Field trips are an integral part of geoscience courses. However, locations, such as caves, are often unsuitable for field trips due to accessibility, safety concerns and financial burden of bringing many students to this environment. Virtual reality (VR) technologies can bridge this gap and can potentially fulfill educational goals without the challenges accompanying physical navigation through such areas. In this work, we share our process for developing an initial VR prototype of a cave environment that includes the technology development and workshops with students, post-docs, and faculty members to help design the activities for a lab that will be based in the cave VR environment. After considering previous field trip experiences and potential areas of exploration in caves, the participants map out and visual activities for the VR. These designs are then translated to the VR system that will be used in a Purdue University course this Fall. This work can be expanded to future learning opportunities in high-risk areas, such as volcanoes and glaciers.