Desoto Caverns

Looking to put some good miles on my Fiat and to explore more of our new home, this afternoon we decided to check out Desoto Caverns in Childersburg, AL, a 50 minute ride south of Birmingham.  The cave itself is really neat with a main room that is over 100 yards long (the length of a football field) and twelve stories high.  It is filled with many formations that are quite colorful as they show the iron oxide (rust color), calcite (white), and manganese (black) minerals present in the area.  The cave also showcases the second longest draperies at over 30 feet long!

Additionally, the tour gives some history of the caves and how they were used to harvest and transform bat guano during the civil war which was used to create gun powder and their history during prohibition when moonshine was made and sold in the cave.

All that said, they have made the caves quite the tourist attraction and a bit gimmicky so once you get down into the cave, you watch a laser light, sound, and water show.  Plus they have decorated the cave for Christmas.  And on the grounds of the cave are all kinds of tourist attractions (mini-golf, go carts, a train, gem panning, etc.)

Draperies - 2nd longest in the world at over 30 feet!

Can you see Yoda in this formation?