MARIANNA — Start the New Year with nature.
Exploring the outdoors with my family has been a goal of mine since before New Year’s resolutions.
Florida Caverns State Park is “one of the few state parks with dry (air-filled) caves and is the only state park in Florida to offer cave tours to the public,” according to the park’s website, FloridaStateParks.org/FloridaCaverns.
The guided cave tours are offered Thursday through Monday, but just because you get there one of those days, does not mean you will be able to go in the cave.
The day after Christmas, my husband and I made the hour drive from Panama City for that purpose. I even had called earlier that day to make sure they still had tickets, but by the time we arrived at 2 p.m. they had just sold out 30 minutes prior.
Though the fall and winter usually is the best time to visit the caves, unexpected crowds came around the holidays. Tours start at different times on different days, and usually run every 30 minutes to an hour. Though the website had warned they “sell out early on a regular basis,” I guess I learn the hard way.
I must have looked so incredibly devastated, that we were allowed into the park without the $5 vehicle admission fee, so we would come back another day — and we did. For the next two hours on Dec. 26, we explored trails, and a bit of a cave before an ominous-looking door, which we later discovered was the exit for the cave tour. We also made it to the playground, swinging and going down slides. The Chipola River was rising into the parking lot, as the currents moved logs down the river.
We also looked in the museum of the visitor center and watched the video of the Guided Cave Tour just steps away from the tour departure point — cruel punishment for arriving too late.
Guided Cave Tour: You cannot get tickets in advance for another day; first-come, first-served only. They start selling tickets in the back of the gift shop as soon as the park opens at 8 a.m. and sell to the first 25 people for each tour until they are sold out for the day.
After finding out they have been sold out as early as 11:30 a.m., we arrived at 9:45 a.m. New Year’s Day. As I saw another family getting out of a car, I admit, I picked up the pace. We were too late for the 10 a.m. tour, but we made it for the 10:30 a.m. guided tour with park ranger Amanda Glover.
She went over the rules: “Do not touch anything,” except for the one column that was “sacrificed” for that purpose. The oils on human skin keeps water from running down on that part and prevents the formations from growing, as well as discoloring the rock.
A mother of two boys, Amanda also pointed out no one should sit, stand, climb on or kick anything, and all children must be accompanied by an adult.
Flashlights are not allowed, because she has one to point out certain formations, but cameras and cell phones are permissible to capture your own pictures. (Be sure to get a picture while she is shining the light or it might not turn out.)
As we gathered around in the first room, it was easy to be amazed at the formations of limestone stalactites (those coming down from the ceiling), stalagmites (those coming up from the ground), soda straws, flowstones and draperies. The cave is always 65 degrees inside, holding the average temperature of the region. Hold on to your loved ones, because there are no handrails.
The cave was discovered by a National Park Services geologist, Oliver Chalifoux, through a sinkhole under a fallen tree in 1937. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed the cave for touring by removing stones, widening passages and completing the visitor center in 1942. The CCC named each room along the tour for the appearances of formations within the space.
The Wedding Room, where some couples actually do get married, features a white wedding cake formation in front of a pipe organ formation. The Christmas Tree Room features a formation that resembles a Christmas tree, so the state park backlit the “tree” with red and green lights for special effects. You might even spot a shark tooth in the ceiling of one room and “Donald Duck” in another before the lights go out.
Amanda did a quick demonstration of how dark a cave really is by turning out the lights for a few seconds. This is a glimpse of what it must have been like for the young men who dug out the cave with pick axes for a $1 a day during the Great Depression. White porcelain bowls are still in the cave ceilings after the workers hammered them in with nails to reflect their lanterns before the electricity was installed. A little algae clung to the wall by the light, resulting from turning it on during the almost daily tours. The patterns on the floor, Amanda explained, were shoe prints on the limestone rock.
I was glad I had worn tennis shoes for the ¾-mile walk in the cave, with steps and slopes, some wet, and puddles — which my son found.
“He’s a boy; he’ll do that,” said Amanda, who cautioned us to stay on the edge of the path.
During our trek in the real bat cave, home to Eastern Pipistrelle, three bats flew by. We were assured they do attack or fly into women’s hair. But if you are a mosquito, beware: They can eat their body weight in insects each night.
GUIDED CAVE TOURS
- Where: Florida Caverns State Park, 3345 Caverns Road, Marianna
- When: Thursday through Monday year-round (except Thanksgiving and Christmas); first-come, first-served basis
- Cost: $8 for ages 13 and older; $5 for ages 3 to 12; ages 2 and younger are free
- Details: Call the Ranger Station prior to departing for the park to check times and ensure that all tours have not sold out for that day; (850) 482-1228 or FloridaStateParks.org/FloridaCaverns