Blanchard Springs Caverns

Blanchard Springs Caverns is a cave system located in the Ozark–St. Francis National Forest in Stone County in northern Arkansas, 2 miles off Highway 14 a short distance north of Mountain View. Blanchard Springs Caverns is a three-level cave system, two of which are open for guided tours.

The Dripstone Trail runs through the upper level of the caverns and opened in 1973. The Discovery Trail on the second level opened in 1977 and runs through the middle of the cavern. Also offered is a "Wild Cave" tour which allows access to undeveloped parts of the cave to more adventurous visitors.

The temperature is a constant, year-round 58°F (14°C). The limestone rock from which the caves and their formations developed was laid down in an ancient sea more than 350 million years ago. It remains a "living" cave in part because of the care given by visitors and the United States Forest Service. Living caves are ones in which slow metamorphosis due to minerals deposited by seeping and dripping water is still in process.

History

Local residents knew about the cave by the 1930s and called it Half-Mile Cave. The first systematic exploration of the cave began in 1955 and went for five years. Additionally in 1955, explorers discovered a 1000-year-old Native American skeleton in the cave. The skeleton had a fractured skull, fractured ribs, and a fractured leg. How this explorer entered the cave is unknown. The caverns were opened to the public in 1973 after ten years of development on the Dripstone Trail. Blanchard Springs Caverns received its name from the cave's source, Blanchard Springs.

References

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External links

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Kent Skiles
3 August 2013
Discovery Trail Tour was well worth the trip. Lot of caves to check out. Austin and Bill were great tour guides.
Rebecca M.
22 May 2012
So beautiful! Great for a rained out vacation day, but still something that really needs to be seen anyhow. You'll also never think about bat poop the same way again.
Paul Novarese
14 June 2015
Do both trails if you have time. Dont forget to drive around to the springs afterwards!
Tiffany P
17 July 2015
Take the Wild Cave Tour with Aaron and Paul!!! You will not be sorry!
Paul Novarese
14 June 2015
This is the best walking cave tour in the Ozarks by a large margin!
Steph Veade
13 August 2011
The dripstone tour is the best cave tour I've ever been on and I've been to many different caves
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0.5km from Forest Road 1110-A, Ozark National Forest, Mountain View, AR 72560, USA Get directions
Thu 9:00 AM–3:00 PM
Fri 11:00 AM–6:00 PM
Sat 9:00 AM–7:00 PM
Sun 10:00 AM–5:00 PM
Mon 11:00 AM–4:00 PM
Tue Noon–3:00 PM

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