Texas Caves with Kids
Texas is home to several commercial caves, each offering
well-lighted, easy-to-follow trails that every member of the family
can enjoy. Here you'll view a quiet world where progress takes place
one drop of water at a time. Nearly every cave in Texas is located
in the Hill Country, thanks to the region's base of porous limestone,
formed from the compressed remains of billions of sea creatures
that inhabited the region when it was the floor of an ancient sea.
Boerne
In Boerne (northwest of
San Antonio), Cascade Caverns is named for its 90-foot
waterfall. Cascade Caverns has welcomed the public since 1932, but
it's clear that both man and animals have been using the cave much
longer. One of the first visitors over 50,000 years ago was a mastodon
whose bones remain in the cave today. Later, ancient Indian tribes
held ceremonies within the cave's first room, perhaps fearing to
venture beyond the reassuring sunlight near the cave's entrance.
New Braunfels
In New Braunfels, Natural
Bridge Caverns is the largest cave in the region. Tours
take visitors through enormous rooms that look like the playing
fields of prehistoric dinosaurs, rooms with fanciful names like
"The Castle of The White Giants." Natural Bridge Caverns
takes its name from a rock bridge between two sinkholes, the original
entrance to the mouth of the cavern. Though the sinkholes were discovered
during the 19th century, there is evidence of much earlier visitors.
Bones of a grizzly bear at least 8,000 years old have been discovered,
as well as human bones, stone weapons and other Indian artifacts.
San Marcos
In San Marcos, Wonder
Cave, located at Wonder
World, gives visitors a view of the Balcones Fault from
the inside. The cave was produced during an earthquake 30 million
years ago. That same quake formed the Balcones Fault, an 1800-mile
line separating the western hill country from the flat eastern farmland.
Within the cave, boulders lodged in the fissure are reminders of
the powerful force of nature.
Georgetown
 Just 25 minutes north of Austin lies Inner
Space Cavern in Georgetown.
The cave was discovered in 1963 when road crews building the highway
drilled into one of the large rooms. Soon afterward, the cavern
was developed for commercial use, and it remains one of the most
accessible caverns due to its roadside location. Remains of Ice
Age mastodons, wolves, saber-toothed tigers, and glyptodon (a kind
of prehistoric armadillo) have been discovered.
Inner Space is also home to a "mining" area (right) where kids can pan for minerals.
Burnet
In the hill country, Longhorn
Cavern State Park, located near Burnet,
boasts an extensive history. from prehistoric day through the early
years of this century. Confederate soldiers used the cave's main
room as a munitions factory. Bat guano from the cave was an ingredient
in the manufacture of gunpowder. The cave went unused for several
decades until the Gay Twenties. A local businessman opened a dance
hall in the largest room of the cave, building a wooden dance floor
several feet above the limestone. When it proved successful, he
then opened a restaurant in the next room, lowering food through
a hole in the cavern ceiling. Later, the cave was used for Sunday
church services.
Sonora
Texas's westernmost public cave is the Caverns of Sonora,
described by some cave experts as the most beautiful in the world.
The large cave is especially noted for its unique butterfly-shaped
formations as well as its spectacular stalactites and stalagmites.
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