Luray Caverns, Virginia

January 2023

While living in the DMV area we had the opportunity to explore all of the natural beauty of the Shenandoah Valley and Appalachian mountains. Lurary Canvers is the largest cavern in the Eastern United States and I can assure you it is like stepping foot into another world.

- All photos were taken by: Mackenna Burke, on January 2023, on-site at Luray Caverns

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For starters driving through the valley was a wonder in itself. The beauty of old mountains makes for a perfect trip regardless of where your trip ends.

When we got the Luray the caverns were easy to find, map or not, as many signs made it easy to find. Once we got our tickets for our self-guided tour we stopped briefly to walk through the museum of the cavern's history.

Once we made it to the entrance there was a photo opportunity then we were immediately we were transported into another world. We toured along lite paved walkways the whole time, which were wheelchair accessible. There was an option for an audio tour with headphones but we opted for the pamphlet that we could read on our way. I got so caught up with the cathedral-sized rooms, towering stone formations, and natural wonders that I forgot to read the pamphlet but my husband kept me informed of the history of the formations along the way.

All the formations in the cavern are naturally white calcite (Crystallized Limestone). There are certain points of interest within the cave that tour guilds are stationed at to provide information. The 4th, 5th, and 6th photos above were taken in an area where there was water. As there is no wind, rain, and very little light the depth perception is skewed to make it look like an optical illusion of symmetry. While it may look like the water is feet deep in places the deepest there are is 18-20 inches. Titania's Veil, The Double Column, and The Great Stlacpipe Organ are just some more points of interest within the cavern.

My favorite without a doubt was Money Pool where you can drop cents or dollars if you choose. Every year they empty out the pool and give the money to a charity. The installed lights make the money pool look like a perfect blue lagoon, perfect for photos and seeing all the money. In most caverns, I have been to previously there are times claustrophobia gets to most people within Luray Caverns I never felt cramped or crushed.

Once we exited the cavern our ticket also included "The Car and Carriage Caravan Museum", "Shenandoah Heritage Village", and "Toy Town Junction". We decided to go in the winter season, so there were little to no people there. This also meant that the Car Museum was closed for cleaning, and one of the gift shops was restocking. We did walk around the Heritage Village which was quite cool. The history of the people and landscape of the area was interesting to learn. During the tourist season, they have employees dressed to fit the time period for people to experience history come to life.

The Caverns site is home to many activities and group tours during the year but if you were like us, looking to escape the routine for a moment, the Caverns were a great day trip.