Lewis & Clark Caverns - Not-Quite-the-World-Traveler Review- Discover places I love!
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Lewis & Clark Caverns, located off the Jefferson River in Montana's first state park!
Has
spelunking captured your interest, but you're not quite ready to tackle
a big cave with a climbing harness, belay line, miner's light and
carbon monoxide detectors? Well then, Lewis & Clark Caverns may be
just your speed!
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Colorful
stalactites, stalagmites, columns and even helectites greet the
visitor, who may startle sleeping bats as they wend their way through
the caverns. Helictites grow in any direction, seemingly defying
gravity, they often have a curving or angular form that looks as if they
were grown in zero gravity. While multiple theories abound as to the
enigma of helictite formation, they are most likely the result of
capillary forces acting on tiny water droplets, a force often strong
enough at this scale to defy gravity. Helictites are, perhaps, the most
delicate of cave formations. They are usually made of needle-form
calicte and aragonite.
Timpanogos Cave National Monument
in Utah has one of the largest collections of these formations in the
world. Of special note in the caverns is the upgraded lighting that the
park is installing to bring true-spectrum color to the rock formations,
revealing not only their structure, but also their colorful beauty.
The
limestone caverns were discovered in 1892 by Dan A. Morrison and are
named after the explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark since the
cavern overlooks over 50 miles of the trail from the Lewis and Clark
Expedition along the Jefferson River, although it is slightly misnamed
as Lewis and Clark never
actually saw the caverns.
Located 19 miles west of Three Forks on Montana 2 or 15 miles east of Whitehall on Montana 2, guided
tours
of the Lewis & Clark Caverns are available from May 1-September 30.
Plan to wear sturdy non-slip footwear as some sections may be slick
with dripwater, be sure to bring a jacket (even in summer temperatures
in caves remain a steady and cool 55 degrees - not to
mention random dripping water from the ceiling!) and allow enough time
to spend a minimum of 2 hours to hike the 2 mile route through the
caverns. While most of the route is a gentle grade well-lit trail, it
does have some stairs with handrails. One featured section that is
especially entertaining for kids involves a short rock "slide" on one's
backside through a tunnel. Not for the terribly claustrophobic, but
definitely a highlight of the tour!
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