Lost World Caverns

This was on day 3 of my mini pre-graduation travels with Trish! (First, we went to Asheville–and be sure to check out some of our other adventures from Travel Tuesday!) Truth be told, we didn’t travel far for this one because Lost World Caverns is located just about 10-15 minutes from where I was living.

Greenbrier County has 1,199 caves (more than any other WV county)! Discovered back in 1942, Lost World Caverns is one of em’, and is located about 120 feet below ground. It takes about 45 minutes to walk through on the self-guided tours (unless you choose to stay longer).

The tunnel that you descend to get into the cave was constructed in the late 1960’s and consists of 55 steps. It descends 90 feet when you reach the bottom!

The cave explorers’ motto is a good one to follow:

Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, and kill nothing but time.”

Water from the surface becomes slightly acidic as it makes its way into the cave, and as it dissolves + erodes the limestone rock, it releases calcite crystals. The water transports the calcite crystals into the cave and they’re deposited in the caverns, forming these formations, stalactites, and stalagmites! :]

Ice Cream Wall

Smurf City!

It takes ~100-125 years to form a single cubic inch of calcite formation in this cave! :O

I’m not going to comment on what this one looks like, but its named “Goliath,” and is the largest formation in the Lost World Caverns…and estimated to be 5 million years old! It stands 40 feet tall + has a circumference of 25 feet.

The “Bridal Veil” is pure calcite, and formed because a stalactite (from the ceiling) + a stalagmite (from the ground) grew together, forming a column! Once it touches, the two continue to grow larger + wider.

Caves form when water from the surface goes through cracks in the rock, eventually joining to form underground streams. The Crystal Waterfall is an example of that!

The Snowy Chandelier is a ginormous stalactite that’s estimated to weigh 30 tons. It’s thought to be one of the largest compound stalactites ever discovered. It’s situated above a huge stalgmite, so as the water continues following from the Snowy Chandelier to the one below, it gets one baby step closer to turning into a column!

They found the bones of a prehistoric cave bear here too! (The remains are 10,000 years old.)

The “Wishing Well” is a 20-foot deep hole carved out by water falling from the ceiling of the cave. People toss coins down whilst making a wish here!

This was the only entrance into and out of the cave when it was first discovered!

War Club

There’s a dinosaur museum and gift shop housing the entrance to the Lost World Caverns, and you can read up on + learn more about the prehistoric cave bear that was unearthed in the cave.

Hours of operation are available here!

• 6 and under: Free
• 6-12yo: $6
• 13+yo: $12

…but you can usually snag a deal on Groupon! (We missed the $10 for 2 by a day, so we paid $12 for 2.)

Wild cave tours are available as well (minimum age = 10) for $79–it’s a 4-hour trip where a guide leads you through a mile of chambers + passageways. (We unfortunately didn’t end up doing this one due to time constraints, but it sounds like it would’ve been a lot of fun!)

• Have you ever been caving/spelunking?
• Are you claustrophobic?

Check out my other Travel Tuesday posts!