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 like a pipe organ.

The cave has been known for centuries; the first recorded owner was in 1783. Visitors from local resorts were taking tours as early as 1822. Organ Cave was mined for saltpeter (a component of gunpowder) during both the War of 1812 and Civil War. You can still see some of the wooden equipment used for mining nitrates.

The cave is famous for a fossil discovery: the bones of the giant Pleistocene sloth (Megalonyx jeffersonii), which were studied by Thomas Jefferson in 1799. It is now the official state fossil.

This is one of our few caves open for visitors. The commercial tour uses the historic Organ entrance (a large valley at the base of a 100-foot limestone cliff) and covers about a half-mile of passage. Guided wild tours can also be arranged.

Organ Cave was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.