California Cavern is a Limestone cave in the Sierra Nevada foothills, in Cave City,

Calaveras County Calaveras County (), officially the County of Calaveras, is a County (United States), county in both the Gold Country and Sierra Nevada, High Sierra regions of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the ...

, California. The series of interconnected

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

rns are one of the earliest officially recorded caves in the Mother Lode region of California. Although one of numerous caves in the Mother Lode region, California Caverns claims the distinction of having the most extensive system of caverns and passageways.

History

The cave was discovered by Captain Joseph Taylor (on land originally claimed by James b. Mckinney for gold mining) in 1849. He opened it for public tours, making it the first show cave in California. James Mckinney originally named it Mammoth Cave in remembrance of mammoth caverns near his hometown in Kentucky. but by 1894 it was known as Cave City. The cave was originally used as a shelter during harsh winters(especially during the winter of 1849–50). It was soon then after used for meetings attended by the townspeople as well as boasting the occasional whiskey bar, wedding or church service. Tours were well established by 1853. Then forward referred to as "the tour of lights" guests were charged varied amounts, they would then be given a candle and a nail and were admitted into the cave. The nail was given to guests so they could carve their name and date into the walls of the cave. This resulted in the over 5000 historic signatures visible in the cave today. During some downtime while not prospecting for gold, local folklore affirms Captain Taylor found the entrance to the cave by accident while setting up target practice. California Cavern was the first to be operated as a

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beaut ...

in the Sierras. Early visitors included

Bret Harte Bret Harte ( , born Francis Brett Hart, August 25, 1836 – May 5, 1902) was an American short story writer and poet best remembered for short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a caree ...

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

, and

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the national park, National Parks", was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologi ...

, who wrote about his visit in his 1894 book, '' The Mountains of California''. The caverns are registered as

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...

#956. As of 2018, the cavern was operated as a

show cave A show cave—also called tourist cave, public cave, and, in the United States, commercial cave—is a cave which has been made accessible to the public for guided visits. Definition A show cave is a cave that has been made accessible to ...

by Sierra Nevada Recreation Corporation.

References

External links

{{coord, 38.2028722, N, 120.508847, W, format=dms, type:landmark, display=title Caves of California Limestone caves Show caves in the United States Landforms of Calaveras County, California Limestone formations of the United States California Historical Landmarks History of Calaveras County, California Tourist attractions in Calaveras County, California