A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word cave can refer to smaller openings such as sea caves, rock shelters, and grottos, that extend a relatively short distance into the rock and they are called exogene caves. Caves which extend further underground than the opening is wide are called endogene caves.
The Shenandoah Valley is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, to the north by the Potomac River and to the south by the James River. The cultural region covers a larger area that includes all of the valley plus the Virginia highlands to the west, and the Roanoke Valley to the south. It is physiographically located within the Ridge and Valley province and is a portion of the Great Appalachian Valley.
The Natural Bridge Caverns are the largest 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. The span was left suspended when a sinkhole collapsed below it.
Blanchard Springs Caverns is a cave system located in the Ozark–St. Francis National Forest in Stone County in northern Arkansas, USA, 2 miles (3.2 km) off Highway 14 a short distance north of Mountain View. It is the only tourist cave owned by the United States Forest Service and the only one owned by the federal government outside the National Park System. Blanchard Springs Caverns is a three-level cave system, all of which can be viewed on guided tours.
The Shenandoah River is the principal tributary of the Potomac River, 55.6 miles (89.5 km) long with two forks approximately 100 miles (160 km) long each, in the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia. The river and its tributaries drain the central and lower Shenandoah Valley and the Page Valley in the Appalachians on the west side of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in northwestern Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. There is a hydroelectric plant along the Shenandoah river constructed in 2014 by Dominion.
Inner Space Cavern is a karst cave located in Georgetown, Texas. The cavern was formed by water passing through Edwards limestone. The cavern is estimated to be around 20-25 million years old but were only open to the surface since the late Pleistocene period 14,000–45,000 years ago.
Luray Caverns, previously Luray Cave, is a cave just west of Luray, Virginia, United States, which has drawn many visitors since its discovery in 1878. The cavern system is adorned with speleothems such as columns, mud flows, stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, and mirrored pools. The caverns host the Great Stalacpipe Organ, a lithophone made from solenoid-fired strikers that tap stalactites of varied sizes to produce tones similar to those of xylophones, tuning forks, or bells.
Cave of the Winds is a cave in the Pikes Peak region of Colorado. It is located just west of Colorado Springs on U.S. Highway 24, near the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. Tours of the complex of caves are given daily.
Ruby Falls is a series of underground cascading waterfalls totaling 145 feet (44 m) in Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the United States.
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.
Lost River Cave is a seven-mile cave system located in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Lost River originates outside of the cave and flows into it. The cave contains one of the largest natural entrances in the Eastern U.S. Boat tours are available year-round, but closed for Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. The river was once listed by Ripley's Believe it or Not as the "Shortest, deepest river in the world" because the blue hole is over 437 feet deep, while the river itself is only 400 feet long. In fact, the blue hole is only 16 feet deep, but is linked to a further underground river. The 72-acre cave property is jointly owned by Western Kentucky University and the non-profit Friends of Lost River Cave.
Raccoon Mountain Caverns is a cave located in Chattanooga, Tennessee in a band of Mississippian Period limestone, part of the Cumberland Plateau.
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.
Hellhole is a large and deep pit cave in Germany Valley of eastern West Virginia. It is the seventh longest cave in the United States and is home to almost half of the world's population of Virginia big-eared bats. At 737 feet (225 m), Hellhole is the deepest of several caves in the Valley.
Grand Caverns, formerly known as Weyer's Cave, is located in the central Shenandoah Valley in the town of Grottoes, Virginia, United States. A limestone cavern, it claims the distinction of being America's oldest show cave, in operation since 1806.
Endless Caverns is a commercial show cave located three miles (4.8 km) south of New Market, Virginia, United States. The cavern is located in the pet-friendly, Endless Caverns Resort, featuring RV sites, vacation rental cottages and a number of amenities, including an outdoor pool, playground, hiking trails, catch-and-release fishing pond, mining sluice, and more.
Boyden Cavern is a show cave located in the Giant Sequoia National Monument of the Sequoia National Forest, along the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway in Fresno County, California. It is just west of Kings Canyon National Park.
Shenandoah Caverns is a commercial show cave located near Mount Jackson, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley and it is the only cavern in Virginia that has elevator access.
Cascade Caverns is a historically, geologically, and biologically important limestone solutional cave 3 mi (4.8 km) south of Boerne, Texas, United States, on 226 Cascade Caverns Road, in Kendall County. It has been commercially operated as a show cave and open for public tours since 1932. Informal tours were run as far back as 1875, when Dr. Benjamin Hester owned the cave property. The cave was known by the native Lipan Apache people who lived in the area prior to 1800.
