The Cascade Caverns offer 45-minute to one-hour guided tours and have the state's only cavern with a 100-foot waterfall, according to www.cascadecaverns.com. The natural living cavern is 68 degrees year round. Tours are available year round, with the exception of Thanksgiving and Christmas, although hours are subject to change with the season. There also are one-hour flashlight tours the first Friday of each month that include flashlights and meat or veggie hotdogs prior to the exploration.
Cascade Caverns
226 Cascade Caverns Road
Fair Oaks Ranch, TX 78015-8310
830-755-8080
www.cascadecaverns.com
This cave has no name because a student competing in a contest to name the cave said it simply was too pretty to have one. A natural living cavern, it is considered to be one of the most beautiful in the state. The six major rooms stay about 66 degrees year round. Tours are available daily, with the exception of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Tours last about 60 minutes.
Cave Without a Name
325 Kreutzberg Road
Boerne, TX 78006-7831
830-537-4212
www.cavewithoutaname
Several tours are available at the Caverns of Sonora, including the guided Crystal Palace Tour, which is for groups of 12 or fewer. The one hour, 45-minute tour covers about two miles. There also are group tours available and the "Discovery Challenge," in which cavers lead participants through passageways away from developed trails. This last about four hours. Workshops include an underground classroom, cave safety and ascending, orienteering and gemstone panning.
Caverns of Sonora
1711 Private Road 4468
Sonora, TX 76950
325-387-3105
www.cavernsofsonora.com
Considered one of the best-preserved caverns in the state, the limestone Innerspace Cavern was hidden for about 10,000 years before being discovered by a Texas Highway Department core drilling team in 1963. Tours include a standard Adventure Tour, which lasts about one hour and 15 minutes, an extended Explorer Tour, which lasts about one hour and 35 minutes, or a Wild Cave Tour, which can last up to four hours.
Innerspace Cavern
4200 S. Interstate 35
Georgetown, TX 78626
512-931-2283
www.myinnerspacecavern.com
A part of Longhorn Cavern State Park, this cavern can be toured a variety of ways -- from the standard daily tour to a paranormal tour. Daily tours last about one hour and 20 minutes, although abbreviated tours are available on request. Wild Cave, geology and photography tours also are available. Paranormal tours are held once a month, with cavers allowed to set up paranormal equipment (laptops, voice recorders, and so on) in the cave.
Longhorn Cavern State Park
PO Box 732
Burnet, TX 78611
830-598-CAVE
www.longhorncaverns.com
The Natural Bridge Caverns were discovered in 1960 and offer several tour opportunities. The most popular is the half-mile Discovery Tour, which lasts about 75 minutes and goes about 180 feet below ground. Other options include the 70-minute Illuminations Tour, which has two large chambers lit by a state-of-the-art light system, and the Adventure Tour, which lasts three to four hours. The tour involves being lowered by rope through a 160-foot well shaft and going about 230 feet below the surface.
Natural Bridge Caverns
26945 Natural Bridge Cavern Road
San Antonio, TX 78266
210-651-6101
www.naturalbridgecaverns.com
The focal point of Wonder World Park, "Wonder Cave" actually is the Balcones Fault Line Cave. According to Wonder World Park, it is the only real earthquake cave open for viewing and includes fossilized prehistoric life encased in strata formations as well as suspended boulders. The park also includes a wildlife area, antigravity house and a "Stratavator," or elevator which comes up from the cave.
Wonder World Park
1000 Prospect Street
San Marcos, TX 78666
512-392-3760
www.wonderworldpark.com
