How old is blanchard springs caverns

Before entering the cavern, visitors will have an opportunity to view a short movie, introducing the wonders of the underground world they are about to discover. A variety of tours throughout the year provide visitors with different views of the cavern, as well as varying difficulty levels. The active cave, with its glistening formations, stalactites, stalagmites and flowstones is constantly changing, providing return visitors something new to see each time.

Beautifully lighted rooms, that accentuate the cave's features, are equipped with handrails and paved trails for comfortable walking. An undeveloped section of the cavern allows visitors an opportunity to climb over rocks, crawl through tight spaces and slide on red clay mudslides. Hill, Carol, and Paolo Forti.

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Mirror Lake. Blanchard Formations. The length of this tour is approx. This trail is accessible to wheelchairs and strollers, with assistance. There are only 50 stair steps along the trail, but for those that cannot manage or negotiate them, alternate trails are available, bypassing some of the formations.

The tour is an easy walk with two seating areas located along the trail for those that need to rest. This tour is open to all ages, and is a great educational opportunity for the kids. The Discovery Trail descends feet into the earth, and is 1.

The tour explores portions of the lower level of the caverns, is a bit more complex than the Dropstone Tour, and takes approx. There are nearly steps along this route, and is NOT recommended for small children or those that have walking or health problems.

This portion of the cave was not discovered until by local cavers, and is the largest of the three sections. During the Christmas season, the annual Caroling in the Caverns event with vocal and instrumental music takes place in the acoustically superb Cathedral Room; performances sell out each year.

The Dripstone Trail tour is recommended for most visitors, especially beginners. The Discovery Trail tour was opened to the public in It takes up to two hours, covering just over a mile. There are stair steps in this tour, which is usually recommended for those who do not have health problems or difficulty walking.

It descends to the lower level of the cave, feet underground, as well as to the Natural Entrance, about seventy feet below ground at that point, following the streambed of the springs that created the cavern. This tour includes the Rimstone Dams, which create pools along the streambed, and the ethereal Ghost Room with its shimmering white flowstone.

The Wild Cave tour is by reservation only for groups of three to twelve. It provides advanced participants with several hours of climbing, crawling, scaling boulders, wedging under low ceilings, and usually getting dirty as they explore undeveloped parts of the cave.

Participants must wear sturdy shoes or hiking boots and are provided with lights, helmets, strong gloves, and kneepads. Participants must be at least ten years old; ten to twelve year olds must tour with a responsible adult. Musician Jimmy Driftwood , a Mountain View native, was instrumental in environmental issues and the preservation of Ozark mountain culture. His music is the backdrop of the introductory film on the caverns. The exhibit hall highlights the plants and animals who call the caverns their home.

Shade-loving mosses and ferns can be found near the cave entrance. Farther back in the caverns, only bacteria, mold, and fungi are able to grow. Salamanders, frogs, and crickets are commonly found at BSC. The Discovery Trail attracts the endangered gray bat and is closed when bats are hibernating. Each winter, up to , bats hibernate undisturbed in this secluded portion of BSC.

In the summer, they disperse to other nesting places in and around Arkansas, eating tons of insects, such as mosquitoes. Some animals spend their entire lives in the darkness of the caves, including the Ozark blind salamander, the first cave-dwelling amphibian found in America , which is native to Blanchard Springs Caverns.

BSC even has its own food chain, with bat droppings called guano , bacteria, mold, and fungi as sources of food for snails and insects which are in turn eaten by crickets, salamanders, and spiders. There are nearby campgrounds and seasonal programs with the caverns as centerpiece. Blanchard Springs Caverns was almost recruited by the federal government as a fallout shelter during the Cold War, though the plan was abandoned due to air circulation from the outside spanning only twenty-four hours.

Visitors are usually too dazzled by its awesome beauty to notice. For additional information: Blanchard Springs Caverns. Blanchard Springs Caverns. Hill, Carol, and Paolo Forti. Cave Minerals of the World.

Hail Bryant, who was accompanied by Mike Hill, Robert Handford and Hugh Shell who died in , said the find was kept a secret for several weeks because they didn't really know how extensive the chamber was. Then, the only way in and out of the extensive underground system was a foot vertical shaft located about one-half mile from Blanchard Springs.

Shell made his first attempt to descend the shaft in using a homemade rope ladder that proved to be too short. The failed venture, though, only increased his desire.

