Show cave

src: austinirving.com

A show cave -- also called tourist cave, public cave, and in the United States, commercial cave -- is a cave which has been made accessible to the public for guided visits.

Video Show cave

Definition

A show cave is a cave which has been made accessible to the public for guided visits, where a cave is defined as a natural occurring void beneath the surface of the earth, per the International Show Caves Association.

A show cave may be managed by a government or commercial organization and made accessible to the general public, usually for an entrance fee. Unlike wild caves, they may possess constructed trails, guided tours, lighting, and regular opening hours.

The term is used inconsistently between nations: many countries tend to call all caves which are open to the public show caves. However, there are many caves which are not developed with trails, light and tours, which are visited by very many people. This kind of cave is often called a semi-wild cave. Access may involve anything between an easy stroll and dangerous climbing. Most cave accidents happen in this kind of cave, as visitors underestimate the difficulties and dangers.

Maps Show cave

History

The oldest known show cave in the world is probably Reed Flute Cave in China with inscriptions from 792 in the time of Tang Dynasty. Other old show caves are Postojna Cave in Slovenia, with the presumed first record of a cave tour in 1213. Other early show caves are Jasovská jasky?a in Slovakia with inscriptions from 1452, the Sontheimer Höhle in Germany which was reportedly visited by Herzog Ulrich von Württemberg on 20 May 1516 and Vilenica Cave in Slovenia where entrance fees were taken from 1633 on. In 1649 the first "authorized" cave guide started guiding Baumannshöhle in the Harz in Germany though this cave was intensively visited much earlier.

The development of electric lighting enabled the illumination of show caves. Early experiments with electric light in caves were carried out by Lieutenant Edward Cracknel in 1880 at Chifley Cave, Jenolan Caves, Australia. In 1881 Sloupsko-?o??vské Jeskyn?, Czech Republic, became the first cave in the world with electric arc light. This light did not use light bulbs, but electric arc lamps with carbon electrodes, which burned down and had to be replaced after some time.

The first cave in the world with electric light bulbs as we know them today was the Kraushöhle in Austria in 1883. But the light was abandoned after only seven years and the cave is today visited with carbide lamps. In 1884 two more caves were equipped with electric light, Postojna Cave, Slovenia, and Olgahöhle, Germany.

Because of the unwanted development of lampenflora around incandescent electric lights in show caves, many of these attractions, such as Ingleborough Cave in England, have switched to LED lighting.

src: mag.metamythic.com

Notable show caves (in alphabetical order)

Alisadr Cave, Alisadr, Hamedan, Iran
Bears' Cave, Chi?c?u village, Bihor County, Romania
Bing Cave in Bavaria, Germany
Blanchard Springs Caverns in Arkansas, United States
Buchan Caves, Victoria, Australia
Cango Caves, Oudtshoorn, South Africa
Cascade Caverns, Boerne, Texas, United States
Cave Without a Name, near Boerne, Texas, United States
Caverns of Sonora, Sonora, Texas, United States
Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, United States
Craighead Caverns in Tennessee, United States
Cross Cave, Slovenia
Cuevas del Drach (Dragon Caves) on Majorca island, Spain
Dan yr Ogof in Powys, Wales
Pol an Ionain in Doolin, Ireland
Eisriesenwelt, Austria
Fantastic Caverns near Springfield, Missouri
Frasassi Caves, Ancona, Italy
Gardner Cave, Washington State, United States
Grotta Gigante, Trieste, Italy
Grottes de Han, Belgium
Grutas de Cacahuamilpa, Guerrero, Mexico
Harrison's Cave, Barbados
Horne Lake Caves near Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
Howe Caverns in New York, United States
Ingleborough Cave, England
Inner Space Cavern, Georgetown, Texas, United States
Jeita Grotto, Lebanon
Jenolan Caves in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia
Kartchner Caverns State Park near Benson, Arizona, United States
Lewis and Clark Caverns in Montana, United States
Luray Caverns in Virginia, United States
La Verna cave in France (with the largest chamber in a show cave)
Linville Caverns in Marion, North Carolina, United States
Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, United States
Marble Arch Caves in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland
Mark Twain Cave, near Hannibal, Missouri, United States
Meramec Caverns, near Stanton, Missouri, United States
Natural Bridge Caverns in Comal County, Texas, United States
Ohio Caverns in Ohio, United States
Phong Nha Cave, Quang Binh, Vietnam
Poole's Cavern, England
Postojna Cave, Postojna, Slovenia (the longest show cave in Europe and the birthplace of speleobiology)
Reed Flute Cave (Lúdí Yán), Guilin, Guangxi, China
Sc?ri?oara Cave, Gârda de Sus, Alba County, Romania
Seven-Star Cave (Q?x?ng Yán), Guilin, Guangxi, China
?kocjan Caves, Slovenia (a UNESCO World Heritage Site)
Smoo Cave, Scotland
Vilenica Cave, Slovenia (the oldest show cave in Europe)
Vjetrenica Cave, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Waitomo Caves, New Zealand
Wonder Cave, San Marcos, Texas, United States
Wookey Hole Caves, Somerset, England