Luray Caverns facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Luray Caverns |
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Stalactites, stalagmites and columns in Luray Caverns
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| Location | Luray, Virginia |
| Designated | 1973 |
Luray Caverns is a famous cave located near Luray, Virginia, in the United States. It was discovered in 1878 and has been a popular place for visitors ever since. The cave is filled with amazing rock formations called speleothems. These include tall columns, flowing rock shapes, pointy stalactites hanging from the ceiling, and stalagmites growing from the floor. You can also see shiny mirrored pools inside.
One of the most special things in Luray Caverns is the Great Stalacpipe Organ. This is a unique musical instrument made from stalactites! It uses special hammers to gently tap different stalactites, making sounds like a xylophone or bells.
In 1880, scientists from the Smithsonian Institution visited the cave. They said that Luray Caverns was probably one of the most beautifully decorated caves in the world. The Graves family has owned Luray Caverns for many years. Theodore Clay Northcott, an ancestor of the current owners, bought the land in 1905.
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Exploring Luray Caverns
When you visit Luray Caverns, you follow a path that goes deep underground. Along the way, you'll see many incredible sights. These include Dream Lake, The Saracen's Tent, and the famous Great Stalacpipe Organ. You'll also pass by huge stalactites and stalagmites.
The path leads to the Wishing Well and a special memorial for veterans from Page County. Then, you walk through a small passage past a rock formation called the Fried Eggs. The whole trip is about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long and usually takes 45 minutes to an hour.
You can bring small pets on the cave tour. Leashed pets are also allowed on the grounds outside the cave. The caverns now have a path that doesn't have steps, making it easier for everyone to explore.
History of the Caverns
How Luray Caverns Was Found
Luray Caverns was discovered on August 13, 1878. Five local men, including Andrew J. Campbell, William Campbell, John “Quint” Campbell, and photographer Benton Stebbins, found it. They noticed cool air coming from a sinkhole and a rock sticking out of the ground. They thought there might be a cave there.
The men started digging. After about four hours, they made a hole big enough for the smallest men, Andrew and Quint, to squeeze through. They slid down a rope and explored with candles. The first large rock column they saw was named the Washington Column.
In an area called Skeleton's Gorge, they found old bone pieces and other items stuck in the rock. They also found charcoal, flint, and human bone fragments. A skeleton, possibly from a Native American girl, was found in one of the deep cracks. Scientists think it might be about 500 years old. No one knows exactly how she ended up there, but it might have been after her burial spot collapsed.
Becoming Famous
Even with legal arguments over who owned the land, news about the amazing caverns spread quickly. Famous people, like Arctic explorer Professor Jerome J. Collins, came to visit. The Smithsonian Institution sent a team of nine scientists to study the cave.
The Encyclopædia Britannica, a well-known encyclopedia, even wrote a long section about the cave's wonders. Alexander J. Brand, Jr., a writer for the New York Times, was the first travel writer to visit and help make the caverns popular.
The Limair Sanatorium
In 1901, Colonel Theodore Clay Northcott, who used to be in charge of the Luray Caverns Corporation, built a special building called the Limair Sanatorium. It was on top of Cave Hill. He used the cool, clean air from Luray Caverns to cool the rooms of the sanatorium. He called it the first air-conditioned home in the United States!
Even on the hottest summer days, the inside of the house stayed a cool 70°F (21°C). Colonel Northcott dug a 5-foot (1.5 m) wide shaft down to a cave chamber. He installed a large fan that could change all the air in the house every four minutes. People believed the cave air was very pure and good for those with breathing problems. The "Limair" building later burned down but was rebuilt with bricks. In 1905, Northcott's company bought the caverns, and they still own it today.
The Caverns Today
Parts of Luray Caverns have been open to the public for a long time and have electric lights. In 1906, about 18,000 people visited. By 2018, around 500,000 guests visit each year!
In 1974, the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior officially named Luray Caverns a National Natural Landmark. This means it's a very special natural place.
Luray Caverns also has other fun attractions. There's a commercial rope course and a hedge maze. The maze has 1,500 dark green trees that create a 0.5-mile (0.8 km) path for visitors to explore.
Three museums are also on site, and your general admission ticket includes them. The Toy Town Junction Museum shows off old miniature trains, dolls, and other collectible toys. The Car and Carriage Caravan Museum has over 140 items related to early transportation, including an old wagon and an 1892 Mercedes-Benz. The Shenandoah Heritage Village has historic buildings from the 1800s, showing what life was like back then. The Luray Valley Museum displays many local artifacts, like an old Bible from 1536 and a unique dog-powered butter churn.
Geology of Luray Caverns
The caverns are located in the Shenandoah Valley, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The valley stretches from northeast to southwest. Cave Hill, which is 927 feet (283 m) above sea level, has many pits and sinkholes. These are common in karst landscapes, which are formed when water dissolves soluble rocks like limestone. The discoverers of Luray Caverns entered through one of these sinkholes.
