The Caves of North Arkansas

The caves we will be covering today are: Cosmic Caverns, Bull Shoals Cavern, Mystic Caverns, Old Spanish Treasure Cave, and War Eagle Cavern.

Cosmic Cavern is located on Hwy. 21 N. of Berryville. This cave has two bottom-less lakes. Divers have been sent down as far as they could go and dropped lines to find the bottom and it has never been reached. This cave has a year round temperature of 62 degrees and is considered the "warmest" cave in the Ozarks.

The south lake of the cavern has had trout in it for nearly 50 years. Some of those have gone blind and many have lost their natural coloring.

You may also see blind cave salamanders at Cosmic Cavern.

Cosmic Caverns also offer a pavilion for sack lunches, museum, gift shop and gemstone panning.
They offer specials for school groups which includes an Aquifer Study program.

Bull Shoals Caverns is located near Mountain Village 1890. It is surrounded by beautiful cliffs and is close to the White and North Fork Rivers. Outside the entrance to the cave are large, old, cast iron pots that were used by Confederate Soldiers to make gunpowder from the saltpeter they found in the cave.

Bull Shoals Cavern has a large rotunda that was carved by rushing water. It has layers of smoke damage that have been dated back of 300 B.C. There is a "Liberty Bell" formation that is colored by iron oxide and hematite. Hematite turns black as it gets old and is used for jewelry.

In one area you can view cracks in the columns that were due to the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812.

Mystic Caverns is located on scenic Hwy. 7 eight miles south of Harrison and five miles north of the Buffalo River.
This cavern has a "pipe organ" and tales of a "spider monkey". There is an unusual story because there are actually two caves in this location, "Mystic" and "Crystal Dome". The unusual part is that Mystic was discovered over 100 years before Crystal Dome even though their entrances are only 400 feet apart. The Crystal Dome is home to an 8-story dome.
The year round temperature is a comfortable 58 degrees.

Old Spanish Treasure Cave, located on Hwy. 59 between Gravette and Sulphur Springs, is steeped in mystery and local legend suggests that buried treasure is still hidden there. There is evidence that Spanish Conquistadors did visit the cave over 350 years ago. Modern cavers have found pieces of armor, gold coins and weapons. The cave was closed up for some time until a Spaniard from Madrid showed up there looking for the treasure. It is not said if he had a treasure map that he brought from Madrid or not.

This caverns temperature is a constant 56 degrees year round.

War Eagle Cavern, located on scenic Hwy. 12 between Rogers and Eureka Springs. It has a spectacular natural entrance, no stairs or rails, you simply walk straight in to the cave. War Eagle has a stream that runs through it and can be reached by land or boat.

The tour guides will relate stories of outlaws, moonshiners, and Indians.

They also have a wild tour called "Spelunkers Tour". You must supply your own supplies for this one, but there is the possibility that you will encounter huge colonies of bats, even during the general public tours.