San Antonio Natural Bridge Caverns: A Cool Trip on a Hot Summer Day

Are your children are bored and want to do more than just sit in a pool in San Antonio? Ready for a cool extreme sport? Then the Natural Bridge Caverns located eight miles west of IH35(13 miles north on FM 3009) might just be the answer. Discovered in 1960 by a group of college students the caverns are the largest in Texas. Owned by the Wuest family, the caverns have been named a the registered United States natural landmark in 1971. The name Natural Bridge Caverns comes from the 60 foot natural limestone slab bridge spanning the entrance to the cavern.

Grab your cameras as there is lots of rock formations to photograph the likes of which haven't been seen outside a sci-fi movie. USA Today said it "offer(s) great subterranean landscape photographic possibilities with dramatic lighting and science fiction effects already in place."

The caverns are the largest in Texas. Tours are offered year round, with a comfortable year round temperature of 70 degrees which sounds cool but with a 99% humidity is really quite comfortable
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Natural Bridge Cavern visitors get to explore the limestone formations dating back tens of thousands of years. The cavern is still actively growing today. Its layers are made of limestone dating back to the Cretaceous period when an ocean covered most of what is now Texas. When the ground settled due to faults abut 20 million years ago, the Texas coastal regions formed and the beginning of what is known today as Texas Hill Country. The underground passages were carved through the limestone by underground rivers forming what we see as the Natural Bridge Caverns.

The Natural Bridge Caverns have both commercially developed areas with paths and lighting and unimproved areas where guests can climb over, under and through narrow passages and mud with only a helmet light to see. Visitors can see the Hall of Mountain Kings which is 350 feet long and 100 feet wide and high. The trails in the commercially developed area with its trails go as much as 260 feet below ground level. The newspaper USA Today called the Natural Bridge Caverns one of "10 Great Places" to visit .

The largest room, named the Hall of the Mountain Kings, is 350 feet long, 100 feet wide, and 100 feet high. Among numerous formations found here the most distinct is a type called "fried eggs" (because that is what they look like), a rare cave formation. The developed portion of the cave, furnished with a half mile of paved trails and illuminated by 35,000 watts of indirect lighting, extends to as much as 260 feet below ground level.

There are a choice of tours: The Discovery and Illuminations Tour each take about 75 minutes and are more of a walking tour. The tours take 75 minutes and cover about ¾ mile. Tickets are $17.95 for adults and $9.95 for children 3-11 years old. If you want to combine the tours for a better price the tour is $26.95 for adults and $14.95 for children

For those who want more of an adventure and want to experience climbing using ropes and cave gear, then the Adventure Tours aren't to be missed. You'll end up dirty as you crawl, hang and slide over the rock formations, but it will be an unforgettable day. There are two Adventure Tours at the Natural Bridge Caverns which last about 3-4 hours each. The Discovery Tour starts in the commercially developed area and then goes through the unimproved areas. Cost is $99.95.

But if you're ready to rappel and to be lowered down a 160 foot shaft then the Hidden Passage Tour is for you. You'll travel 230 feet underground to the Fault Room where you'll get to see and photograph one of the longest limestone soda straw formations in North America at over 14 feet long. The cost of this 70 minute extreme sport tour is $99.95.

These tours require good footwear with non slip bottoms. For the extreme sport Adventure Tours, you will get dirty and need to be willing to crawl and climb. For those individuals and families who want a unique adventure then the Natural Bridge Caverns offer an underground view of the earth unlike any other.