After a short day at the office on a Summer Friday afternoon, we headed west. Our destination was Garrett county in hopes to finalize the arrangements for the coming fall bear hunt. Augie’s Adventures will be offering a full service guided bear hunt in Garrett County this coming fall. More information will be forthcoming in a future post. However, no good time on the road is without a little diversion. Between Marshall and Strasburg, VA we turned off route 66 onto Route 340 toward Luray Caverns.
As the story goes, “Cold air rushing out of a limestone sinkhole atop a big hill west of Luray, Virginia, blew out a candle held by Andrew Campbell, the town tinsmith, on the morning of August 13, 1878. So began the discovery of Luray Caverns.
Campbell, three other men, and his 13-year-old nephew, Quint, were exploring the area, looking for a cave. With the help of local photographer Benton Stebbins, the men dug away loose rocks for four hours before, candle in hand, Campbell and Quint slid down a rope into the cave. They could scarcely believe what they saw. The party had discovered the largest series of caverns in the East, an eerie world of stalactites and stalagmites seen by the light of a candle.”
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For some reason, even I, a colorblind person, could see and enjoy the colors in the cavern.
Our adventure of exploring the caverns was a little less dark and scary. Our pleasant young lady tour guide walked us around the 1 mile tour complete with walkway, handrails, and the all important lighting. The tour takes about an hour and cost $24 per adult, but if you use your Giant grocery card, the second adult is half price for a total cost of $36.00 for 2 adults. Well worth the cost, and a great roadtrip side stop.
If you find yourself traveling through the area or are looking for a day trip from the Baltimore / Washington DC area, I would encourage a road trip through the hills of Virginia and a stop at Luray Caverns.
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I thought the way the light highlighted the ridges was pretty cool.
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I missed what the tour guide had to say about the formations, we hung back behind the group to take photos and just enjoy the scene.
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Luray Caverns is just a really neat place to visit. Not many places you can see stuff like this.
