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| Is this earth??? In Blanchard Springs Caverns, expect breathtaking rock formations. |
Last week I had the privilege of exploring the Ozark National Forest in Arkansas. I visited many incredible places, however one of the most beautiful was the Blanchard Springs Caverns. This incredible three-level cave system is called a "living cave" due to its continuous evolution at the mercy of water. I went on the most popular cave tour offered, the "Dripstone Tour". The guide took us through two massive rooms within the first level of the cave system.
As you can guess, it was incredibly dark within the cave and without permission to use a tripod many of these images turned out grainier than I would have liked. Maybe I am just being overly-critical of my own work...regardless, I hope that this post can act as a snippet of what you can expect to see in this incredible underground world. If you are ever near Arkansas, head over to the Ozarks and to the phenomenal Blanchard Springs Caverns!
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| This is a photograph of my favorite space in the cave that our guide took us to. Those formations along the ceiling are known as "Soda Straws" - young stalactites. These inconceivably fragile formations covered the room...beautiful, yes? |
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| A crazy flowstone formation! I wish that I could somehow show how enormous so many of these formations are. This one absolutely dwarfed me! |
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| The main room, the "Cathedral Room". The sheer scale of this space was difficult to fathom at first. |
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| Um, I am pretty sure that this is something from that "Avatar" movie. But its not, just some amazing consequences of water gushing underground. |
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| Another image within the Cathedral Room. The handrailing centered near the bottom of the photograph gives a sense of scale of the enormity of these formations. |
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| Frozen smoke? Nope. Water did this; H2o continues to make the cave evolve. |
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| Is that Jaws gaping mouth? |
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| This marshmellowy looking stuff is a rock-solid flowstone formation. |
Overall I cannot recommend the Blanchard Springs Caverns enough. It was something that I will never forget and I hope that you will have the opportunity to visit this spectacular place as well! The Visitor Center and Museum were beautiful and the staff and guides were all fantastic. Two thumbs up!
