Meriweather Lewis and William Clark never saw the caverns named in their honor, but they did pass through the region in 1805 on their journey of exploration through the Louisiana Purchase lands. The first white men known to visit the cave were two hunters whom found it by chance in 1892. In 1900, a well-to-do miner named Dan Morrison planned to develop the cave as a tourist attraction. His ownership of the property was challenged in court by the Northern Pacific Railroad; after the railroad won its case, it donated the caves to the Federal government as a national monument. In 1937, the government turned over control of the caves to Montana’s State Park System, which continues to manage the site in 2010.
The strange rock formations within the caves are formed by water trickling through the limestone. The water dissolves calcite in the rock, which oozes out of cracks and crevices, slowly creating stalagmites that rise from the cave floor, stalactites that hang from the cave ceiling and other rock formations such as ribbon-like flowstone and clusterite, also known as cave popcorn.
Visitors may only explore the caverns on a guided two-hour walking tour. The tour covers two miles, climbs 600 stairs and requires some twisting and bending to get into certain parts of the caverns. Wear walking shoes with rubber soles and bring a sweater or jacket (even in summer, the average temperature in the caves hovers around 50 degrees Fahrenheit).
Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park covers 3,000 acres along the Jefferson River. The park has 40 campsites, three cabins and one tipi. There are showers, toilet facilities, a dump station and a concession stand. In addition to exploring the caves, visitors can follow any of several trails that lead to scenic overlooks of Greer Gulch, the Jefferson River and the Madison and Gallatin Mountains.
Lewis & Clark Caverns
P.O.Box 489
Whitehall, MT 59759
(406) 287-3541
http://fwp.mt.gov/parks/visit/parkSiteDetail.html?id=281895
