The cave was discovered by a young boy in the 1700’s while hunting bear, although native communities had used the caves for thousands of years beforehand.
It gained commercial value during the war of 1812 as the dirt covering the floor of the cave contained high concentrations of Salt Peter, a necessary ingredient of gun powder. The source of the chemical was the dung of the bats that inhabited the caves. There are no bats remaining in the parts of the caves we toured.
The cave has many large chambers, as well as small crevasses to walk through. There are some 400 miles of explored and mapped caves.
There are several tour options; we took the Historical Tour. It is the longest guided tour taking consuming about 2 hours covering a couple miles.
The cave is dimly lit. Unlike other caves we have toured there are no colourful lights used, so in that sense this site is quite natural. Or plain and lacking the excitement colour might offer. it’s a question of preference.
Two park rangers gave the tour. They were quite enthusiastic.
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