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An
ancient underground river took a
winding course, carving the path for
America's ride-through Cave
...
Fantastic
Caverns
Modern
innovation opens the door to ancient
history at Fantastic Caverns.
As
visitors board a comfortable
Jeep-drawn tram for the 55-minute tour
of America's ride-through cave, they
begin a journey back in time. People
are very recent additions to this
picture. Human history adds up to
little more than a few ticks on the
geologic clock by which caves count
their age.
Fantastic
Caverns, just northwest of
Springfield, MO., is one of more than
5,600 known caves that dot the
Missouri landscape, and more are still
being discovered. Of these, just 18
are open to visitors — and only one
offers a riding tour.
Riding
wasn't even an option back in 1867,
when the first known explorers visited
Fantastic Caverns. They were 12 women
who, equipped with ropes and ladders,
ventured inside to answer the owner's
advertisement for cave explorers. With
only flickering torches or lanterns
for light, they surely saw only a hint
of the cave's splendors as they groped
their way along its dark and slippery
passages. It is unlikely that anyone
else had been there before them —
the cave shows no signs of human
habitation.
Today's
riding tour tells a different story.
Along the roomy, brightly lit
passageways, visitors can see
thousands of speleothems — cave
formations that include stalactites
and stalagmites, tiny soda straws,
cave pearls, massive columns and
flowstones, thin and delicate
draperies and more. These distinctive
formations, each one like no other,
and all created by water a drop at a
time, take us back though the ages to
a day when no human footstep was heard
here.
While
those early explorers had to be in
good physical condition, modern
visitors don't have to worry about
stamina. Since today's tour is
entirely by tram, with no walking
required, families with small
children, senior citizens and the
physically challenged can all sit back
and enjoy the ride. Temperatures
inside the cave always hover around 60
degrees making it a wonderful
adventure regardless of the season.
The
process that created southern
Missouri's caves — called a
"cave factory" by one
geologist — began a very long time
ago. Cave formation has been going on
in the Ozarks since seismic activity
pushed the rocks up from a shallow sea
once covered the region. While it is
difficult to tell the exact age of a
cave, we know that Fantastic Caverns
is sure to be thousands of years old.
The
hilly topography and abundant
limestone found in the Ozarks make it
an ideal setting for cave formation.
Just add water and the list of
ingredients is complete. As the water
percolates through the porous
limestone, it chemically eats away at
the rock, leaving the voids and
cavities that grow into caves — some
of which are quite extensive. Some
Missouri cave systems are known to be
more than 20 miles long. Visitors find
Fantastic Caverns to be a spectacular
showcase of our state's underground
phenomenon — located right here in
the heart of the Ozarks.
Humans
have never inhabited these caverns,
however, a variety of animals do find
a home here. The grotto salamander,
the cave crayfish and the rare, blind
Ozarks cavefish — a reclusive little
creature no longer than a finger —
can all be found dwelling in Fantastic
Caverns. Clean, unpolluted groundwater
is vital to these animals and to the
cave's overall health. That's why
water quality is carefully monitored.
Convenient
to an assortment of destinations,
including Bass Pro Shops Outdoor
World, and just a short drive from
Branson and its attractions, Fantastic
Caverns offers visitors a leisurely
side trip from 21st century life into
the distant past.
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