Came to visit these caverns on the way to visit another, but ended up here at the recommendation of a local. The cave itself is miles long and the beginner tour is guided and runs about an hour or so long.
The cave is very interesting as there is much civil war history, as well as of the course geological history and curiousity as well. Hard for me to gauge the experience compared to other caverns, since this was really my first time down in a real cave like this. I'd give the cave and guided tour 4 stars. Worth the money.
What really turned me off, was the bible lesson that came with it. They make a point of mentioning at the commencement of the tour that they are bible believers and even put a copy of the bible in their exhibit with other pieces, petrified stone, and civil war era relics. Mind you, the bible didn't come out of the cave from the civil war era or anything... It's just a new bible they put there to talk about at the beginning of each tour.
When I asked something about the giant sloth bone casting, part of the response was that they believe the "great flood" washed them in... Same with the shells and coral fragments... YIKES...
Anyway, I'm not trying to be insensitive to religion, I just wasn't expecting a bible lesson during my cave tour and was a bit surprised to see the people actually hadn't heard of or believe in plate tectonics. Minus 2 stars for the whole religion thing...
At the end of the day, it was a nice tour and it's a nice place, but the religion thing was a sour note for me and just wasn't really necessary or relevant to the attraction. read more