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Luray Caverns, Virginia
You don’t expect to find a concert hall 160 feet underground, but that’s Luray Caverns for you. This Shenandoah Valley cave system has been drawing crowds since 1878 with its massive chambers, trick-mirror pools, and stone formations that double as musical instruments.
Here are some interesting facts about the largest cave system in the eastern United States, which lies beneath Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.
The World’s Largest Musical Instrument Made from Cave Formations
The Great Stalacpipe Organ uses rubber mallets controlled by electronics to hit 37 stalactites of different sizes, creating music that fills 3.5 acres of the cave. Each stalactite was picked and carefully shaped to make specific musical notes, from low bass sounds to high soprano tones.
The organ player uses a keyboard with four rows of keys, much like a regular organ, and the Guinness Book of World Records lists it as the biggest instrument on Earth.
A Lake That Creates Perfect Mirror Images
Dream Lake has limestone at the bottom and is just 20 inches deep, but it stretches 40 feet long. The water is so clear and still that it creates an exact mirror image of the cave ceiling.
Visitors often have trouble telling which formations are real and which are reflections in the water. Hundreds of pointed stalactites seem to extend both up and down in perfect symmetry, making this spot one of the most photographed areas in the cave.
The Tallest Stone Columns in North America
Giant’s Hall contains huge columns that stretch from the floor to the ceiling in a room that’s 50 feet wide and 70 feet high. The biggest column is 47 feet tall and 14 feet around, making it one of the tallest in North America.
These columns formed when stalactites and stalagmites grew together over time. Though they’re still growing today, they only gain about one cubic inch every 120 years as calcium carbonate slowly builds up on their surface.
How the Cave Formations Grow
The cave keeps growing as drops of water leave behind tiny bits of dissolved limestone. Each drop carries about 0.0001 grams of limestone, and it takes 60 gallons of water to form one cubic inch of rock.
The process is incredibly slow, needing 120 years to create just one cubic inch of the crystal formation called calcite. Some of the largest formations started growing during the ice age, and they’re over 500,000 years old.
A Pool That Glows Turquoise Blue
The Wishing Well is a six-foot-deep pool that glows turquoise because of natural copper minerals in the water. The pool stays at 52°F and is so clear you can see straight to the bottom.
People have thrown more than $1 million in coins into the pool over the years, and this money goes to local charities. LED lights around the pool make its blue-green color even more striking, drawing photographers from all over.
The Cave’s Perfect Year-Round Temperature
The cave maintains a steady temperature of 54°F throughout the year because it sits 260 feet underground, away from outside weather changes. This stable climate also keeps the humidity at 87% and allows groundwater to keep flowing.
These conditions have stayed the same for thousands of years, making it comfortable for visitors in any season. The steady temperature and moisture also help new cave formations continue to grow.
Two Identical Columns with Different Colors
In the Double Column Room, the two 25-foot and 60-foot columns stand side by side, but they look completely different. One column is pure white, while the other is reddish-brown from iron in the rock.
These columns took millions of years to form, and scientists are still trying to understand why water carrying different minerals built these columns so close together. The stark difference in color makes this pair of columns particularly interesting to researchers.
Ancient Animal Remains Found in the Cave
Scientists have discovered bones and tracks from the ice age inside the cave. These include remains of ancient bears, mammoths, and ground sloths that lived around 20,000 years ago.
Visitors can see these prehistoric traces in special viewing areas throughout the cave. These findings help researchers understand what kinds of animals lived in Virginia during the ice age and how they used the cave for shelter.
A Natural Stone Bridge Inside the Cave
A limestone bridge spans 40 feet across an underground canyon and rises 35 feet above the cave floor. This bridge formed over millions of years as acidic groundwater slowly dissolved the surrounding rock.
Today, visitors walk across this ancient formation on a paved path, experiencing a direct connection to the cave’s geological past. The bridge shows how water can shape rock over very long periods.
Unusual Shield-Shaped Cave Formations
The cave contains more than 40 rare formations called cave shields, which are flat, oval-shaped rocks that grow sideways from the walls. These unusual formations have two parallel plates with a small gap between them where mineral-rich water flows through.
The biggest shield is 4 feet across and is still growing today. These formations are special because they only appear in less than 1% of caves worldwide.
Active Cave Growth and Formation
Unlike many caves that have stopped changing, Luray Caverns has a vast number of formations that are still growing. A tremendous amount of water seeps through the limestone each year, leaving behind minerals that build new formations.
You can see water drops on growing formations and tiny new crystals that sparkle in the light. Each cubic inch of crystal takes about 120 years to form, showing how the cave changes very slowly over time.
The post Deep Beneath Virginia is the World’s Largest Musical Instrument – And It’s Made of Ancient Stalactites appeared first on When In Your State.