Luray Caverns formed in a type of rock called dolomite. At some point, the cave chambers were completely filled with water that had a lot of acid in it. This water slowly dissolved the softer parts of the cave walls, ceilings, and floors. One area, called Elfin Ramble, clearly shows marks from this high water level on its ceiling.
The temperature inside the caverns stays the same all year round, at a cool 54°F (12°C). This is similar to the temperature in Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.
How Speleothems Form
Like other "solution" caves, the formations in Luray Caverns are created when water containing dissolved calcium carbonate drips and leaves behind minerals. This process starts with a tiny ring of crystallized calcite. Over time, more and more mineral deposits build up, creating stalactites (hanging from the ceiling) and stalagmites (growing from the floor). These are types of dripstone and flowstone.
If the calcium carbonate is pure, the formations in Luray Caverns are white. Other colors come from impurities in the calcite, which are absorbed from the soil or rock layers. Reds and yellows come from iron, black from manganese dioxide, and blues and greens from copper. Luray Caverns is still an active cave, meaning new formations are still growing. About one cubic inch (16 cm³) of new material is added every 120 years.
Famous Formations
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After the water level dropped, the eroded shapes remained, and new formations like stalactites, stalagmites, and columns began to grow. Some famous formations include the Leaning Column, which tilts like the famous tower in Pisa, Italy. The Great Stalacpipe Organ is a large, shield-shaped formation that has been used as a musical instrument for many years. There's also a large area of broken-down rock in the Elfin Ramble.
The cave formations can be yellow, brown, or red because of water, chemicals, and minerals. Newer stalactites growing from older ones are usually white, but sometimes they are pink or amber-colored. The Empress Column is a beautiful, rose-colored stalagmite that is 35 feet (11 m) tall. The Double Column, named after Professors Henry and Baird, has two fluted pillars side by side, one 25 feet (7.6 m) and the other 60 feet (18 m) tall. Several stalactites in Giant's Hall are over 50 feet (15 m) long. The Pluto's Ghost is a ghostly white pillar.
The cascades look like frozen waterfalls, turned into milky white or amber-colored rock. Brands Cascade is 40 feet (12 m) high and 30 feet (9.1 m) wide, and it's a waxy white color.
Flowstone draperies are found all over the cavern. One of the best examples is Saracen's Tent. These drapery formations can be found in all the main rooms and make a bell-like sound when tapped. They form when water trickles down a sloped, bumpy surface, leaving behind mineral deposits. In Hoveys Balcony, there are sixteen of these "alabaster scarfs" hanging side by side. Three are white and delicate, while thirteen have stripes like agate with different shades of brown.
There are no true streams or springs inside the cave, but there are hundreds of basins. Some are 50 feet (15 m) wide and up to 15 feet (4.6 m) deep. The water in these basins contains lime, which often forms round shapes called pearls, eggs, or snowballs. If you break them open, you can see that they have a radiating pattern inside.
Calcite crystals line the sides and bottoms of water-filled areas. Changes in water level over time create rings, ridges, and ruffled edges. These are very clear around Broaddus Lake and the curved walls of the Castles on the Rhine. Here, you can also see shiny stalagmites, some buff-colored with white stripes, and others like huge mushrooms with a velvety coating of red, purple, or olive-tinted crystals. In some smaller basins, when the extra carbonate acid quickly escapes, a thin film forms on the surface, like a sheet of ice. One pool, 12 feet (3.7 m) wide, is covered this way, so you can only see about a third of its surface.
The amount of water in the cavern changes a lot with the seasons. Sometimes, the tips of stalactites are underwater long enough for crystals to grow on them. Then, in drier times, these crystals get covered again with more stalactite material, creating unusual shapes. Nearby stalactites often grow together until they become almost round. Twisted stalactites can be caused by crystals growing sideways, air currents, or even a tiny fungus found only in the cave.
The exact size of the chambers in Luray Caverns is hard to describe because they have very irregular shapes. There are several levels of passages, and the total vertical depth from the highest to the lowest point is 260 feet (79 m).
Luray Cavern Waters
Dream Lake is a spring of water that looks almost like a mirror. The stalactites hanging from the ceiling are reflected in the water, making them look like stalagmites growing from below. This illusion is so good that people often can't tell where the real bottom is. It looks very deep because the stalactites are high above the water, but at its deepest point, the water is only about 20 inches (51 cm) deep. The lake is connected to a spring that goes even deeper into the caverns.
The Wishing Well is a green pond filled with coins. It looks about 3 feet (0.91 m) deep at the bottom. Like Dream Lake, the Wishing Well also creates an illusion, but it's the opposite. The pond looks 3 to 4 feet (0.91 to 1.2 m) deep, but it's actually 6 to 7 feet (1.8 to 2.1 m) deep at its deepest point.
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