I'm putting this in my collection of must-see Americana. This is one of the privately owned roadside attractions advertised on billboards and in visitor's center brochures that is worth getting the kids out of the car for.
Luray Caverns features a 1.5-mile underground pathway featuring drip formations - stalactites and stalagmites, some still actively dripping. The pathway has been paved smooth and handrails added to keep folks safely on the path and away from the formations. As a result, the path is fairly easily navigable for most anyone. Note that the temperature is constantly around 54 degrees (F) - so if you're bringing grandma, bring her sweater!
Some of the formations are quite stunning, some begin to seem rather passé, just because of the sheer quantity the hour-long tour provides. But the guides posted along your walk are fairly knowledgeable, and keep things interesting with the stories behind the various creative names for different formations. And you may end up learning something about geology if you're not careful.
A big highlight is the organ, which uses stalactites and stalagmites as pipes. Pretty amazing. Also the most tampering that the caverns' owners seem to have done with the natural formations, outside of lighting them.
Take all the pictures you like - but as you'll see from my photos, the dramatic lighting requires some special photographic care. This is also why it's worth going, since it's very hard to reproduce some of the effects, like the big reflective underground lake, via film.
Now, the Americana part of it means that you will pay $18 per adult ($8 children 7-13, $16 seniors, group rates available) to walk through this cave. And you will be joined by two or three dozen folks, a random sampling of tourists who may or may not have showered, trained their children to listen quietly, or care at all if anyone else gets to enjoy the caverns while they are there. Gratefully, the tour is rather free-form, so you can always rush ahead or hang back to join a group that better fits your standards of etiquette.
The Luray Caverns crew has also provided a number of other ways for you to spend your money while you're here:
- Car & Carriage Caravan Museum
- Stalactite Cafe and Restaurant
- The Garden Maze
- Luray Singing Tower carillon
- Caverns Country Club Resort
- Luray Caverns Motels (East and West)
We took advantage of the picnic tables on the edge of the parking lot, for a free lunch of our own design before we descended into the caverns.
Open every day, tours depart approximately every 20 minutes, approximately 9am-4pm. 540/743-6551 http://www.luraycaverns.com