Specialty Travel Ideas: Exploring Urban Speleology And Caving

Have you ever felt like you’ve exhausted every vacation idea under the sun? How about exploring beyond the reach of the sun?

If you want to try something a bit different, and a lot darker, take a look at caving and urban speleology. Caving, or spelunking, is the exploration of natural caves. The world is riddled with caves, many of which are filled with fascinating formations called speleothems. Speleothems are created when water passes through the rock, picking up tiny particles of calcite. As the water drips or flows through the caves, it deposits the calcite, forming cave pearls, stalactites, stalagmites, and magnificent flowing draperies. These decorative formations can create fairytale landscapes deep under the earth. Along with speleothems, many caves also offer cavers the chance to see underground rivers and waterfalls. Prospective cavers can choose to visit either show caves or wild caves. Wild caves can be dangerous, as they are unmarked, unlit, and have no guided tours. They can be spectacular and exciting, but are better suited to experienced cavers than to the casual visitor. Show caves are often a better choice for the casual visitor. Parts of the cave are often lit, and safe paths have been marked. Plus, they offer guided tours, which assure that you will see the most spectacular formations in the cave. There are many show caves scattered throughout the world. Here are some of the most well known.

Carlsbad Caverns Located in New Mexico, these are the most well known caves in the United States, also some of the most accessible. Carlsbad Caverns offers both guided and self-guided tours, and even has an elevator for those who are unable to or uncomfortable with walking down into the cave. These caves display many calcite formations, and often have a very large population of bats. If you visit the caverns at sunset, you will be treated to a spectacular display as the bat colony leaves the cave on it’s nightly insect hunt.

Mammoth Cave National Park Mammoth Cave is the longest known cave in the world, extending under two separate mountain ranges in Kentucky. Offering a spectacular display of speleothems, this cave system is also home to over 200 species of animals; including blind cave fish and crayfish that have adapted completely to living in a lightless world There are a large number of guided tours offered at Mammoth, addressing a range of interests including (but not limited to!) caving techniques and safety, cave biology, the history of the cave system, and speleothem formations. The Lost Sea For a slightly different caving experience, head to the Lost Sea, in Sweetwater, TN. This cave is home to the largest underground lake in the United States. (Second largest in the world.) Tours of the four and a half acre lake are offered – in glass bottomed boats! The cave also hosts several formations of anthodites, crystalline speleothems better known as cave flowers. Extremely fragile, these formations are also fairly rare, and definitely something to see. If the natural beauty of caves isn’t quite your thing, but you’d still like to get underground, perhaps you should take a look at urban speleology. Urban speleology is the exploration of the hidden side of manmade structures. Tunnels and catacombs run under many cities, and some are open for tours. Some of the most famous sites are in Europe, notably the catacombs in Paris and Rome. But there are several interesting underground tours in the U.S., as well, offering a rich and interesting view of the hidden history of our cities.

Shanghai Tunnels Located underneath Portland, OR, the Shanghai tunnels tell the story of Portland when it was still a rough and dangerous seaport, rather than the glittering green gem it is today. A hundred and fifty years ago, sea captains put into port, often short of crew. Unable to continue until the ships were fully manned, they paid crimpers to find them crew – any way they could manage. Unsuspecting men, drinking in taverns, were drugged by the crimpers, and dropped into the tunnels through trapdoors. Once underground, they were kept in small brick cells until they were dragged to the waterfront and sold to captains for around $50 a head. Tours are run by the Cascade Geographic Society. Visitors will see the tunnels, trapdoors, and cells where victims were kept. They may also see piles of decomposing shoes – crimpers took the shoes from their victims and spread broken glass throughout the tunnels. (Even if someone escaped his cell, he wouldn’t get far.) Also offered is a Ghost Tour of the tunnels – they are reputed to be haunted.

Seattle Underground A massive fire in 1889 destroyed 33 city blocks in Seattle. To ward off future flooding and sewage problems, city planners decided to raise the level of the street, but, development being what it is, reconstruction of the buildings happened first. In many cases, the new street level ended up being 32 feet above the ground level of the rebuilt structures. Fast-forward to the early 1900’s, when plague gripped the city – all spaces below street level were condemned. The underground areas were blocked off, and mostly forgotten about until fairly recently. The tour, underneath Pioneer Square, lasts for 90 minutes. With a bit of imagination, you can imagine what it was like when storefronts operated underground. The guides give a good overview of Seattle’s grittier past, with a liberal dash of humorous stories thrown in. And the area known as the Vault is also rumored to be haunted. Underground Boat Ride Not far from Niagara Falls, in Lockport, NY, is an underground tour for history buffs. The Lockport Cave and Underground Boat Ride tour takes you back to the 1800’s, when the Erie Canal was being constructed. The tour covers both an underground water tunnel that was blasted out of solid rock in the 1850’s and an underground view of several canal locks constructed in 1838. Artifacts left behind by miners and natural cave formations are interesting focal points. The tour takes 70 minutes. So, whether you’re fascinated by the natural beauty hidden inside the earth or by man’s hidden history, next time you plan a vacation, plan to venture underground.