Caves !

Commercial Caves

For many people, their first cave experience is touring a commercial cave such as Howe Caverns in upstate New York, or Cave of the Winds in Colorado. There are some 150 commercial caves in the United States. Many of them include the "in cave photo" experience (left).

This kind of tour is sometimes enough to get a person interested in caving.
Cave Hunting

Before you can go caving you've got to find out where the caves are. In some cases you may need to go out and look for "lost caves" or find new ones. This is called "cave hunting."

Many clues can lead to caves. In the picture on the right two intrepid cave hunters have a major clue that there's a cave in the area.
Other times geologic indications such as surface collapses, sinking streams in carbonate or other soluble rocks, or air flow, through small openings indicates possible caves. Those times call for excavation.
  [Next: How Caves Form]


Copyright (c) 2002-04 by R. Mark Maslyn
Last Updated Sept. 19, 2004