Caverns.PamRotella.com

The Cavern Gallery
I've visited more caverns than are shown here. In two cases (the caverns along I-81 in Virginia not included), I didn't take photos when I visited. In other cases, I have additional photos but haven't had the time or extra resources to add more photo galleries. (Hint: If you want to see additional photo galleries, and improvements on existing galleries, I could really use a better hosting package. Click on the "Donate" link if you want to speed that along.)

Virginia
Virginia has eight large show caves along I-81, and six of those are pictured here. I have seen the other two, but when I returned in March '01 with my camera, the Grand Caverns and Natural Bridge Caverns were still closed for the season. I do intend to return someday with a camera, to visit all eight of the caves once again.

Luray Cavern
Luray is probably the most visited and well-known cavern in Virginia. It has many large, beautiful formations. The walkways are wide and well-lit, with a few staircases which can be hard for the physically challenged. Usually the tour groups are large. The attraction also has a small antique car museum (not shown here).
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Shenandoah Caverns & American Celebration
Shenandoah Caverns has the largest, most well-formed "cave bacon" (ribbon stalactite) I've seen in any cave. Most of the cave's walkways are wide with high ceilings and large beautiful formations. I don't know why this cave isn't as well-known as Luray, because it's certainly as beautiful. The admission price also includes American Celebration and Main Street of Yesteryear -- it just so happens that the cave's owner is an artist. I'll let the photo gallery explain what those two attractions are.
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Skyline Caverns
Skyline Caverns is a smaller cave which happens to be fairly close to Luray -- the two can easily be seen in the same day. The cave has an underground stream running through it, with a small waterfall that had to be reconstructed over the years. Although the cave's walls can be fairly plain throughout the cavern, the section near the end of the tour shows what makes this cave special -- "anthodites". They're small white formations that look somewhat like stone sea urchins. Theories vary on how they were formed, and they're apparently unique to this cavern (although a few other caves have similar formations). They were found in an area of the cave that had a vacuum or lower air pressure at the time it was opened. Anthodite formations are very fragile, and some areas are displayed behind nets.
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Endless Caverns
Endless Caverns is a very long, beautiful cavern with typically light-colored formations, particularly a lot of white, pink, and peach colors. It reminds me a little of the painted desert. Its final rooms have stunning areas of thick, beautiful formations. I have had a problem at this cavern with tour guides hurrying the tour group though -- apparently they're only given an allotted amount of time for each tour, and the cave is so large that they try to rush people. It was very hard to get the photos shown here -- I literally had to fight the tour guide for the time to snap a few photos in some of the rooms. This was odd, because when I'd been through the cave on an earlier date (without the camera), the tour guide was pretty cool about letting us take our time. So it's the luck of the draw whether you'll be herded along at a quick pace, or allowed some time to actually enjoy the formations.
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Dixie Caverns
Dixie Caverns is the southernmost show cave along I-81 in Virginia. It is a smaller show cave, but it does have some nice formations, and its bats and salamanders are amazing. Be sure to look down frequently to see, and avoid stepping on, the baby salamanders. You wouldn't want to miss them.
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Natural Bridge
The Natural Bridge attraction includes the Natural Bridge, hiking trail, caverns, and wax museum. Although I have seen the Natural Bridge Caverns, when I returned to photograph the caverns in March 2001, Natural Bridge Caverns was still closed for the winter. However, I do have some photos of the Natural Bridge, hiking trail, and just a few of the museum. I'll add the cavern photos after I return someday.
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Crystal Caverns at Hupp Hill
Virginia's Crystal Caverns is known more for its Civil War history than its formations. It does have a few formations with sparkling crystals, but most of its corridors are narrow and plain. The cave was used as a shelter and hideout for Confederate soldiers, sometimes serving as a makeshift hospital.
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The Grand Caverns
The Grand Caverns is the eighth show cave along I-81 in Virginia, not shown here because it was closed for the season when I wanted to photograph it. The cave has many large rooms with beautiful formations -- one of my favorites was "Alexandra's Ballroom," a room used for parties during prohibition, called a ballroom because of a large chandelier-like formation in the middle of its ceiling. Alexandra was one of the daughters of the farm family who owned the cavern at the time. Hopefully someday I'll return with a camera and be able to show the cavern here.

Wisconsin
The three show caves in Wisconsin each have their own special characteristics. Cave of the Mounds has many attractive formations, some purple and black from the manganese-rich soil in the area. Kickapoo Indian Caverns was used by the Kickapoo Indians several hundred years ago when they lived in the area, and is the only cave so far where I've seen patches of copper crystals on its walls and ceilings. Crystal Cave doesn't have many large formations, but bats are easily seen on its walls. None of the caverns in Wisconsin are particularly large -- Kickapoo is the biggest -- but each is worth seeing for its own reasons. Kickapoo has something special in its ceiling -- check out the photo galleries below!

Cave of the Mounds
This cave has the prettiest formations in the state, and purple manganese formations rarely found in other caves.
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Kickapoo Indian Caverns
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Crystal Cave
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Minnesota
I've only found two show caves in Minnesota so far -- Niagara Cave and Mystery Cave. Niagara Cave is shown here; I do have photos of Mystery Cave, but not the time or resources to include them in this gallery yet.

Niagara Cave
Niagara Cave has a number of very dark, iron-rich formations. Minnesota, in fact, is home to the Hull Rust mine, a very large iron oxide mine (which I did photograph, but haven't yet included in the gallery). The cave was named for its tall waterfall pictured here, which is really more of a trickle. Otherwise the cave has steep and long stairs, very hard to navigate unless you're physically fit.
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Mystery Cave
Mystery Cave is a very long cave, one of the few that has at least some handicapped accessibility. It's one of the easiest to walk through because it's pretty much on the same level. I do have photos of the cave, but have not yet included them in the gallery.

Pennsylvania
I do have photos from Pennsylvania caves, but am not yet able to post them here.

South Dakota
South Dakota has several amazing caves which were formed under water, covering their walls with crystals instead of stalactites and stalagmites. Another interesting characteristic is a black manganese layer under some of the caves' crystal walls. I have photographs of several caves in South Dakota, but am not yet able to post them here. I will try to include them as soon as I have the time and resources.

Montana
I have photos of two caves in Montana, but am not yet able to post them here.

Oregon
I photographed the sea lion cave in Oregon, but again am not yet able to post them in this gallery.

Kentucky
Kentucky has Mammoth Cave, named for its size and NOT ancient mammoth bones. According to the tour guide, only an "undeveloped" (namely, not used as a tourist attraction) cave in China is larger. Do not underestimate the physical requirements of this cave -- the longer tours include huge staircases with slippery metal rails. (In other words, the cave just about killed me.) Otherwise, Mammoth Cave is very large, with formations involving more fallen rocks than the usual stalactites and stalagmites -- except for the "Frozen Niagara" section. I do have photos of this and a smaller cave in Kentucky, but have not yet been able to include them in this gallery.

Maryland
I did find and tour one small show cave in Maryland, but it doesn't allow photography. It was pretty, but not substantially different from caverns in neighboring Virginia.



Other photo galleries on PamRotella.com
The main photo gallery page can be found here. (Due to the file size and time of providing thumbnails for each photo, I can only provide numeric links at this time.) It includes the following galleries:

The Peace (Flower) Gallery
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The Glacier National Park Gallery
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The Autumn Foliage Gallery
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The 2004 New York City Protests
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The Yellowstone National Park Gallery
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The Badlands Gallery
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Mena Airport Gallery
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Skyline Drive, Virginia
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The House on the Rock, Wisconsin
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Wisconsin Windmill Farm
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