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AMERICAN FORK — As the temperatures rise and weather improves, every year thousands of hikers and spectators show up to Utah County’s Timpanogos Cave National Monument.
The monument will come with a $1 price increase this year — one that will allow visitors to the monument in American Fork Canyon to book a tour up to 30 days in advance, year-around.
It’s a service hikers have been requesting for a long time, Timpanogos Cave superintendent Jim Ireland said.
“That dollar we pass on to the contractor to run the ticketing system,” he added. “It is the fee they charge us — the service fee.”
Tickets can be purchased either over the phone or at the visitors' center at a cost of $8 for adults, $6 for teenagers and $4 for small children.
The increased fee likely won’t deter many visitors who regularly come from around the nation and world. Tours regularly sell out on the weekends during the summer, and Ireland said he expects plenty of crowds Saturday to enjoy the good weather.
The monument recently received an active trails grant from the National Park Foundation as one of 37 national parks aimed at supporting healthy living through outdoor activities like hiking, kayaking, snowshoeing and volunteering.
It's a good workout, good view, good education.
–Andrew Lesaca
“It’s a good workout, good view, good education,” visitor Andrew Lesaca said.
A better workout with the grant, which will help partner Timpanogos Cave with the American Fork Fitness Center and Lehi Legacy Center to support the program by assisting park visitors with fitness plans and coaching.
Those who visited the cave Friday afternoon say they will leave with memories they won’t ever forget.
“It’s pretty amazing that something someone found almost 100 years ago that people are still fascinated by it,” hiker Joy Capela of Los Angeles said. “Something that isn’t a new discovery, it’s still being discovered every day by visitors here.”
Contributing: Sean Walker
