Who owns the Natural Bridge Caverns?
the Wuest family
Natural Bridge Caverns is owned and operated by the Wuest family and is a designated State Historical Site, National Natural Landmark, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
What is special about Natural Bridge Caverns?
The Natural Bridge Caverns are the largest known commercial caverns in the U.S. state of Texas. The caverns feature several unique speleothems and other geological formations. The temperature inside the cave is 21 degrees Celsius (70°F) year-round and the humidity rate is a constant 99 percent.
What formed Natural Bridge Caverns?
The cavern formed by an underground “river” moving slowly through cracks and pores within the limestone. Rainwater seeping through cracks started dissolving the limestone. In time, the original narrow cracks or joints enlarged to form huge underground conduits or passages.
Who discovered the Natural bridge?
The first European to document seeing the geologic feature was John Peter Stallings. He was a captive of Native Americans in the Piedmont for six years, and may have seen it while in their custody. He settled in the upper James River valley in 1736, and wrote about the bridge in his journal in 1742.
How were Natural Bridge Caverns discovered?
HISTORY OF NATURAL BRIDGE CAVERNS In March of 1960, four college students from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio discovered the Caverns after receiving permission from the family to explore what was thought to be a small cave. The Wuest family has been a pioneer in travel tourism and cave conservation.
How are caverns formed?
Solution caves are formed in carbonate and sulfate rocks such as limestone, dolomite, marble, and gypsum by the action of slowly moving ground water that dissolves the rock to form tunnels, irregular passages, and even large caverns along joints and bedding planes.
How are caves formed?
Caves are formed by the dissolution of limestone. Rainwater picks up carbon dioxide from the air and as it percolates through the soil, which turns into a weak acid. This slowly dissolves out the limestone along the joints, bedding planes and fractures, some of which become enlarged enough to form caves.
When were Natural Bridge Caverns formed?
July 3, 1964
Natural Bridge Caverns/Established
How deep are the Natural Bridge Caverns?
180 feet
Both tours are led by trained Natural Bridge guides down to a depth of 180 feet below the surface, through passages and rooms of glistening cave formations revealed in succession, beautifully unfolding long-held secrets of the caverns.
Which Natural Bridge cavern Tour is better?
The original tour has better and wider paths, and we were with a larger group.
How did Natural Bridge Caverns get its name?
The Natural Bridge Caverns are the largest known commercial caverns in the U.S. state of Texas. The name is derived from the 60 ft natural limestone slab bridge that spans the amphitheater setting of the cavern’s entrance.
Where are the Natural Bridge Caverns in Texas?
The span was left suspended when a sinkhole collapsed below it. The caverns are located near the city of San Antonio, Texas in the Texas Hill Country next to the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch, a drive-through wildlife safari park.
What can you do at Natural Bridge Caverns?
There is plenty to discover at Natural Bridge Caverns. Explore two distinct cave systems, conquer the ropes course and zip line, mine for fossils, and more!
What makes up the speleothems at Natural Bridge Caverns?
Due to the porosity of the limestone, rainwater travels downwards through the layers of rock, where it dissolves out calcite, a weak mineral that makes up all of the speleothems at Natural Bridge Caverns.