Cave of the Winds (Colorado) Facts for Kids

Speleothems inside the cave

The Cave of the Winds is a cool cave located near Colorado Springs in the Pikes Peak area of Colorado. You can find it just west of Colorado Springs on U.S. Highway 24, close to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. People can take tours of the cave system every day.

Exploring the Cave's Special Features
- Adventure and Discovery Rooms
A Look Back: The Cave's History
Becoming a Tourist Hotspot
How the Cave Was Formed: Geology
- Amazing Cave Formations
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Exploring the Cave's Special Features

A tour guide shows visitors around the Cave of the Winds in 1972.

One of the most famous parts of the Cave of the Winds is the Silent Splendor room. This room was found in 1984. It has many rare and beautiful speleothems. These are special cave formations. Some of them are called helictites. They look like they are growing in strange directions, almost like they are floating! This is because they don't follow gravity like other cave formations.

Sadly, the Silent Splendor room must stay closed to visitors. This helps protect its very delicate environment. A special "environmental gate" keeps the moisture inside. This moisture is needed for these amazing formations to keep growing.

Adventure and Discovery Rooms

In the late 1980s, some new passages were opened in the cave. On May 8, 1988, a room called the Adventure Room was opened. This room is kept more natural than other parts of the cave. It has dirt floors and fewer lights. From here, you can enter the Manitou Grand Caverns. Special Lantern Tours are given in these caverns.

In 1989, a new passage called the Old Curiosity Shop was opened. People say it is the narrowest passage in the cave! As you go through it, you can see the "Colorado Rose." This is a special beaded helictite. You can also see "Spider Web Valley," which has many delicate helictites. This passage was opened to make tours easier. It helped groups move through a tight spot called "Tall Man's Headache, Fat Man's Misery."

Other fun things to see include a "bottomless pit." Guides sometimes play jokes here! The site also has a thrilling ride called the Terror-Dactyl. It's a free-fall amusement ride.

A Look Back: The Cave's History

"Entrance to Williams Canyon" Postcard from 1908-1909.

It is believed that both the Apache and Ute Native American tribes knew about this cave. The name "Cave of the Winds" comes from an Apache legend. They thought the cave was home to a Great Spirit of the Wind.

The first time the cave was written about was in 1880. Two brothers, John and George Pickett, found the cave. They were hiking in Williams Canyon with Rev. Roselle T. Cross. He was a pastor from Colorado Springs. The boys saw their candles flickering in a small shelter cave. Wind was blowing from a nearby crack. They crawled through the opening and found a large room!

Just a few days later, Rev. Cross wrote about the discovery. His story was printed in the Colorado Springs Gazette on July 2, 1880. He wrote about the cave's heights and depths. Even though he was new to caves, his story was very accurate for that time. Cross and his Boys’ Exploring Association explored about 200 feet of the cave. This was a good distance for schoolboys using only candles!

Becoming a Tourist Hotspot

Entrance to Cave of the Winds by W. H. Jackson around 1883-1890.

In 1880, the same year it was found, George Washington Snider visited the cave. He was a stonecutter from Ohio. Snider dug out passages from the Williams Canyon caves. He then found "Canopy Hall." This was a huge room, almost 200 feet long. It had thousands of stalactites and stalagmites. Snider said it was like "Aladdin with his wonderful lamp had effected the magic result."

Sadly, Snider told people in town about his discovery. The next day, many townspeople came to the cave. They took many of the beautiful stalactites.

Snider kept digging and got ready for guided tours. The Cave of the Winds quickly became a popular spot in the young Manitou resort area. It has been open continuously since 1881. This makes it one of Colorado’s oldest visitor attractions. Electric lights were added in 1907. Even more visitors came after that. They traveled by carriage, train, and later by car.

How the Cave Was Formed: Geology

Manitou Limestone, Williams Canyon Formation, and Leadville Limestone layers.

Stalactites and draperies inside the cave.

About 500 million years ago, during a time called the Ordovician period, warm shallow seas covered the Pikes Peak area. These seas were full of shelled creatures. When they died, their shells piled up on the seafloor. Over millions of years, these layers were pressed and hardened into a rock called limestone. The limestone layer in this cave is called Manitou Limestone.

About 70 million years ago, the shallow seas went away. The land was lifted up, forming the Rocky Mountain region. Then, about 4 to 7 million years ago, the limestone went below the water table. Rainwater mixed with carbon dioxide. This made a weak carbonic acid. This acid slowly dissolved the limestone, creating small pockets. These pockets slowly grew into the passages and caverns we see today.

As you drive up Williams Canyon to the cave entrance, you can see different layers of limestone. During the Devonian period, the Williams Canyon Limestone was formed. Later, during the Mississippian period, the Leadville Limestone layer was deposited.

Amazing Cave Formations

Flowstone and draperies.

Helictites in the Cave of the Winds.

As the water level dropped inside the cave, air filled the passages. Stalactites formed on the cave's ceilings. Water rich in calcium carbonate dripped down. It left thin rings of calcite that grew into icicle-like shapes over thousands of years. In the same way, stalagmites grew up from the cave floors.

A third type of formation is called flowstone. These look like curtains or drapes. They form as mineral-rich water flows over surfaces, leaving calcite behind. Flowstone is very common in caves like the Cave of the Winds.

The rarest and most delicate formations are called helictites. Helictites can look like "hands," ribbons, saws, rods, butterflies, or even "clumps of worms." They are very fragile and can break easily. Because of this, they are kept away from tour groups. Helictites grow in unusual ways, changing their direction as they form. Scientists have suggested different ideas about how they defy gravity, but no single theory has been proven yet.