Endless Caverns is a commercial

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 ...

located south of

New Market, Virginia New Market is a town in Shenandoah County, Virginia, United States. Founded as a small crossroads trading town in the Shenandoah Valley, it has a population of 2,146 as of the most recent 2010 U.S. census. The north–south U.S. 11 and the east– ...

, United States. The cave is a

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

solution cave.

History

According to the tour operators, the cave was discovered by two boys in October 1879, while hunting rabbits on the property of Ruben Zirkle. The boys cornered a rabbit behind an outcropping of limestone rocks, and began moving some of the loose stones to flush the rabbit from his hiding place. After doing this they discovered a hole in the ground and ran back to the house to grab some ropes and candles. After going into the hole the boys found that there were many chambers and rooms. Not long after the discovery, the Zirkles began doing candle lit tours through the cave. In 1919, the cave was bought by Colonel Brown who had the cave fully electrified for the August 1920 grand opening with a lighting design by Phineas Stephens. In 1928 more electric work was done in collaboration with

Samuel Hibben Samuel Galloway Hibben (June 6, 1888 – June 11, 1972) had a distinguished career in the science and application of lighting. During a lifetime of employment with the Westinghouse Company he pioneered many new types of lighting and its applicat ...

and W.A. Oglesby. There is a campground site with hookups for

recreational vehicle A recreational vehicle, often abbreviated as RV, is a motor vehicle or trailer that includes living quarters designed for accommodation. Types of RVs include motorhomes, campervans, coaches, caravans (also known as travel trailers and camp ...

s at Endless Caverns.

Wildlife

Endless is home to colonies of bats, primarily

little brown bat The little brown bat or little brown myotis (''Myotis lucifugus'') is an endangered species of mouse-eared microbat found in North America. It has a small body size and glossy brown fur. It is similar in appearance to several other mouse-ea ...

s, that are visible on the tour route.

Extent

The present mapped extent of Endless Caverns is , making it the 20th longest cave in Virginia and the 176th longest in the United States. Its deepest measured point is below the surface.

References

External links

Endless Caverns website
Caves of Virginia Show caves in the United States Limestone caves Landforms of Rockingham County, Virginia Tourist attractions in Rockingham County, Virginia 1879 in science 1920 establishments in Virginia {{RockinghamCountyVA-geo-stub