Caves And Caverns

For generations, enterprising people in the southern Appalachians have turned the region's extensive network of caves into a strange, fascinating genre of tourist attraction. Visitors pay admission to take a tour deep underground, learning a little about history and geology while puzzling over lit-up rock formations said to resemble anything from Niagara Falls to the Capitol dome. Then off go the lights, enveloping the travelers in total darkness--until the guide flips them back on and welcomes folks back into the safety of the inevitable gift shop. Show caves, as Douglas Reichert Powell explains in Endless Caverns, are at once predictable and astonishing, ancient and modern, eerie and sentimental. Their story sparks memories of a fleeting cool moment deep underground during a hot summer vacation, capturing in microcosm the history and culture of a region where a deeply rooted sense of place collides with constant change. Reichert Powell takes readers along on his journey through the past and present of Appalachia's show caves, highlighting the characters who have owned and operated them, the ways the attractions have developed and changed over the years, and the odd intrigue that still leads people to buy their ticket and head underground. Tourist tastes may shift as interstates whisk travelers past the backroads and on to trendier destinations, but the show cave--like Appalachia itself--endures.

Presents a description of the formation and physical features of caves and includes labeled color illustrations.

Tells how amateur Arizona spelunkers Randy Tufts and Gary Tenen found a huge virgin cave in 1974, maintained the secrecy of this place, Kartchner Caverns, for fourteen years, and upon its "discovery," helped preserve the location and transform the caverns into a public attraction. The author covers the twenty-five years from the caverns' discovery to its protection as an Arizona state park, using personal interviews, biographical facts, political maneuvering, and geological facts to illustrate the story.

DISCOVER JUST HOW LONG IT REALLY TAKES FOR A CAVE TO FORM

Learn about caves, what they are, different types of caves, and how they are made.

A basic examination of how caves are formed.