The caves mentioned below are publicly owned caverns. Mercer caverns
mentioned with the description about the town of
Murphys are privately
owned.
Moaning Cavern is located off of Parrotts Ferry Road between the
small town of Vallecito on Highway 4 and one arm of New Melones
Reservoir. It is located 8 miles north of Columbia State Historic Park.
This cavern unlike most caves in California has a huge central cavern.
In fact, this main cave is California's largest public cavern. This cave
is large enough to put the entire Statue of Liberty inside. Another very
interesting note about this cave is that it contained the oldest human
remains yet found in the United States. Scientific excavations have
shown these human remains to be older then 13,000 years old. They either
were thrown or fell into the cave. There is a 14 foot long stalactite
here. The traditional tour descends down to the floor of this cave down
a lengthy spiral staircase that winds its way down many feet. This tour
takes about 45 minutes and is suited for the entire family. Little ones
are encouraged to keep quiet however. When I went on this tour, they
turned off all the lights at the bottom of the spiral descent.
Apparently some small children became so frightened that they began
howling and they did not stop their yapping even after the lights were
turned on.
There is over 300 million years of geology in this cave. Explorations
have traced the depth of some of the smaller caves down to over 410
feet. There are even new explorations continuing today. The bodies of
the early humans in the present day United States were fairly well
preserved. Scientists attribute this to the deposits of mineral bearing
waters surrounding the bodies.
One tour that we are seriously thinking about doing next summer is the 165
foot rappel into the darkness of the cave and eventually to the bottom.
Then you take the adventure tour and spend 3 hours of exploring the cave
and crawling through deep passage ways with a guide. Grubby clothes are
recommended for this adventure. All gear is provided and a short
climbing lesson is given before you actually begin the descent. The gear
provided is a hard hat, gloves, lights, and ropes. The only thing they
ask for is that you bring some courage.
For those not wanting to spend as much money and time the traditional
tour is for you. For those who want a bit more adventure but still do
not want to spend as much money and time the 165 foot Rappel Adventure
is for you. You are given all climbing gear, a short
lesson about rappelling and a guide to help you descend. You climb over
cave formations for 20 vertical feet until you reach a ledge and then
you have to drop down the rest of the way into pure blackness. Of course
you have a head light on your hard hat to help guide you. This rappel is
done at your own pace. I was told by a member of California's Cave
Society that the adventure lasts 3 hours. As a member of this
society, he, of course, gets in free. Lucky!
For more information and prices about tours of Moaning Cavern visit
their website: www.caverntours.com
or call Phone Number (209) 736-2708.
California Caverns
are located east of the town of San Andreas
near the town of Sheep Ranch at Cave City in Calaveras County. These
caves have been open to the public since 1850. They were California's
first show caverns. These are the most extensive and impressive of the
California caves. There are miles of winding passages and still
unexplored caves. There are even underground lakes and some are over 200
feet deep. The general tour lasts one hour and covers lighted trails.
There are also Adventure tours given here, like at the Moaning Cave.
Unlike Moaning Cave however, these adventure tours offer rafting trips
across the underground lakes. Reservations are highly recommended. For
more information you can contact California Caverns at (209) 736-2708.
You can write to them at:
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