Rangers lead more than 10 different tours during the peak summer months at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. Courtesy Mammoth Cave National Park
By Herb Sparrow
“Caves are places of imagination for some people,” said a National Park Service ranger at Carlsbad Caverns.
“Folks are always telling us about new things they see,” said Joe Proctor of Virginia’s Shenandoah Caverns. “Like clouds going by, you see something new each time.”
Descending underground to marvel at rock formations, whose unusual shapes spark such imaginative names as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Giant’s Coffin and the Lion’s Tail, has intrigued visitors for centuries. America’s second-oldest tourist attraction is Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.
“You get to feel adventure, exploration, the unknown,” said Vickie Carson, public information officer for Mammoth Cave National Park. “You don’t know where you are going and what you will encounter.”
Here are some caves where you can encounter the unknown and let your imagination run wild.
Mammoth Cave National Park Mammoth Cave, Ky. Mammoth Cave comes by its name naturally. A tourist attraction since 1816, it is the largest cave system in the world. It has more than 365 miles of mapped passageways, and more continue to be added.
To put its size in perspective, if the second- and third-longest caves in the world were placed end to end, Mammoth Cave would still be longer by more than 100 miles.
With a constant temperature in the mid-50s, the cave is open year-round and offers a wide variety of tours, peaking at 11 different ones in the summer.
Carson said a good introductory tour is the Frozen Niagara. “It goes a short distance into the cave,” she said. “You see stalactites and stalagmites, and it is almost all level walking.”
The Historic Tour, which covers two miles in two hours, traverses the cave’s famous wide Broadway Avenue and large Rotunda to popular sites such as Fat Man’s Misery, Bottomless Pit and Giant’s Coffin.
You also see artifacts from a mining operation during the War of 1812 for saltpeter to make gunpowder.
Carson warned that the Historic Tour includes a 138-step tower that visitors must climb. www.nps.gov/maca/
Shenandoah Valley, Va. The Shenandoah Valley is noted for its beautiful rolling green hills as it extends between mountain ranges through Virginia. However, some of the area’s most fascinating and beautiful scenery is below ground.
Some of Shenandoah Caverns’ most famous features are thin formations called bacon strips that are formed by water that has trickled down instead of falling straight down.
Although Shenandoah Caverns is one of the deepest caves in the state, it is easily accessed by elevator. The one-hour tour covers about one mile.
Although Shenandoah Caverns is deep, Luray Caverns, the area’s largest and most visited cavern, is close enough to the surface that ground water creates many different types of formations.
Luray Caverns is also famous for its one-of-a-kind stalacpipe organ.
“It actually plays on stone,” said a cavern spokesman. “It uses a system of electronic hammers or plungers that strike the stones to make different tones.”
Other caverns in the valley are Endless Caverns, which has never been mapped in its entirety, and Grand Caverns, America’s oldest show cave, which was visited by Thomas Jefferson. www.luraycaverns.com www.shenandoahcaverns.com
Carlsbad Caverns Carlsbad, N.M. The major appeal of Carlsbad Cavern is its sheer size and its heavy decoration. Its Big Room, held up by massive rock columns, is one of the largest underground spaces in the world, an 8.2-acre area, larger than six football fields.
“The Big Room is the primary attraction,” said a park ranger.
The basic tour through Carlsbad Cavern is a one-mile walk along the perimeter of the room past features with names such as the Bottomless Pit, Rock of Ages and Painted Grotto. The Hall of Giants includes twin 58-foot-high domes and the 62-foot-high Giant Dome.
Groups can arrange for guided tours and can reach the room, 750 feet below the surface, by elevator. Approximately two-thirds of the Big Room is accessible with assistance to people using wheelchairs.
Another attraction of Carlsbad Caverns is the bats —more than 300,000 by some estimates — that exit the cave every night at dusk during the summer to hunt insects.
“It is quite an impressive sight,” said the ranger. “They cyclone out of the entrance in a circular motion.”
Also in the national park is 47,000 acres of Chichuhuan Desert. www.nps.gov/cave
Wind Cave National Park Hot Springs, S.D. Protected as a national park since 1903, Wind Cave is one of the world’s longest and most complex caves.
Its most unusual feature is its large display of boxwork, formations composed of thin calcite fins that resemble honeycombs.
“Boxwork is found in few caves,” said a park ranger. “Ninety to 95 percent is right here in this cave.”
The cave is also much drier than most caves. “The big difference in this cave and others is the amount of water,” said the ranger.
Five different tours from one to one and a half hours run every 30 minutes.
Above ground, the park protects more than 28,000 acres of mixed-grass prairie and ponderosa pine forest; it also has a large herd of bison. www.nps.gov/wica
Southern Indiana Indiana has four limestone caves in various stages of development, from the relatively young Blue Spring, which is still forming and is toured by boat, to the historic and old Wyandotte Caves.
Marengo Cave, a National Natural Landmark, is a level cave easily viewed in 34-minute or 70-minute tours; Squire Boone Cavern was discovered in the late-1700s by Daniel Boone and his brother, who is buried in the cave.
Wyandotte Caves features two caves: the historic Wyandotte Cave, which has larger passageways and rooms than the other Indiana caves, and Siberts Cave, the shorter and easier of the two to tour.
There is a candy factory at Squire Boone Cavern, where you can also pan for gems. Group packages include hayrides and a bonfire. www.thisisindiana.org
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