Touring spectacular Cathedral Caverns State Park
Cathedral Caverns State Park is located in rural northeastern Alabama, about a half hour from Huntsville. Just to be as clear as possible… It is absolutely stunning.
We visited on a warm and humid early fall morning during a road trip across the Southeast. I’d called the day before and made a tour reservation. We got out of the car, went to the visitor center to pick up our tickets, and then got in line for the tour.
Our tour guide, Daniel, soon arrived and walked everyone through the customary rules of cave tours. “The tour is about a mile and a half and takes roughly 90 minutes. Pictures and video are fine, but please, no flash, and try and stay together,” he said with a thick southern drawl. And very important! Do not touch the cave walls. Oil on our hands can damage the cave.”
Next, we were off towards the entrance of the cave. “Check it out,” I said to my wife as we approached the cave. “The cave entrance is massive,” Daniel overheard and chimed in. “It’s thought to be the world’s widest entrance to a commercial cave. It’s 128 across and 25 feet high.” Expert cave tour tip: Stay near the guide, either in the front or the back. You get to learn more about the cave and, more often than not, will get the best pictures without many people in them. You have to shoot fast, though.
Entering the cave
Entering the cave you can feel the temperature drop immediately. It was a muggy 82 degrees outside. Inside the cave, it dropped to between 57 and 60 degrees. And it stays that way year-round, no matter the weather outside. The path was paved and well-lit and had a fairly gentle grade as ventured past a gate and further into the cave.
“To your right is an old saltpeter pit. During the ‘War Between the States,’ gunpowder was made of carbon, sulfur, and saltpeter. The Confederate Army searched the cave for saltpeter but found none.” Daniel explained as we slowly passed by. He went on. “During the war, local legend has it draft dodgers and deserters who were too yellow to fight the Yankees hid in the cave.” His phrasing of this historical fact left no doubt that we were in the Deep South.
Cathedral Caverns features world-class cave formations
Moving on, we walked through Stalagmite Mountain, which is estimated to contain more than two million cubic feet of flowstone. Next came one of the highlights of the tour. Goliath. “Wow,” I said to my wife. “I don’t think we’ve ever seen any cave formation that huge.” “Me either! It’s so big!” she exclaimed.
The tour group stopped and huddled together, listening to Daniel explain. “This is Goliath. And it’s my favorite part of the entire tour. It’s one of the largest stalagmites in the world! It’s 45 feet tall and 243 feet around.” It was impossible not to be impressed by how incredibly large it was. Continuing on with the tour, we crossed a bridge over the Mystery River and by the Frozen Waterfall, which was amazing!
Next up was another highlight—the Flowstone Wall. “This flowstone is 32 feet tall and 135 long. It is also thought to be one of the largest in the world.” Just a bit after the wall, we passed through what’s known as the Pearly Gates columns into the Stalagmite Forest, which is quite impressive.
The turnaround of the tour is at what’s known as the Pinnacle. At this point, we were 3,559 feet inside the cave. The view was breathtaking. “Have any of you experienced total darkness?” Daniel asked. “Everyone, I ask that you put your phones away, stand still, and be quiet. I will turn off the lights so everyone can experience total darkness for about 30 seconds.” Switch. It was eerie, dark, and quiet. The occasional giggle of small children and shh’s from their parents were the only sounds.
When the lights came back on, it took a second for my eyes to readjust to being able to see. We turned around and headed back towards the entrance. The second half was more of a simple walk back through the cave. There was not much stopping except for the occasional quick picture.
As we exited the cave, I was delighted with the experience. Cathedral Caverns State Park is undoubtedly one of the best-kept secrets in Alabama and the southeastern United States. This park was incredible, and I can’t recommend visiting enough.
