 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2017) |
The Oligo-Nunk Cave System is a group of six caves in Kentucky, United States.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2017) |
The Oligo-Nunk Cave System is a group of six caves in Kentucky, United States.
Until the early 1900s, the C & O railway operated the cave system as a profitable tourist venture. The company had in service multiple trains weekly and special trains that were running to the community of Carter, Kentucky for the sole purpose of visiting the caves on Honeycomb Mountain. When J.F. Lewis purchased the property in the early 1900s, he had no immediate intentions of continuing the cave tours at both the Carter Caves and the Honeycomb Mountain Caves; so it was decided that the Honeycomb Mountain Cave tour operation would be suspended and that no visitors would be permitted.
After oversupply torpedoed much of his tobacco-farming business, Lewis turned the property back into a public caving destination during the 1920s. He improved passages, installed drainage tile and reopened the pavilion. This enabled Lewis to maintain a strong hold on the tourism business in the area. However, this venture lasted for only a short period before it again closed to the public. The family divested itself and focused time and resources towards more profitable ventures.
The caves remain private property held by the Lewis family. Originally, four caves were open for visitors. Eventually surveyors discovered those caves to be connected together in one large system. Engineers and artisans originally entered the caves and every obstruction that marred the beauty of the scene or broke the perfection of a series was removed. In some places, stairways were erected to facilitate access.
The caves are the home of multiple bat species that occupy the Oligo-Nunk Cave system during the hibernation months. This is a collection of several different species including the Indiana and Gray Bat, both on the Federal Endangered Species list.
Caving – also known as spelunking in the United States and Canada and potholing in the United Kingdom and Ireland – is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems. In contrast, speleology is the scientific study of caves and the cave environment.
Mammoth Cave National Park is an American national park in west-central Kentucky, encompassing portions of Mammoth Cave, the longest cave system known in the world.
The Daniel Boone National Forest is a national forest in Kentucky. Established in 1937, it includes 708,000 acres (287,000 ha) of federally owned land within a 2,100,000 acres (850,000 ha) proclamation boundary. The name of the forest was changed in 1966 in honor of the explorer Daniel Boone.
Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve is a protected area in the northern Siskiyou Mountains of southwestern Oregon in the United States. The 4,554-acre (1,843 ha) park, including the marble cave, is 20 miles (32 km) east of Cave Junction, on Oregon Route 46. The protected area, managed by the National Park Service (NPS), is in southwestern Josephine County, near the Oregon–California border.
The Cumberland Gap National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park located at the border between Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, centered on the Cumberland Gap, a natural break in the Appalachian Mountains.
Dogpatch USA was a theme park located in northwest Arkansas along State Highway 7 between the cities of Harrison and Jasper, an area known today as Marble Falls. It was based on the comic strip Li'l Abner, created by cartoonist Al Capp and set in a fictional village called Dogpatch. The park opened in 1968, and closed in 1993.
The Jenolan Caves are limestone caves located within the Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve in the Central Tablelands region, west of the Blue Mountains, in Jenolan, Oberon Council, New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The caves and 3,083-hectare (7,620-acre) reserve are situated approximately 175 kilometres (109 mi) west of Sydney, 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Oberon and 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of Katoomba.
Silver Dollar City is a 61-acre (25 ha) amusement park in Stone County, Missouri, near the cities of Branson and Branson West. The park is located off of Missouri Route 76 on the Indian Point peninsula of Table Rock Lake. Silver Dollar City opened on May 1, 1960. The park is an 1880s-themed experience that fits Branson's vision as a family-friendly vacation destination with down-home charm. Silver Dollar City's operating season runs from March until December, with the park closed for two months. Silver Dollar City is owned by Herschend Family Entertainment.
