Today we took the two cavern tours. They are both about an hour and a half and they are amazing. (All pictures are from the park’s website)
Kartchner Caverns State Park, AZ
Here is some text I took off the website.
“In November 1974 two young cavers, Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts, were exploring the limestone hills at the base of the Whetstone Mountains. In the bottom of a sinkhole they found a narrow crack leading into the hillside. Warm, moist air flowed out, signaling the existence of a cave. After several hours of crawling, they entered a pristine cavern.
The formations that decorate caves are called “speleothems.” Usually formations are composed of layers of calcite called travertine deposited by water. The form a speleothem takes is determined by whether the water drips, flows, seeps, condenses, or pools.
Kartchner Caverns is home to:
- one of the world’s longest soda straw stalactites: 21 feet 3 inches (Throne Room)
- the tallest and most massive column in Arizona, Kubla Khan: 58 feet tall (Throne Room)
- the world’s most extensive formation of brushite moonmilk (Big Room)
- the first reported occurrence of “turnip” shields (Big Room)
- the first cave occurrence of “birdsnest” needle quartz formations
- many other unusual formations such as shields, totems, helictites, and rimstone dams.”
The amazing part of the these caves is from the moment of discovery the goal was to keep them protected and to allow people to see them. All the caves I’ve been in before had damage done to them before they were protected. These are amazing and to help keep them this way no cameras are allowed in the caves :-(.
It was 1988 before the cave discovery was published to the general public.
This was taken from Wikipedia.
“The caverns were discovered in 1974, when cavers Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts found a narrow crack in the bottom of a sinkhole, and followed the source of warm, moist air toward what ended up being more than 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of pristine cave passages.Hoping to protect the cave from vandalism, they kept the location a secret for fourteen years, deciding that the best way to preserve the cavern — which was near a freeway — was to develop it as a tour cave. After gaining the cooperation of the Kartchner family and working with them for ten years, together they decided that the best way to achieve the goal of protection through development as a tour cave was to approach Arizona State Parks. In 1985, Governor Bruce Babbitt secretly left the state capitol with two bodyguards and spent three hours crawling through the cave’s tight passages to reach the cave’s showcase chambers, including the Big Room, Echo Passage and Cul-de-sac Passage. The discovery of the cave was finally made public in 1988 when the landowners sold the area to the state for development as a park and show cavern. The state spent $28 million on a high-tech system of air-lock doors, misting machines and other gadgetry designed to preserve the cave.”
Here is some information and pictures about how they developed the caves.
I took this off the Arizona website.
Kartchner Caverns’ development spanned nearly 11 years, 1988–99, and cost almost $35 million. During that time, we designed innovative ways to allow public access while protecting the cave.
When touring Kartchner Caverns, you appreciate its beauty. But do you wonder what it took to open the cave for public access while keeping its natural beauty intact?
Before entering the cave, you pass through a series of conservation doors which prevent moisture loss from the cave. You receive a mist “shower.” The mist moistens the particles of lint, skin and hair we shed so they fall onto the trail. The trail’s high curbs help contain the particles, allowing us to wash the trails and pump the residue out of the cave. Why do we care? Because particles like lint become food for fungus colonies that can ruin the beauty of the cave.
A major difference between Kartchner Caverns and other show caves is that the lighting is separated into 2 functions: one needed for safety and the other to enjoy the views. As you tour the cave the lights are controlled by the tour guide. This allows us to have less overall illumination, which in turn means fewer problems with algae growth and heat build-up.
Glancing over the side of the trail, you will not see any damage from construction. This is an example of another innovation developed here called “linear construction.” We built several feet of trail, then stood on that to build the next several feet. In that way, we contained human impact to the actual trail itself.
The original entrance to the cave, and the one the bats still use, is through the blowhole, a tight fit for the smallest person. Tunnels were the answer to getting visitors into the cave.
The tunnels were a challenge. Mining 1,100 feet of tunnels through highly fractured rock was costly and time-consuming. Depending on the geological conditions, tunneling cost $300 to $3,000 per linear foot and took 2 years to complete. Low-yield dynamite charges were used to lessen vibrations. Plywood and mattress blast barriers protected the cave from shock waves at junctions in the tunnels. Air locks were built in the tunnels, and plastic barriers were erected in the cave to prevent moisture loss. In the last 25 feet before breaking into the cave, miners stopped blasting with dynamite and switched to drills and mechanical splitters.
The trails in the cave are the result of 7 years of backbreaking work by the Arizona State Parks’ cave development crew. Using electric, pneumatic and hand tools they broke and moved rock, stabilized slopes, built trail bed and retaining walls, laid conduit and pulled miles of wire. They worked in heat and humidity inside dimly lit plastic tents to contain the dust. Surprisingly, there were no serious injuries, only scrapes and bruises.
Wood used in the cave for concrete forms was washed with bleach and coated with polyurethane to seal it against contaminating the cave with sawdust or insects. Concrete reinforcing rebar and remesh were coated with plastic to prevent rust. All construction materials were tested prior to their use to see if they outgassed harmful chemicals or would provide a growth medium for fungus.
Construction Materials: A Surprising List
- 1,461 cubic yards of concrete (Enough to build a walk 3 feet wide, 4 inches thick, 9 miles long. The concrete used in the cave was carried in buckets or wheelbarrows.)
- 41,190 linear feet of lumber (Enough to build a 6,000 square foot house.) How much of this remains in the cave today? None!
- 13.5 miles of conduit
- 107 miles of electrical wire (Enough to stretch to Tucson and back!)
- 512 light bulbs
- 36.5 tons of aluminum oxide, which was used to make trail surfaces slip-resistant.
You may be surprised to know that very little taxpayer money went into developing the cave and park facilities. Here’s the breakdown on the money:
- 65% Enhancement Fund: User fees paid by people like you to Arizona State Parks
- 17% Arizona Heritage Fund: Arizona State Parks share of Arizona Lottery revenues
- 17% Arizona State Taxpayer dollars: Thank you, Arizona!
- 1% Federal Recreational Trails Program: Thank you, USA!
The tours of this cave was amazing.