If you're heading to Texas - specifically the Dallas/Forth Worth & Austin regions - there is an awesome adventure waiting for the kids (Mom & Dad, too!) at the Natural Bridge Caverns.
The caverns are a vast and magical underworld phenomenon that Mother Nature etched beneath the surface of the earth that is both breathtaking and majestic.
Gigantic stalactites and fragile crystalline soda straws make for a captivating sight-seeing adventure that no true explorer will ever forget.
History
In March of 1960, Orion Knox Jr., Preston Knodell, Al Brandt and Joe Cantu (four students from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio) obtained permission to explore the area that is now Natural Bridge Caverns.
The students were convinced that large underground passages existed under the amazing 60-foot limestone bridge.
On their fourth expedition, Orion felt a cool draft from a rubble-filled crawl-way.
Air currents often indicate the presence of additional rooms or passages, so they continued on with their in-depth trek into the caves.
The explorers climbed and crawled through two miles of vast cavern passages and mapped the extent of their findings.
After making this amazing discovery, they returned to the surface to tell the landowners.
The discoverers knew immediately what an astonishing find they had made and the land owners decided to develop the first 1/2 mile (the most spectacular part of the caverns) for the enjoyment of tourists from around the world.
That first 1/2 mile is now the Discovery Tour.
The Discovery Tour was developed with two main goals in mind: to preserve the cavern environment and to ensure comfort and safety for the cavern enthusiasts.The result is one of the world’s premiere show caverns.
Just in time for Spring Break this year, Natural Bridge Caverns launched a new tour of the Hidden Passages that includes a chance to view an extraordinary section previously hidden from the general public.
The Illuminations Tour is designed around a dramatic new lighting system that uses both light and dark to enhance the experience.
The tour features two vast underground chambers known as the Jaremy Room and the Cathedral Room.
While the Jaremy Room has been viewed by guests over the past four years, the Cathedral Room is a treasure previously seen only on the Adventure Tour.
Both rooms possess unique formations not found on the Discovery Tour.
Tours are kept small and leave every 40 minutes throughout the day.
The tour is moderately strenuous and includes 185 steps along a 1/3-mile path.
Die-hard climbers are treated to a half-mile of the largest and most spectacular show caverns in Texas which fall down to a depth of 180 feet below the surface.
From this vantage-point, curiosity-seekers are able to view ancient awe-inspiring formations centuries in the making (and still growing today) such as stalagmites, stalactites, flowstones, chandeliers and soda straws.
Info: (210) 651-6101
Hidden Passages Tour
This tour will force excited explorers to get down and dirty.
This foray into the cavern habitat is a 3-to-4 hour excursion into one of the world’s premiere nature sights.
In view of the terrain underground encountered - adventurous thrill-seekers will be forced to climb, crawl, rappel, explore – with only the light of a helmet to guide them.
Not a day-trip for the weak of heart.
Once outfitted with caving gear, bolder climbing enthusiasts will be lowered by rope through a 160-foot well shaft 230 feet below surface level to the Fault Room which features one of the longest soda straw formations in North America (14 feet in length).
Discovery Adventure Tour
This incredible three-hour tour allows ticket-holders to follow the path that the original discoverers took.
This tour includes a half-mile trek through wild caves and passages that have not changed since the discovery of the caverns.
The total distance of the tour is 1.25 miles which begins under the Natural Bridge and follows the commercially developed path with hand rails and concrete trails.
Then, the tour turns more adventurous as the most physically challenging leg of the journey commences along a treacherous path of underground terrain.
Guests are provided with caving gear and are required to crawl, climb and slide over and through various obstacles.
It’s an exhilerating experience, according to hikers who have gone the distance.
Watchtower Challenge Tour
Here, guests may try their hand at outdoor climbing towers and zip lines which are the best in Texas.
Named in honor of the Watchtower formation in the North Cavern, this attraction stands 50 feet tall.
The climbing surfaces are built along two sides of the tower so that four climbers may participate at the same time.
The front of the tower is 16 feet wide and provides moderate-to-hard levels of intensity.
The side of the climbing tower is 12 feet wide and is easier for first-time climbers.
Whether a beginner or a seasoned pro, there will be a very satisfying climbing experience ahead.
By the way, the view from the top - if you make it - is spectacular!
Tired of climbing?
Then, take the quick route down on one of the zip cords which carry the agile individual back to earth at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour.
This is a thrill ride no one will ever forget.
Natural Bridge Cavern Explorer tips
*Parking is free.
*The Visitor center is located by the lower level parking area.
*Temperature inside cavern is 70 Degrees (humidity of 99%).
*Cameras are welcome. Flash & high speed film recommended.
*The Discovery Tour is guided. (Distance 3/4 mile).
*The Illuminations Tour is guided . (Distance 1/3 mile).
*The Watchtower Challenge tower (based on weather).
The Natural Bridge Caverns have been listed in the National Register of Historical Places (NHRP) by the U.S. Department of Interior.
In 1964, development-related excavations took place at Natural Bridge Caverns to enlarge the entrance, provide a walkway, and develop a trail system inside the cavern.
During the original trenching of the entrance, several diagnostic projectile points dating back approximately 10,000 years were salvaged.
Additionally, several other stone tools were recovered during this phase of development, including hide scrapers, gouges, knives, and drill fragments.
Staff from the Texas Memorial Museum and the Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory of the University of Texas visited the site and collected a sample of faunal remains uncovered by the construction.
Some specimens belonged to species that became extinct about 12,000 years ago.
In June of 2003, the staff from the Center of Archaeological Research (CAR) of the University of Texas at San Antonio also conducted a dig at the entrance of the caverns.
Artifacts uncovered included a prehistoric looking hearth, stone tools, projectile points, and charred plant remains. People from long ago used these artifacts to hunt, cook, and make tools.
Visitors to the caverns walk through different layers of limestone which is a sedimentary rock.
Geologists theorize that during the Cretaceous period, a warm shallow sea covered much of Texas.
Sediments and dead marine organisms collected on the ocean floor, compacted, and formed the different limestone layers.
Geologists gave different names to the various layers such as the Glen rose and the Kainer (Edwards) layers.
The Glen Rose, the oldest rock layer, contains the lowermost chambers, while the Kainer forms the Natural Bridge.
The cavern formed by virute of an underground "river" which moved slowly through cracks and pores within the limestone.
Rain Water that seeped through cracks then started to dissolve the limestone.
In time, the original narrow cracks or joints enlarged to form huge underground conduits or passages.
Perhaps due to changes in climate, vegetation, or other natural forces, the water drained to lower levels within the earth.
As the water left the upper passages, it moved deeper and formed a second level.
As the water left the lower level, stresses within the rock led to many of the layers collapsing to form break-out domes.
This final stage of collapse led to the creation of the passages visitors now see.
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