While it’s small, you get basically everything packed into one little trip. I remembered it as being a small cave, but I was just taken back by the various formations in there. “When I interviewed for this job, we walked through the cave. “I guess I was about 16 and high school the first time I came,” Noah recalled. Noah, who has been with Onyx Cave Park for five years and grew up in the area, said Onyx cave is special in many ways. We see a lot of parents get bags for the kids, then in about 5 minutes, they are back buying a bag for themselves or another one for the kids. When you pick it up, it looks like a bag of dirt, but you rinse it off in the sluice and wash the dirt away, you reveal the gemstones. “We have a sluice and we have pre-loaded gemstones in bags. Visitors can also try their luck at gemstone panning. In addition to the cave, Onyx Cave Park offers a few other attractions for guests, including a gift shop, ax throwing and a smash room. Each year our attendance has increases, so people seem to enjoy it.” The recording is from 1975, but it is still incredibly informative, and most people don’t know it’s that old until the voice mentions the flash cubes. “People really like not being in a big group, and you can take all the time you want, all of the pictures you want there’s no rush. On the way back out, you can take all of the time you want and enjoy the cave. “There are seven little stops along the path, and the audio talks about that area of the cave and the history. “Each group goes down individually, so you are just there with your group,” Noah explained. Visitors venture into the cave for a self-guided tour, and each guest is given a headset. “Boxwork is formed, usually, by a big shift in the Earth.” “Normal formations are stalactites and stalagmites formed by accumulation the minerals are building up and building up,” Noah explained. The cave also has unique features called “boxwork” formations. “We just ask that people don’t touch anything,” Noah said. Many show caves do not allow photos to be taken inside, but it is encouraged at Onyx Cave. “They were just little drops on the ceiling then,” he said. Noah added some of the formations in the cave date back to 10,000 to 12,000 B.C. There is a piece of celling that has fallen that looks like a dragon’s head, so we call it The Dragon’s head. When the lights kick on, it’s pretty dramatic. At some point, it was broken open, so there have been lights placed inside it. “It’s a large column where stalagmites and stalactites formed. “We have the formation called The Fireplace,” Noah said. The cave may be small, but it is filled with awe. We have spots where it’s new, meaning it formed in the last couple hundred years, with bright white cave onyx forming. They call it cave onyx, but it is a calcite flowstone that makes the formations. “Like most caves around here, it is a limestone cave,” Noah explained. The name may be Onyx Cave, but it is not made of onyx. “On average, it takes about half an hour to 45 minutes to explore the cave,” he said, adding visitors cannot get lost because there is one way in and one way out. Onyx Cave is not a sprawling cavern, with the cave being only about 325 feet deep. “Since the 1950s, it has been open continuously.” “According to the history, there was a brief history in the late 1920s, early 1930s where it was abandoned,” Noah said. Onyx Cave Park manager Noah Hutchison said the cave was discovered in 1891 and began offering tours in 1893. The oldest among the “show caves” is Onyx Cave, located just a few miles outside of Eureka Springs, Ark. There are thousands of caves in Arkansas, with only a few open to the public for tours. But there’s a lot more Arkansas to see underground. – The “Natural State” is known for its scenic beauty, sparkling lakes and streams and abundant wildlife. Onyx Cave has been open to the public for more than 100 yearsĮUREKA SPRINGS, ARK.

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