives the cave an unmistakably mid-century American roadside character.

Other places in Things to Do