Bryant, who started exploring caves in his teens, teamed with Shell in , and the two began working on a system to more easily descend and ascend the cavern's natural entrance. Soon the gear was ready and together they descended to the floor of the middle level of the cave. Once there they faced underground river crossings, muddy passageways, gigantic rocks and total darkness.

Shell and Bryant maintained a scientific approach, mapping and photographing miles of passages. Their findings were then turned over to the U. At one time, Shell, Bryant and their teams were the only non-Forest Service personnel granted permission to enter the caverns. Often the exploration team consisted of high school and college students. The upper level of the caverns was almost discovered in and again in After leading several news photographers, writers and Forest Service officials through the Dripstone section, the caverns gained notoriety as others witnessed firsthand the extent of its remarkable discovery.

But more work had to be done. So Bryant and his team prepared a presentation and traveled Arkansas and to Washington D.

An article printed in Life magazine in featured a full-color photo layout of Blanchard's spectacular formations and brought national attention to the cave. By the time the pictures appeared, plans were underway to develop a trail through the upper chambers.

When Shell and Bryant ended their studies in , they had photographed and mapped about 10 miles of passageways. It took workers nearly 10 years to construct the Dripstone Trail. Great care was taken throughout, with much of the work done by hand to avoid damaging the underground environment.

Low-level lighting and an air-lock door system were installed, and after 30 years of tours, they have helped keep Blanchard a "living" cave. The Dripstone Trail and the visitors center complex opened to the public on July 7, During its first season, travelers from 48 states and 29 foreign countries toured the caverns.

For the first time, visitors could enjoy intriguing features such as flowing draperies, multi-colored stalagmites and stalactites, sparkling columns up to 65 feet tall, and delicate coral-like calcite on the walls of the cave. And, for the first time, they could experience the enormity of the caverns -- the largest room is feet wide and the length of four football fields placed end to end. Almost immediately work started on a second tour, the Discovery Trail, which opened in and covers parts of the cave first explored.

Visitors may view the natural stone shaft where the explorers descended by rope and one of the largest flowstones in the world -- some feet long and 40 feet tall. Discovery is quite strenuous, with about stairsteps. Designed for the physically fit, it is open only during the summer months.

Those who've visited the Dripstone have been able to experience the wonders Bryant and his team discovered with relative ease. A foot elevator shaft has replaced the need for ropes at the sinkhole, and concrete pathways with handrails lead the way as Forest Service interpreters provide interesting facts about Blanchard, which is now ranked among the 10 most beautiful caverns in North America. The latest Blanchard Springs Cavern tour debuted in the spring of An immediate hit with the more adventurous, the wild cave experience requires that participants crawl up and down dirt slopes, squeeze through tight spots and scramble over large rocks.

Those that take the wild cave tour, though, are rewarded with fantastic sights not seen on the first two tours. These tours are by reservation only. While the Shell-Bryant team did most of the important job of exploring and recording their findings, they were not the first explorers in Blanchard Caverns.

In , Willard Hadley, a Forest Service planner, descended the natural entrance and conducted limited excursions. Then, in , Roger Bottoms of West Helena lead a small team into the caverns several times. It was Bottoms who discovered the remains of a prehistoric Native American who died in the cave some 1, years ago. Other facilities at Blanchard Springs Caverns include an exhibit hall, movie theater and bookstore.

The Blanchard Springs Recreation Area offers scenic campsites, a fishing lake stocked with trout, hiking trails, picnic sites, limestone bluffs and the massive spring that emerges from the caverns. Some 3. Still, it is thought by many as "one of the best kept secrets in the Ozarks.

An exhibit on display through Oct. In addition to many photos made during early cave excursions, "Exploring Blanchard Springs Caverns" includes a hand-drawn map of the underground chambers and the types of gear, safety equipment, clothing and food used when exploring the cave. A portion of the original hickory log, used to lower and lift spelunkers in and out of the cave, is also displayed.

And nearby, a mannequin fitted with authentic caving gear appears ready to climb into an automobile tire "saddle" for the descent into the cave. A slide-video program completes the story of exploring the caverns. Tuesday through Saturday and from to 4 p. A small admission is charged. For more information, contact the museum at or visit www. The Wonderland Cave opened to the public on February, 28,