Cave Kisses are Cold
June 24th 2009
There are thousands of caves in Texas and more are discovered each year. My days of crawling on my belly with a head lamp to emerge into a quano-filled space are behind me, but I do enjoy a good show cave. A show cave is open for touring and does not require insurance waiver, hard hat, climbing gear, breathing apparatus and squirming like a worm to view.
While we stayed at Medina Lake, we visited Cascade Caverns in Boerne. These caverns which contain an underground waterfall that cascades almost 100 feet. To reach the cascade room, which is basically the turnaround portion of the tour, you must walk down 180 feet of stairs. Once you catch your breath, start walking for about 1/3 of a mile along slippery walkways, ducking as the ceiling reaches for the floor. Temperature in the caverns is a cool 68 degrees, but the humidity was high on the day we went, so it negated a lot of the coolness. I received quite a few cave kisses, when water drops from a formation to land on a lucky caver, but they were cold!
Cascade Caverns are active, with pure water rushing over dripstone formations and dripping from stalactites onto the cavern floor to form stalagmites or run into underground pools. Cascade Caverns have fascinated generations of visitors since its opening in 1932. Cascade Caverns gained historical designation in 1964.
Cascade Caverns lie at the lowest point in the county, so when it floods, these caverns are full. You will notice flood debris on some of the formations. Some formations are broken by the force of the water. If you look at the ceiling, you will solution holes. This is how high the water rises when it floods. Rocks and debris carve those holes out of solid limestone.
Over 100 million years ago Texas was covered by a vast inland sea and 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 tour is 45 minutes in length. 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).
To be honest, this was not the best cave tour for the money. The young guide was in a hurry and did not know much about the formations. There was little time allocated to just “looking.” If you call to book a reservation, just tell them that you want a true guide who will accommodate questions and folks who like to look. LOL
Here is a slideshow of my photographs. They are not the best, but perhaps they will give you an idea of the caverns.
Tags: Cascade Caverns, cave kiss, show cave, active cave system, historical site, fossils and artifacts, Boerne
