Underground at Longhorn Cavern State Park

March 25, 2007

Shopping took up the morning. Breakfast, then laundry and the afternoon arrived. We drove the back roads, way back roads with cows grazing along and wildflowers blooming everywhere. The Hill Country is really a natural wonder.

Longhorn Cavern State Park was created in 1932. The work was done by the CCC and is just incredible. The cavern , created by water on the limestone bedrock, has some really neat things. There is a layer of chit, like a flint, that the Cherokee Indians came and collected. Part of the cave has a marble look where the fast flowing waters smoothed the limestone. There is a history to the caverns too: prehistoric caveman lived here, confederates used the bat guano to make gunpowder, it was a speakeasy filled with bars and dancing, church services were held here and it is still used as a wedding chapel. Just up the road was a picnic area overlooking the valley; we pulled in. Some scrabble, a walk and some sit time brought us to the lights peeking out far below. We went inside and watched the last of the West Wing reruns.