Endless Caverns

Sign on Massanutten Mountains

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I took Susan's family to visit Endless Caverns. This commercial cave is one of several in the Shenandoah Valley and I've been to all of them at least once.  (Luray at least 3 times, Skyline twice, Shenandoah 3 times, and Grand Caverns once.)  Endless Caverns is just south of New Market, a town that's famous for it's Civil War battlefield.

I took Susan and the kids to Shenandoah Caverns 8 years ago but Ryley and Josie were young then and don't remember it. 

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The Lodge at Melrose Caverns

Rockingham County, VA

The lodge and caverns opened as a tourist attraction in 1932. Last week this building served as the tour headquarters for the Harrisonburg garden tours. I hope to return when I have time to tour the caverns. One of the attractions is graffiti from 1862, inscribed on cave walls by soldiers who camped on the grounds.

Dark and Mysterious

Skyline Caverns, Virginia 

This commercial cave is near Front Royal. I took these pictures quite a while ago but didn't get around to posting them. Sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed when I have a large number of images from one place. It's hard to winnow them down to a reasonable number to post. Somehow it seems easier to sacrifice a bunch of them when enough time has passed that I no longer remember the effort to take them.

Most of the bright colors are created by the lighting system.

This cave is famous for crystalline features called anthodites. They are deep in the cavern and are rare. A door separates this part of the cave in order to protect them from outside air and too much human breath, which will eventually destroy them.

The Shenandoah Valley has many caverns. Not all are open to the public, but a number are and you should tour one when you visit our area.

(See more "Caverns" posts.)

I left the Interstate...

... because I was driving into a storm. I was on my way home from Harrisonburg last Friday and heading straight for a dark-looking storm. I decided to take the exit at Mauzy and go down Route 11 for a while. There are places there to pull off it the rain comes done so hard you can't see.

With rain ahead and late afternoon sun behind me, it was not surprising to see a partial rainbow.

I turned on a country road to see if I could get a better shot. The rainbow was fading fast so this was what I got before it disappeared.

Since I've been in that area quite a few times, I knew I could find the road that goes by Endless Caverns. It's a scenic area and there could be more photo opportunities.

No doubt some of my readers will recognize the big letters on the hill advertising the cavern. Below that is a photo of the gateway to the caverns and campground.

Linking to Fences and Signs, Signs

I turned and took the Caverns Road back out to Route 11, stopping a few times to take some more pictures.

Look who's looking at me through the broken fence!

Steam was rising off the wet road.

Shenandoah: More Places to Go

Nancy Meyer has made available her places-to-go list in the Orkney-Basye Community Library and the main desk at Bryce. She also posted a map showing some enjoyable back road trips.

These are places that make great day trips for guests:

A. Winchester: Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, Glen Burnie Historic House and Garden, Old Town museums and shops
B. Front Royal: Art Gallery, Skyline Drive’s Dickey Ridge Visitor Center and loop trail
C. Middletown: Belle Grove and Wayside Inn
D. Valley Pike (US 11) flea markets and Strasburg Emporium
E. Woodstock Tower and Fort Valley
F. Trout Pond in Geo. Washington National Forest, WV
G. Lost River State Park, WV
H. Shenandoah Caverns
I. New Market Civil War Battlefield and Museum, Endless Caverns
J. Luray Caverns, Warehouse Art Center
K. Dayton Farmers market
L. Staunton: Museum of Frontier Culture, Blackfriars Playhouse, Art galleries and train station restaurant
M. Lexington: Natural Bridge, Safari Park, downtown Lexington
N. The Jefferson Pools in Warm Springs and the Homestead for lunch
O. Canaan Valley, WV

Basye Resident Andrea Sutcliffe wrote a helpful guide to touring the Shenandoah Valley's charming roads. We've used it many times to find little-known scenic vistas and cute towns. Also, Tent Camping In Virginia describes many of Virginia's public recreation areas with details that are helpful to anyone touring the state. (My daughter Marie Javins did the rewrites to this guidebook, and she did a fine job, if I don't say so.)

Cousins at the Caverns

More pictures from our visit to Shenandoah Caverns.
Tallest to Shortest: Austin, Justin, Ryley, Josie.

Below: The Giant Cootie with the kids and Susan

Martinsburg's Prehistoric Heritage

Good, Random, and  Fun in Martinsburg, West Virginia 

The Good: Martinsburg Heritage Days included representatives of the original inhabitants of the region, the Native Americans. This woman is drumming.

The Random: This carving is exhibited in a museum in the Triple Brick Building. It was most likely used to advertise that tobacco products were for sale in a store, a tradition that came about because European settlers first got tobacco from native tribes. Today these figures are valued as antiques although they are considered stereotypical representations of Native Americans.

The Fun: I went on the "Tunnel Tour" to learn about the mysterious tunnels that connect at least four old buildings in Martinsburg with limestone caverns. So far historians have not found a written record indicating why the tunnels were dug. The could have been used as hiding places during the French and Indian War or during the American Revolution, or perhaps they were used by escaping slaves.

