Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park is a 3,000 acre state recreation and nature preservation area which includes two visitor centers, ten miles of hiking trails, a campground, and a limestone caverns with tours.

Once a National Monument, the Caverns was removed from national monument status in 1937 because of not have the required national significance and thereafter became a state park.

A one time, there were hundreds of western big-eared bats in the caverns, however, now, there are only about 100 females that roost inside the caverns each year to have their pups. Male bats are believed to live in nearby caves. These bats eat thousands of insects every day.

Bats have opposable thumbs and are the only mammals capable of flight. Bat week in August continues annually at the park, with bat programs offered each day during that time.

During World War II, Bat guano was collected by the Civilian Conservation Corps and used to make TNT.

The Lewis and Clark Caverns state park can be accessed by taking exit 256 from either direction of IH 90, then turning south on SH 359, to the south side of the interstate highway and the east (not on the interstate entrance road) but to the junction of SH 2. At this junction, turn east and within 1/4 miles drive past a gas station and continues east until the state highway turns in a southern direction. At three miles along SH 2, you will come alongside the Jefferson River and continue along this river until arriving at the state park entrance on the left at just under seven and one half miles.

Park Entrance: 45.821721, -111.851928

Cave Visitors center: 45.838662, -111.867250, Elevation: 5,305 feet

Caverns Entrance: 45.836517, -111.8778063, Elevation: 5584 feet

Caverns Exit: 45.836549, -111.876441, Elevation: 5,307 feet

Leaving from the visitors center, we begin a long climb up to the cavern.

Little did I know before I arrived that there would be this long of a climb to the actual entrance. Yes, those building in the distance at the bottom of the footpath is where the visitor center is located.

The climb up took over a half of an hour, but then, we went right into the entrance.

Stalagmites are formed slowly by a constant drip of mineral laden water dropping from the ceiling and hitting the floor. At the point where the water hits the floor, the water leaves the minerals behind to add to the creation of the stalagmite while the water flows away. This process of growing the stalagmite occurs at a rate of about one inch per year.

The oil from the touch of a person′s hand can stunt the growth of a stalagmite by one hundred year, so don′s touch.

Those formations that grow down from the ceiling are called stalactites and when it meets with a stalagmite, the combined formation becomes a column.

When the amount of water coming from the ceiling is more than a drip, then the formation resulting is called a flowstone.

Flowstone can take on a variety of shapes, sometimes the formation is like a large round boulder, sometimes it will form a thin sheet of opaque stone which are called draperies.

Also, the colors that are deposited on the resulting formation can vary greatly, from different shades of brown, red, yellow to almost pure white. This is evident in the stalagmite and flowstone photos above, but there is another type of formation called fried eggs.

Fried eggs occur when a stalagmite begins it′s growth up from the cave floor during which the colors change as it grows giving it the appearance of a fried egg. This color combination is not common but can occur in almost any cave.

Another somewhat rare formation are crystals. In this photo, the crystals appear in the middle to the left and look almost clear.

Crystals can vary quite a bit also, there was one in Virginia I saw that looked like a butterfly.