Fun at Florida Caverns in Marianna Florida

Whenever we mention Florida Caverns someone always gives us a puzzled look. Florida has many caves and caverns, most of them water filled in the vast spring system. Florida Caverns State Park contains one of the only dry (air filled not water filled) caverns in Florida, and the only one that offers a tour.

Found and developed in the 1930s by workers with the Civilian Conservations Corps (CCC), work ceased in 1942 with the onset of World War II. The park opened to the public that same year. The workers cleared the cave area now used on the tour by hand, with light from lanterns. Imagine that while on your tour with the now ever present electric lights.

 

One of the first "rooms" as soon as you enter the cavern

The $8.00 per person tour starts at the Gift Shop, which also sells the tickets. The tours tend to be popular, and the number per tour limited. They leave every 30 minutes with the last one at 4:00 so if the next one is booked, a later one may be available. The tour involves walking on sometimes uneven, sometimes wet and often narrow stone paths, occasionally while simultaneously crouching down to avoid hitting your head on low rocks. The park classifies it as mildly strenuous. The tour lasts about 45 minutes. For those who worry feeling closed in, I suffer from mild claustrophobia, and I have taken this tour several times with no problem.

The guide reminds you not to touch anything, and stay with the group. Then, the guide leads the group to the door and into the cavern. I found the cavern temperature pleasant, not cool enough for a jacket as in other cave tours. The interpretation varies by guide, but each covers all the topics.

The various formations include the stalactites and stalagmites we learned about in school, and also ones I never heard such as soda straws, flows, and draperies. The “rooms” in the cave have been given interesting and fanciful names after the formations seen there, such as “Wedding Cake”, “Enchanted Forest”, and even “Donald Duck” for a formation that appears to be a duck’s head. At the end of the tour we exit back into the quiet green of the park and walk along a trail back to the parking lot.

That really is a pool of water you see

I photographed the cave with my 7D and a 24 – 105mm lens. I set the ISO at 800 to start, and did some initial test shots, increasing the ISO until I felt comfortable with the shutter speed and the results. One word of warning: others on the tour may be using cameras with automatic flash or cell phones with the same. If they flash as you press the shutter, you end up with a white screen. Wait a minute, and reshoot when they finish.