Cathedral Caverns

We visited Cathedral Caverns which has been a goal of mine since the early 70’s. At that time the family had taken a trip through the area.  I asked to see the cavern and when we arrived the gate was locked with a closed sign. If we had taken the tour then it would have been with the original owner. The tour today was 2 hours but we were told that the original owners tours could be more than 4 to 6 hours depending on his mood that day. The cavern was in private ownership until 1987 when the state bought the land but was not opened for tours until 2000.

Archaeological excavations at the mouth of Cathedral Caverns have indicated occupation by Native Americans as recently as 200 years ago and perhaps as early as 7000 BC.  The cavern was used during the Civil War in search of materials for gun powder and at one point a hideout from Union soldiers. Later in the cold ware era it was a fallout shelter with 1000's of MRE's and tanks of water.
 
The cavern is fairly straight from the natural opening to end of the public access path 1.3 miles into the mountain.  It has a high ceiling in places well over 100 feet with interesting and impressive formations.  This is the wettest most active cavern I have ever visited.  There is running water in several locations.  Below the level we were walking is a river that flows through the cavern.  Last December part of the area we had walked had flooded.