| Show I 1 e 9 1 na 7 A 1 1 TOUCH OF OLD WEST shaggy buffaloes provide a reminder of the old westor visitors at wind cave national park in south dakota one of three parks embracing the nation s mysterious cave systems MECCA FOR TRAVELERS mysteries of underground world beckon adventurous features caves have fascinated man from the dawn of antiquity to the present day stories of them abound in history folklore and mythology yet these mysterious underground worlds still beckon the adventurous and the weird scenes to be discovered there fire imaginations three great cave systems in the united states have been established as national parks mammoth cave in kentucky carlsbad caverns in new mexico and wind cave in south dakota in 1946 these three national parks were visited by more than halt half a million people mammoth cave has been world famous for more than a century it is believed to have been national parks discovered in 1799 ia by oy a plo pio sixth olain wet neer named in a series houchin who followed a wounded bear into the cave entrance A few years later salt petre taken from the cave was used in the ture of gunpowder for american troops in the war of 1812 and not long after that the great passage ways and domed chambers of mam main moth cave became an international mecca for travelers there are gal ceries on five dist net levels in mam main moth cave and during the course of the underground trip the visitor de ascends feet to the lowest level where the echo river winds its tor tar way in eternal darl darkness mess echo river is probably the most live tive and interesting feature of the cave and a short trip is made on it in a flat bottomed boat strange eyeless fish live in the river there are now more than miles of explored passageways in mammoth cave and the visitor is offered a choice of several tours which vary in length from 2 to 7 hours on the all day trip one has lunch at the snowball dining room feet below the surface an indi ind cation of what one may expect to see is given by the names of some of the formations in the cave bot romless pit fat man s misery ruins of karnak frozen niagara violet city jenny lind f s armchair and martha washington s statue long under private ownership mammoth cave became a national park in 1941 largely through the foresight and generosity of the peo pie of the state of kentucky who through personal contributions made possible pur purchase hase of the cave property and its donation to the federal government 0 CARLSBAD CAVERNS was pro claimed a national monument in 1923 and given national park status in 1930 probably its earliest ex clorer was jim sim white a cowboy who entered it in 1901 see ng a dark moving column issuing from the top ri df a mountain white hinves and found a natural opening in the th earth which led him down to the caverns the dark column proved to be alive a amov ing stream of bats from down in the darkness of the caves this spec flight of bats may be seen every afternoon at dusk during the warm months of the year the descent into carlsbad caverns from the natural en trance is an unforgettable ex peri ence from a point well be low the surface one may look back through the semi gloom to see an endless procession of pee ie zig zagging downward amid huge boulders and grotesque roal formations the scene reminds one of descriptions from dante dantes s inferno I 1 ea eaters are available for those who do not wish to descend or ascend on foot Everything in carlsbad caverns Is on a vast scale the rooms are huge and the stalactites and mites are larger than in any other known cave some of the mites have the shape and size of church spires the dominant colors in carlsbad are varying shades of tan the descent from the natural entrance to the foot level is made via the green lake room the king s palace the queen a chamber and the papoose koom room after lunch in the underground cat caf eteria comes the main event a tour of the big room this bremen dous chamber Is about 4 feet long feet wide and feet from floor to ceiling in this room many city skyscrapers would seem small here one sees the temple of the sun and the pagoda like stalagmite called rock of ages the trip takes about seven hours 0 0 a WIND CAVE near the black hills in south dakota a national park since 1903 is much smaller in ex tent than either mammoth cave or carlsbad caverns but it has un usual formations known as box work found in no other caves in the united states the tour of wind cave requires from one to two hours and the return to the surface Is made by elevator an additional interesting feature of wind cave national park is a large buffalo herd which may be seen from the park road 0 a a MAMMOTH CAVE carlsbad caa eras erns and wind cave are accessible by paved highways and all have hav e bus or taxi connections with one or more railroads there are no over night facilities at carlsbad caverns but there are tourist camps near the park entrance and hotels in carlsbad N M A free campsite is provided in wind cave national park but the nearest hotels or cab ins wih will be found in hot springs S D at mammoth cave national park hotels cottages and park parl transportation are furnished here also national park service has free camps tes and picnic areas all three caves are illuminated by modern electric systems however in the historic section of mammoth cave parties still are guided by the traditional lanterns and flickering pine torches there are no elevators in mammoth cave and visitors in poor physical condition should not descend to the level of echo river as the climb to the surface is steep all trips in the cave are conducted by national park service guides and rangers 4 I 1 AA N SCENE FROM INFERNO like a scene from dante s in ferno giant stalagmites and grotesque rock formations abound in carlsbad caverns in new mex ico |
