A fascinating trip awaits guests of NATURAL BRIDGE CAVERNS, the largest show cave in Texas. What makes the Discovery Tour so awe-inspiring?
The caverns, located in the Texas Hill Country and minutes from San Antonio, contain cave formations that are centuries in the making and still growing today.
In March of 1960, four college students from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio obtained permission to explore the area. Lured by an amazing 60-foot limestone bridge and a large sinkhole, the explorers made numerous attempts to find the large underground passages they theorized were there. On their fourth expedition, Orion Knox Jr. felt a cool draft from a rubble-filled crawlway. Such air currents often indicate the presence of additional rooms or passages.
Upon clearing this 60-foot crawlway, the explorers made their way through two miles of vast cavern passage before returning to the surface to tell the landowners of their amazing discovery. The discoverers knew immediately what an astonishing find they had made and the land owners decided to develop the first ½ mile, the most spectacular part of the caverns, for the enjoyment of guests from around the world.
Natural Bridge Caverns’ Discovery Tour was developed with two main goals in mind: preservation of the cavern system and comfort of its guests. The result is one of the world’s premier show caverns.
The Discovery was opened to the public on July 3, 1964 and dedicated by Texas Governor John B. Connelly as a “Jewel in the crown of Texas’ attractions.” Natural Bridge Caverns has also been designated a State Historical Site and a Registered National Natural Landmark.
Guided Tours
Your guided tour, which takes approximately 75 minutes, will take you through vast underground rooms. Discover Sherwood Forest, the Castle of the White Giants and the Hall of the Mountain King, a room the size of a football field.
Amazing delicate crystalline formations and gigantic stone monuments fill these beautiful underground chambers. Since Natural Bridge Caverns opened to the public, hundreds of thousands of guests from all over the world have enjoyed the Discovery Tour. You are invited to see this spectacular natural wonder, too.
For more information, visit Natural Bridge Caverns online at www.naturalbridgecaverns.com.