Kingdom Come State Park is a part of Kentucky's state park system in Harlan County atop Pine Mountain near the city of Cumberland. It was named after the 1903 best-selling novel The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come by native Kentuckian John Fox, Jr. Features of the park include Raven Rock, Log Rock, and a 3.5-acre (1.4 ha) mountain lake. The section of the park is also a legally dedicated state nature preserve by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves.
Carter Caves State Resort Park is located in Carter County, Kentucky, United States, along Tygarts Creek. It is formed by Carter Caves, and nearby Cascade Caves, which were added to the park in 1959. On December 16, 1981, 146 acres (59 ha) of the park were designated as nature preserves. Bat Cave and Cascade Caverns State Nature Preserves were dedicated for the protection of the Indiana bat, mountain maple, and Canada yew, all endangered species.
The Wyandotte Caves is a pair of limestone caves located on the Ohio River in Harrison-Crawford State Forest in Crawford County, 5 miles (8 km) north-east of Leavenworth and 12 miles (19 km) from Corydon in southern Indiana which are a popular tourist attraction. Wyandotte Caves were designated a National Natural Landmark in 1972. They are now part of O'Bannon Woods State Park. The cave system is the 5th largest in the state of Indiana.
Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park is a 3,000-acre (1,200 ha) public recreation and nature preservation area located twelve miles (19 km) east of Whitehall in Jefferson County, Montana. The state park includes two visitor centers, ten miles of hiking trails, a campground, and its namesake limestone caverns. The Lewis and Clark Caverns Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
Bat Cave and Cascade Caverns State Nature Preserves are two nature preserves totaling 146 acres (0.59 km2) located within the boundaries of Carter Caves State Resort Park in Carter County, Kentucky, United States. Bat Cave was dedicated as part of the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves system on December 16, 1981, for the protection of the Indiana bat with wintering numbers estimated at 28,000. The Cascade Caverns preserve was included to protect two rare plant species in Kentucky, the mountain maple and the Canadian yew.
Marvel Cave is a National Natural Landmark located just west of Branson, Missouri, on top of Roark Mountain in Stone County. The cave was known by the Osage Indians in the early 16th century, after a tribe member fell through the cave's main entrance, a sinkhole. There is evidence that in 1541 the Spanish explored the cave, but the first recorded expedition was in 1869, led by Henry T. Blow. The unofficial Stone County chapter of Bald Knobbers, a local group of vigilantes, were rumored to have taken people to the top of Roark Mountain, and thrown them in the sink hole.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park is an American national park in the Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico. The primary attraction of the park is the show cave Carlsbad Cavern. Visitors to the cave can hike in on their own via the natural entrance or take an elevator from the visitor center.
Germany Valley is a scenic upland valley high in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia originally settled by German farmers in the mid-18th century. It is today a part of the Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area of the Monongahela National Forest, although much ownership of the Valley remains in private hands.
Nickajack Cave is a large, partially flooded cave in Marion County, Tennessee. It was partially flooded by the Tennessee Valley Authority's Nickajack Lake, created by the construction of Nickajack Dam in 1967. The entrance was originally 140 feet wide and 50 feet high. There is now about 25–30 feet of water at the entrance, so the portion of the entrance above water is 140 feet wide and 20–25 feet high. It houses a large colony of gray bats, an endangered species, and the water levels have posed a danger to the bat colony. The cave took its name from the Chickamauga Cherokee town of Nickajack, located between its mouth and the Tennessee River. The town was once attacked and destroyed in 1794 by the Nickajack Expedition.
The Bat Cave guano mine, located in the western Grand Canyon of Arizona at river mile 266, 800 feet (240 m) above Lake Mead, was an unusual, expensive and noteworthy mining operation. The natural cave was a bat habitat and contained an accumulation of guano.
The Ōpārara Basin is a basin drained by the Ōpārara River at 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Karamea, at the West Coast Region of the South Island of New Zealand. With its large natural rock arches, a network of caves rich in fossils, and a beautiful, unspoiled natural environment typical of temperate rainforests, it is one of the most striking places of the Kahurangi National Park.