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| Landmark #956 | Calaveras County | Visited: May 9, 2015 | Plaque? YES! 🙂 |
| What is it? | The California Cavern is still open for tours! |
| What makes it historical? | THE GUIDE SAYS: The historical significance of California Cavern is well established as a major cavern system and as one of the earliest officially recorded caves (1850) in the Mother Lode region of California. The early commercial enterprise associated with California Cavern is evidenced by the historical documents verifying organized tourist activities as early as 1854. Although one of numerous caves in the Mother Lode region, California Cavern claims the distinction of having the most extensive system of caverns and passageways.
OTHER TIDBITS: In short, California Caverns was California’s first cave to be shown for commercial tours! It was discovered by Captain Joseph Taylor in 1849 when he was target shooting and a breeze from a hole in the rock kept knocking over his targets! He dug an entrance into the cave and lit a candle. In the candlelight, the wet cave formations looked like they were covered in gold! He mined and found nothing, but rather than accept defeat, he started giving tours of his cave! The antechamber of the cave served as a meeting place and party room for miners, and for many years, folks would get married on a redwood platform under a cascading wall formation. You can still see the stains from their champagne! The miners unleashed a lot of destruction upon the poor cave, but luckily, more chambers were discovered later and preserved for posterity. The formations are lovely, but the highlight of the tour was watching the guide plop down a volleyball-sized shaft into a room called “the Womb,” then shimmy back up! |
| How can I Help the Helpers? | HERE’S HOW:
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| Where is this place? | LISTED DIRECTIONS: Cave City Rd Approx 4 mi from Mountain Ranch Rd via Michel Rd 11 mi E of Hwy 49 in San Andreas, CA ANNOTATIONS: From Los Angeles: ~361mi (581km) — 6.1hrs |
| When should I go? | Between Labor Day and mid-May, the cave is open daily from 11:00 AM until 3:00 PM, and for the rest of the year, the cave is open from 10:00 AM until 5:00 PM! |
Are you available for speakers program on natural & cultural history at City of Folsom’s Hinkle Creek Nature Area? I’m assisting City Parks in lining up speakers. Caves & speleologists would be a great addition for our program.
Hi there! That sounds neat! Are you looking for certified speleologists or just fans of caves?