Show 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 in 1948 1946 these three national parks were vere visited by more than 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 99 by a plo pio sixth 11 neer named in a se series ries houchin who followed a wounded bear into the cave entrance A few years later salt petre taken from the cave was used in the manufacture ot of gunpowder for american troops in the war of 1812 and not long after that the great passage ways and domed chambers of mammoth cave became an international mecca for travelers there are galleries on five distinct levels in mammoth tave cave and during the course of the underground trip the visitor descends feet to the lowest level where the echo river winds its tortuous way in eternal darkness echo river la Is probably the most distinctive 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 0 explored passageways eways in mammoth cave and the visitor Is offered a choice of several tours which vary in length from 2 to 7 hours on the allday all day trip one has lu lunch r 1 ch at the snowball dining room 26 7 feet below the surface an indication of what one may expect to see is given by the names of some of the formations in the cave bottomless pit fat mans misery ruins of karnak frozen niagara violet city jenny linds armchair and martha statue long under private ownership mammoth cave became a national park in 1941 largely through the foresight and generosity of the people of the state of kentucky who through personal contributions made possible pun purchase thase of the cave property and its donation to the federal government CARLSBAD CAVERNS was proclaimed a national monument in 1923 and given national park status in 1030 probably its earliest explorer was jim white a cowboy who entered it in 1901 seeing a dark moving column issuing from the top of it a mountain white investigated and found a natural opening in the th earth which led him down to the caverns the dirk dark column proved to be alive a moving stream of bats from down in the darkness of the caves this spectacular 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 experience peri ence from a point well below the surface one may look back through the semi gloom to see eee an a endless procession of people zigzagging zig zagging tagging downward amid huge boulders and grotesque kocl roc formations the scene reminds one of descriptions from dantes inferno elevators are aval available lable for those who do not cot wish to descend or ascend on foot everything in carlsbad caverns Is on a vast scale the rooms are ar 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 tha kings palace the queens chamber and the P papoose room after lunch in the underground cafeteria comes the main event a tour of the big room this tremendous chamber Is about feet long feet wide and feet from foor floor to ceiling in this room man many y 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 WIND CAVE near the black huls hills in south dakota a national park since 1903 la Is much smaller in extent than either mammoth cave or carlsbad caverns but it has unusual 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 i MAMMOTH CAVE carlsbad caverns and wind cave are accessible by paved highways and all have bus or taxi connections with one or more railroads there are no overnight facilities at carlsbad caverns but there are tourist camps near the park entrance and hotels in carlsbad N ar M A free campsite is provided in wind cave national park but the nearest hotels or cabins will be found in hot springs S D at mammoth cave national park hotels cottages and park transportation are furnished here also national park service has free campsites 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 A 1 C kering pine torches there are no e elevators I 1 in mammoth save dave and visitors in 1 poor physical condition should no not descend to the level ot of echo river rive as the climb to the surface Is stee steep p all trips in the cave are conducted conduct ei by national park service guides guide and rangers P 77 1 1 an I 1 FT af A SCENE FROM INFERNO like a scene from dantes inferno giant stalagmites mites and grotesque rock formations abound in carlsbad caverns in new mexico |