Linville Caverns in North Carolina

linville caverns in north carolinaEver wonder what it would be like to journey to the center of a mountain? Explore one of the area’s best loved North Carolina Mountain attractions. The Linville Caverns in North Carolina are open to the public year round and are located a short distance from the Burnsville NC vacation rentals at Alpine Village Townhomes. Linville Caverns NC are actively forming limestone caverns that were discovered nearly two hundred years ago by fishermen. The fishermen noticed a trickling stream of water that seemed to flow into the mountain, they followed the water, which led them into what is now known as Linville Caverns.

Visitors to Linville Caverns in North Carolina are treated to a guided tour of the “rooms” of the cave. Each room is filled with unique natural structures, stalactites and stalagmites and tourists are allowed to snap pictures of each formation. Most of the cave formations have names that your tour guide will tell you about. Visitors to Linville Caverns in North Carolina are asked not to touch the cave’s walls and actively forming limestone structures. You cannot touch the formations inside the cave and its walls because these structures are formed over time through a complicated natural process; the oils found on our hands can slow and permanently damage this process. The Linville Caverns in North Carolina are located right off of Hwy 221.

In addition to the unique cave formations and one-of-a-kind gift shop at Linville Caverns NC, visitors can also learn about the native wildlife that calls the cave’s rooms home. The same mountain trout that swam in the trickling stream that gave the local fishermen reason to pause and follow are found today inside Linville Caverns in North Carolina. You will learn about the cave’s inhabitant the Eastern Pipistrelle Bat. These daring creatures live in the darkness and call the cave home while they hibernate in the cave’s cool temperatures from fall to early spring. A very unique thing about the cave is the that its temperature remains about the same year round. Visit in the hot summer months and the cave is a refreshing 58 degrees or so; in the winter, the temperature stays above freezing, making it a nice hibernation habitat. Because the conditions inside the cave are almost 100% dark without the help of lights and other modern additions, the fish in the stream that flows through the caverns are blind. The stream that they call home follows a pattern throughout the Linville Caverns in North Carolina and helped to form the cave’s structures. It leads to a deep pool that lies in the cave which is aptly called the Bottomless Pool as researchers and divers have tried to find the bottom to no avail.

If you are planning to spend the day visiting the Linville Caverns in North Carolina near the Burnsville NC Mountains, plan on wearing comfortable clothing. Tour guides recommend that you bring a sweater should you get chilly easily and comfortable tennis or walking shoes are advised. The caverns are open seven days as week during the height of the season (March through November) and on weekends only from December through February. The caverns offer group discounts for parties of 25 or more with prior reservations. Contact them for more information and plan to stay in the Burnsville NC vacation rentals at Alpine Village Townhomes which are just a short drive from Linville Caverns NC and right in the heart of all of the wonderful vacation attractions you will want to visit. Click around the site and learn more about attractions like Biltmore Estate North Carolina, the Quilt Trail, the historic Orchard at Altapass, The Blue Ridge Parkway and its many NC Mountain gem mines and the nearby resorts in region that offer snowskiing in North Carolina. The vacation rentals in Western NC at Alpine Village Townhomes are perfect for couples’ getaways, fun family vacations and those that are just looking for some mountain adventure. Click to learn more!