Incredible Caverns—Five Amazing Park Service Caves
Caverns are only a small part of what the National Park Service manages, but there are five that are simply incredible. Three are national parks and two are national monuments. All of them are bucket-list-worthy… unless you are claustrophobic.
Russell Cave National Monument—Alabama
Russell Cave National Monument was used primarily as winter shelter for prehistoric peoples as early as 6500 BCE. It is also the longest fully mapped cave in Alabama. The National Geographic Society donated the site to the National Park Service and it was made a national monument by President Kennedy in 1961.
Wind Cave National Park—South Dakota
Wind Cave is currently believed to be the sixth longest cave in the world. It is also the world’s densest cave system with the most passages per square mile and contains rare calcite formations known as boxwork and frostwork. Wind Cave National Park was established in 1903 and the National Park Service conducts tours year-round excluding major holidays.
Jewel Cave National Monument—South Dakota
Jewel Cave is the fifth longest cave in the world. Only a fraction of the cave has been mapped, but it is possible that underground passages extend up to 7000 miles. Jewel Cave National Monument was created in 1908 and the National Park Service conducts tours year-round excluding major holidays.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park—New Mexico
Carlsbad Caverns National Park is located in the Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico. The park was once the coastline of an ancient inland sea. Today it is largely high desert.
In 1898 a teenager, Jim White, explored the cave and gave many of the rooms their present names. Until the early 1930s, visitors to the caverns undertook strenuous descents and ascents on foot. In 1932 the park service installed an elevator making the caverns more accessible.
Mammoth Cave National Park—Kentucky
The grandaddy of them all, Mammoth Cave National Park was created in 1941 to include the cave and 53,000 acres of surrounding forest. In the 1970s the cave was connected to another extensive nearby cave system making it the longest known cave in the world. The current mapped length of the cave is 420 miles, but new branches are being continually discovered and recorded.