The stairs shown here connect an old cellar with a deeper cellar that has carefully-built arched ceilings. From there another set of steps goes down to a deeper level where a tunnel was dug that a person could crawl through to reach the natural caverns. Members of a regional speleological group have been digging out the passageway, which was filled in some years ago probably for safety reasons.

The tour was fascinating but a little scary. The steps are steep and can be slippery. The rock walls are cold and damp, and the area below is very dark.

Looking downward from the second cellar

Exhibit from Tri-State Grotto

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Come See Follow Me

Susan and I took the kids to Shenandoah Caverns. They seemed quite interested. Austin and Justin were protective of their young cousins.

Below is formation called bacon, for obvious reasons. The kids spotted plenty of bacon throughout the caverns.

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Northern Shenandoah Valley Activities

Note: This is the last part of a piece that Nancy Meyer wrote about the Basye-Orkney Springs Community.

The Shenandoah Valley as a whole offers a wide variety of activities, events and opportunities for enjoyment by the whole family. Many of these are listed in the local, weekly and monthly newspapers and Virginia tourist booklets. Numerous volunteer organizations offer opportunities to help others and to meet new people and neighbors, including:

• Orkney Springs Basye Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad
• SEARCH Thrift Store in Mt. Jackson supporting a group home for mentally challenged adults
• Mt. Jackson Food Pantry
• Lion’s Club; Mt. Jackson Lioness Club; Ruritans; Masons; Elks; Moose Club
• Shenandoah County Memorial Hospital, member of the Valley Health System
• “Friends of the North Fork Shenandoah River”
• Shenandoah County Public Schools
• Music Guild supporting the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival in Orkney Springs
• Masterworks Chorus
• “Art Group” in Mt. Jackson
• VECCA; Valley Education for the Creative Arts
• Active art workshops and Gallery 7 East in Woodstock
• Mount Jackson Garden Club
• Basye Orkney Springs Library: Part of the Shenandoah County Library system
• Shenandoah County School System

The Shenandoah Valley Economic Tourist web site offers a comprehensive list of Valley activities such as numerous wineries, several caverns, Civil War battlefields and museums, historic homes, Cultural Frontier Museum and it’s proximity to Shenandoah National Park. Throughout Shenandoah County from Strasburg to New Market and beyond there are dozens of antique shops and shopping complexes.

Places to visit include wineries, caverns, battlefields, historic homes, Shenandoah National Park, Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, Belle Grove Plantation, and art galleries. Winchester to the north and Harrisonburg to the south offer dozens of attractions, activities, and shopping areas. Harrisonburg is home to James Madison University and Eastern Mennonite University; Winchester is home to Shenandoah University. Middletown is home to Lord Fairfax Community College and the Wayside Theater. There are many other small colleges.

The Basye/Orkney Springs/ Bryce Mountain Community is a very special multi-faceted place with a variety of cultural groups. It is a very beautiful environment with outdoor activities and spectacular scenery. For those leaving large urban areas, it offers the amenities of an old fashioned caring community.

There are now quite a few web sites that provide additional information, including local builders, time share companies, churches, and many local businesses.

www.bryceresort.com

www.skybryce.com

www.caros.net/basye

See the first part of this article.

Keyhole Cave near Strasburg

On Hupp's Hill

Across from the museum and visitors center at Hupp's Hill you'll find a trail that deals with both the Civil War history of the site and the karst geology that underlies it. Limestone is porous and so this area, like much of the Shenandoah Valley, has water-formed caves underneath.

Keyhole Cave is a "wild" cave as opposed to nearby Crystal Caverns (currently closed) and Shenandoah Caverns. Keyhole Cave is marked "No Trespassing." A sign shows the network of caves and sinkholes on the hill and also tells us that bats are not currently living here.

Earlier Post: Along the Trail at Hupp's Hill

Good Times and a Hand

Farm near New Market, VA

The Good: The Shenandoah Valley is still green and fertile. Unlike many places that are dealing with drought, we have been blessed with good weather this summer.

The Random: A photography group that I participate in has "Hands and Feet" as the theme for this week. Here's a shot I took Sunday for that topic.

The Fun: On Thursday I took our guests to Endless Caverns. The tour was fun and interesting. I'll post some more pictures of it later.

There are a number of caverns here in the Shenandoah Valley, which basically sits on ancient limestone that can be dissolved into tunnels as water makes it way through it for many hundreds of years.

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and The Good, The Random, The Fun

Me, Ryley, Doug, Josie, Sue

Entrance Buildings, Endless Caverns

The limestone buildings at the cavern entrance were built from stone excavated out of the cave when the pathways were widened and leveled.

There's a souvenir shop with a small selection of snacks and a few exhibits. The over-sized bat on the ceiling is not real, but there are some brown bats that live in the cave in the winter, we were told.

When we emerged from the underground tour, I thought I would take some pictures but condensation covered my lens from the change in temperature. The temperature had been 54 F. in the cave but was at least 80 outside.

I wiped off the moisture but my subjects had walked on.

Endless Caverns first opened for public tours 95 years ago. The walking tour is guided and there are some steep steps and slippery spots due to moisture. I certainly recommend a visit but wear appropriate shoes and a sweatshirt.

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