Sign in or create a free account to curate your search content.
Eastern and southeastern West Virginia are full of natural caves. Most were formed by groundwater dissolving soluble rocks, like limestone, over millions of years.
West Virginia caves stay around 52 degrees Fahrenheit year-round and are nearly 100% humid. There are currently 4,241 known caves in the state. Most are small, but 106 caves have more than one mile of surveyed passage. The top five longest caves are all over 20 miles long, including Friars Hole Cave (Greenbrier and Pocahontas counties), Organ Cave (Greenbrier), The Hole (Greenbrier), Scott Hollow (Monroe County), and Culverson Creek Cave (Greenbrier). The majority are found in the neighboring counties of Greenbrier, Pocahontas, Pendleton, Randolph, and Monroe.
In the past, cave dirt (high in nitrates) was mined to make saltpeter, a key ingredient for gunpowder. Caves are a critical natural resource because they are home to unique animals adapted to total darkness, like certain bats, salamanders, and cave crickets. Some organisms are found nowhere else. Caves are fragile environments protected by state law. Scientists and experienced cavers continue to study them, and organizations protect them to keep the habitats safe.
Cave exploring (caving or "spelunking") is a dangerous sport and should be done only with experienced cavers and proper gear. You can safely explore several caves, including Lost World Caverns, Organ Cave, Seneca Caverns, and Smoke Hole Caverns, which offer guided public tours.
Friars Hole Cave is the longest cave in West Virginia, with an incredible 44 miles of mapped passages. That makes it the seventh longest cave in the nation and the 31st longest in the world The cave is found on the western side of Droop Mountain i...
Greenville Saltpeter Cave is a non-commercial "wild" cave in Monroe County. It has 3.8 miles of twisting passages and four entrances.The cave is named for its historical role in manufacturing saltpeter (potassium nitrate), an essential ingredient ...
Hellhole, a massive, spectacular cave in Germany Valley (Pendleton County), is one of the most famous wild caves in the eastern United States. The entrance is a large sinkhole that drops 160 feet into an enormous main chamber.The first recorded de...
Lost World Caverns, about two miles from Lewisburg, formed in limestone layers during the Mississippian Age. It has about 6,000 feet of passages, with a 600-foot section available for the public lighted tour.The cave was first discovered in 1942. ...
Organ Cave, just southeast of Lewisburg, has about 40 miles of surveyed passages, making it the second-longest cave in West Virginia, and the longest open to the public. It was named after a large, beautiful calcite formation that looks exactly li...
Seneca Caverns is a commercial cave in Germany Valley (Pendleton County). Opened to the public in 1930, it's one of the four main tourist caves in West Virginia. The entrance is located behind the gift shop.The tour covers about 500 feet of passag...
The Sinks of Gandy is a natural wonder in eastern Randolph County where all of Gandy Creek flows completely underground. It disappears beneath the earth at a blind valley (a valley with no visible outlet) south of Yokum Knob. The water flows north...
Smoke Hole Caverns is a commercial cave in Grant County, about eight miles west of Petersburg. It opened for tours in 1940 and is one of the most-visited caves in West Virginia.It's located at the western end of the North Fork Mountain water gap (...
