Description
Cathedral Cavern is a Karst cave with a large stalagmite forest covering approximately 3 acres (1.2 ha). The caverns are approximately 11,000+ feet (3,350 m+) surveyed and explored cave with 8-foot-wide (2.4 m) concrete walkways that are wheelchair accessible. The public portion of the cave extends approximately 3,500 feet (1,100 m) and has some 2 miles (3.2 km) of paths; another 2,700 feet (820 m) extend beyond the end of the pathway. There is a crystal room that is now open to the public on a limited basis as part of the "Wild Cave Tour."
The cave system has laid claim to several world records though their accuracy has been disputed. Among the caverns' notable features are:
- the widest entrance of any commercial cave in the world - 25 feet (7.6 m) tall and 128 feet (39 m) wide.
- the largest column in the world - Goliath, measuring 45 feet (14 m) tall and 243 feet (74 m) in circumference.
- the largest flow stone wall - 32 feet (9.8 m) tall and 135 feet (41 m) long.
- the most improbable formation in the world - a 3-inch-diameter (76 mm) stalagmite which rises at a 45-degree angle from a rock formation to the cave ceiling 25 feet (7.6 m) above.
- a Big Room, which is 792 feet (241 m) long and 200 feet (61 m) wide.
The Mystery River flows through the cavern. Due to limited outflow, the cave is subject to flooding after heavy rain.
Read more about this topic: Cathedral Caverns State Park
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“The next Augustan age will dawn on the other side of the Atlantic. There will, perhaps, be a Thucydides at Boston, a Xenophon at New York, and, in time, a Virgil at Mexico, and a Newton at Peru. At last, some curious traveller from Lima will visit England and give a description of the ruins of St. Paul’s, like the editions of Balbec and Palmyra.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)