The drive between NC and NJ is becoming old hat to us now and we are running out of options for places to stop and break up the trip. Three years ago we stopped at Luray Caverns and my oldest son declared it “the coolest thing he had ever done” at the time. Since I was coming up empty on new ideas for a mid-way stop, I figured we would check out one of the other caverns in the area.
Grand Caverns is the oldest “show cave” in the US. Discovered in 1804, tours began 2 years later and have continued ever since. They even claim to have given tours to both Union and Confederate soldiers during the Civil War… hopefully at different times! Over 200 verified Civil War era signatures are scratched into the walls of the cave.
I booked our tickets online during a break in the drive down once I had a better sense of what time we would arrive. There are a few different tour options including the basic walking tour, a history tour, a geology tour, and an adventure tour that includes climbing and crawling through different areas of the cave. We booked the Grand Caverns Walking Tour for $23 per adult and $13.50 for kids 3-12.
The cavern entrance is part of a regional park that includes a pool, mini golf, and picnic areas. There is a visitor center and gift shop at the back of the park, and the entrance to the cave is at the top of a hill.
The building that houses the entrance to the cavern has a small museum and informational area. The museum area was neat and gave some great information. The displays in the lobby were dated and included a lot of slightly creepy taxidermy.
The group was fairly large (maybe 25 people?) and the guide gathered us together and gave us some history before taking us down into the cavern.
The tour was informative – both from a geological and an historical perspective. The overall experience in Grand Caverns was less polished than Luray Caverns, from the entrance to the path through the cavern to the tour itself. And I’m not sure if that is a bad thing or a good thing. It felt a little more natural but I felt like the cavern itself was a little less impressive overall.
Many of the formations have witty names, like the upside-down pizza, the ghost of George Washington, and the chocolate chip cookie. You have to use your imagination to see them but most were recognizable – at the time at least. When I look back through the pictures now I can’t recognize most of them.
One of my favorite parts of the cavern was a group of stalactites that hung above a reflecting pool. When you looked in the water, the reflection of the formations above looked like a tiny underwater city.
One thing I wasn’t a fan of was their use of colored lighting in a few sections of the cave. It just felt sort of cheesy and took away from the natural beauty of the cave formations.
It was surprising to learn all of the different ways that the cave had been used in the distant past. The proper way to maintain a cavern either wasn’t known about back then or nobody cared. Parties were thrown in the caverns. Wedding and ballroom dances were hosted there. Tour guides encouraged visitors to break off a piece of the rock formations to take with them as a souvenir. And it was common to carve one’s name or initials into the walls of the cavern.
Thankfully times have changed and steps have been taken to preserve this natural landmark. Formations grow at a rate of one cubic inch every 100 years though so the damage will never be undone in our lifetimes but hopefully no further damage will befall this beautiful cavern.
We enjoyed our tour of Grand Caverns. After visiting Luray Caverns a few years ago, it was interesting to see a different cavern in the area. I don’t think one is better or worse, just different. I have a personal preference for Luray Caverns but I think that both are definitely worth exploring.
