Luray Caverns

Visiting Luray Caverns in Luray, Va., had me thinking of the line delivered by Randal Graves in Clerks: “This job would be great if it wasn’t for the [bleeping] customers.”  For Luray Caverns would be great if it weren’t for all the tourists.

I was a little stunned not only by the size of the parking lot when we arrived, but just how full that huge parking lot was.  I mean, it was a holiday weekend, but there were still lots of cars!

Fortunately, the ticket line moved quickly, and I was grateful to have checked online before our visit, which saved us $16 on what would have been $64 in entrance fees (just by showing our Giant grocery card).

From this point on it was non-stop packed people everywhere, and it was a bit much; the caves get 500,000 visitors a year.

The tour is self-guided, so it was just a free-for-all of adults, kids, strollers, and crying infants, not to mention selfies being taken in the middle of the pathways, and a general sense that “I know we’re not suppose to touch anything, but it’s okay if I do” by far too many people.

The entire experience was thus a bit of sensory overload.

That being said, the caverns were magnificent, though one does have to wonder what they destroyed in order to make it accessible to this many people. There are columns, mud flows, stalactites (which hang from the ceiling), stalagmites (which build up from the floor), and mirrored pools over the 1.25-mile walk. They are billed as the largest (and most popular!) caves in Eastern America.

It was nearly impossible to take pictures that captured just how large it was inside (one “room” is 500 feet long by 90 feet high), and how over-the-top the formations were — many felt fake, they were so crazy!

The caverns were discovered in 1878 (“discovered”, of course, meaning when white men found it, for the Native Americans knew all about it) when five local men noticed cool air issuing from a sink hole. They started to dig, and four hours later the smallest of them was lowered in on a rope with some candlelight. It is hard to imagine the awe, wonder, and fear of this excursion.

Scientists estimate the caverns are about 450 million years old. They are formed by water mixing with carbon dioxide, which makes a carbonic acid; as it seeps through the limestone layers, it hollows out the bedrock.

Luray Caverns continue to grow today at the astounding rate of just one cubic inch every 120 years!

Included with the ticket price are the Toy Town Junction Museum, the Car and Carriage Caravan Museum, and the Shenandoah Heritage Village, none of which held any interest for us.

For additional fees, one can also enjoy the gem sluice, garden maze, or rope adventure park on site.