Happenin’
Places › Virginia › Luray Caverns
Luray Caverns, photo 1 of 4

Photo: Stan Mouser / CC BY 2.0 · source

Caves

Luray Caverns

Luray, VA · Shenandoah Valley$$Adults $36, kids 6 to 12 $18, under 6 free

About

Andrew Campbell and his 13-year-old nephew Quint went down into Luray Caverns by rope in 1878, after cold air rose from a sinkhole in Luray, Virginia. Formations here grow about an inch every 120 years, and the tallest, the Double Column in Giant's Hall, stands 47 feet. The walk is self-guided and takes a little over an hour, with no restrooms along the way, so use one before you start. The same ticket covers a car and carriage museum and a re-created 19th-century farm village. Plan on two to three hours. Once a day, at 8:30 a.m., a guide dressed as an 1870s explorer takes up to 30 people through on a separate ticket.

Highlights

Dream Lake, the largest poolThe Great Stalacpipe Organ, world's largest musical instrumentDouble Column, 47 feet, in Giant's Hall1.25 miles of paved walkwaysConstant 54 degreesCar and carriage museum included

Getting there

101 Cave Hill Road, Luray, VA 22835

Related places

Natural Bridge Attractions

Natural Bridge

Natural Bridge, VA · Shenandoah Valley$

You reach the 200-foot arch at Natural Bridge, Virginia, by a 137-step stairway, so leave the stroller in the car. Thomas Jefferson called it "the most sublime of Nature's works"…

Shenandoah National Park Mountains

Shenandoah National Park

Front Royal, VA · Blue Ridge Mountains$

Shenandoah National Park is about 75 miles from Washington, D.C., and its one public road, Skyline Drive, runs 105 miles south from Front Royal, Virginia. End to end it takes…

Mabry Mill Attractions

Mabry Mill

Meadows of Dan, VA · Virginia Blue RidgeFree

Ed Mabry's gristmill stands at milepost 176 of the Blue Ridge Parkway, with its overshot wheel and wooden flume doubled upside down in the still millpond. More people photograph…

More in Virginia

Others worth the drive in Virginia.

All of Virginia →
McAfee Knob Mountains

McAfee Knob

Catawba, VA · RoanokeFree

From the ledge on McAfee Knob, 3,197 feet up Catawba Mountain in Roanoke County, Virginia, the view runs 270 degrees. The hike starts across Route 311 from the lot and follows…

Peaks of Otter Mountains

Peaks of Otter

Bedford, VA · Virginia Blue RidgeFree

Sharp Top overlooks Abbott Lake and the Peaks of Otter Lodge, 10 miles from Bedford, Virginia. The trail to its 3,875-foot summit is 1.6 strenuous miles. A seasonal bus gets…

Part of these collections

America's Best Caves22 places

America's Best Caves

The Park Service runs eight of these 22 caves, and most of the rest are commercial show caves at $23 to $36 an adult. If you only pay for one, make it Ruby Falls: you ride an elevator 26 stories down inside Lookout Mountain and walk to a 145-foot waterfall.