Caves and Caverns
There are thousands of known caves in the US. Each state has at least one cave. And Tennessee has over 7,000!
Not all those caves are open to the public.
Bummer.
Cheer up though! There are over a hundred show caves across the US.
So what’s the difference between a show cave and a cave cave?
It's kind of hard to classify caves but here's one example:
Adventure Caves/Sites - For adventurous members of the public
Show Caves/Sites - for the public generally.
Reference Caves/Sites - for scientists.
Dangerous Caves/Sites - for the protection of speleos, and the protection of cave managers from litigation.
Wild Caves/Sites - for speleos.
To make things simpler we'll just say a show cave is for the general public and are roadside attractions. Some of these show caves have tours for the more adventurous which they usually call Wild Caving. To go in a Wild Cave, according to the above example, you'd have to be a major spelunker. The example seems to like the term "Adventure Caves" better.
Are you confused yet?
Let’s just make it REALLY simple--
Caves are fun!
Alabama
At
Cathedral Caverns
you can see a huge frozen waterfall. And a WAY huge stalagmite column.
The
DeSoto Caverns
in Alabama is not just a "hole in the ground"! It's truly a roadside oddities stop!
A main attraction at
Rickwood Caverns
are the blind cave fish.
Pre-historic Indians left behind a bunch of stuff at
Russell Cave National Monument.
At
Sequoyah Caverns, Alabama
you can see the beauty of the cave twice!
Idaho
You might just see a ghost at the
Shoshone Ice Caves
Oklahoma
There's wild caving at
Alabaster Caverns State Park.
At
Robbers Cave State Park
hide out with the outlaws.
From Caves to Weird Tourist Attractions
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