There are thousands of caves in Texas. Over the next few days, I will highlight the large commercial or show caves of Texas.

The show caves are easy to find and do not require an insurance waiver, hard hat, climbing gear, breathing apparatus and squirming on your belly to view.

If you are interested in the crawl on your belly through bat guano caves, leave me a comment and I will point you toward the killer caves of Texas.

Cascade Caverns, named for a beautiful waterfall that plunges 90+ feet into the main cave, are about 1/3 mile in length and lie 180 feet below the surface. Temperature in the caverns is a cool 68 degrees, making Cascade Caverns a perfect place to explore during hot summer days.

Cascade Caverns are active, with pure water rushing over dripstone formations and dripping from stalactites onto the cavern floor to form stalagmites or gather into underground pools. Cascade Caverns have fascinated generations of visitors since its opening in 1932. Cascade Caverns were designated as a historical site in 1964.

Over 100 million years ago, the caverns were an ocean bed, so look closely and you will see shells and fossils of marine life in the rock. Artifacts found inside and around the entrance to the caverns show that they were home to man and beast for thousands of years before modern man.

The pathways of Cascade Caverns are well lit, easily navigated, and will lead you through room after room of cave breathtaking beauty until you reach the 90+ feet waterfall. The tour is 45 minutes to one hour in length, but the cool temperature will make the walking a breeze. The caverns are located 14 miles NW of San Antonio. From San Antonio take IH-10 west toward Boerne, exit 543 on Cascade Caverns Road. Cascade Caverns are open daily, but call for more information (830-755-8080).

From the Cascade Caverns website:

Stroll through the rain forest and delight at the many soda straw formations that abound. Be careful what you touch because this cave is still an active cave! Millions of glistening drops of water decorate the ceiling, waiting for an unwitting guest to walk underneath and be surprised by a cave kiss. The rain forest area is also the home to the one of many forms of wild life in the cave. The Cascade Cavern Salamanders, of which a book was written, are an endangered variety of the albino Salamander native to cave environments.

From the Texas Historical Society website:

Cascade Cavern [sic] presents an interesting mix of geological, archeological, and historical features. It exhibits a combination of the joint and the dip and strike types of caverns, and is the home of a number of unusual animals, including cliff and leopard frogs, Mexican brown bats, and Cascade Cavern salamanders. Archeological evidence uncovered near the cave indicates the presence of two Indian sites. It is probable that the Indians used the cave for shelter, and soot found on the sides of a natural chimney suggests that they had fires.

Tags: Cascade Caverns, cave kiss, show cave, active cave system, historical site, fossils and artifacts, near Boerne