Cathedral Caverns

2025-04-03
Cathedral Caverns, AL

Today was a light travel day, shifting only an hour or so to Cathedral Caverns State Park. I got there roughly when the park opened at 9:00, but my tour wasn't until 2:00 PM. I figured I'd spend the hottest part of the day in the cool underground. Also, the morning tours were booked by school groups. To kill some time I hiked some of their above-ground trails, covering about 3 miles. It was all hill.

I met a nice fellow named Dan on the trail. He was preparing for the Pinhoti trail with his son this summer. That trail goes through the mountains of Alabama, ending in Georgia near the start of the Appalachian trail. He's 66 but still getting out there. We talked for about half a mile before our trails diverged and I took the one marked by yellow wood...

Cathedral Caverns is about 3/4 of a mile of path, so 1.5 miles out and back, following essentially the same route. The cave is very nice, and I'd recommend it if you're in the area. There are a number of cave formations to look at, culminating in the "Cathedral" which is a room full of elegant formations. I took over 100 pictures hoping to get something that reflects the grandeur.

Along the way we actually got to see some bats (they say the population is in the hundreds so rare in this large cave) and a cave cricket, although I wasn't close enough to get a picture of the latter. I tried asking what the crickets ate in the cave since the bottom of any food chain is typically plants fed by sunlight and there's none of that in the cave. They just said stuff like "smaller insects" (and what do they eat?) until they got to "I don't know." Some post-cave research found that they eat fungi and mold and mildew, which seem to be reasonably close to the bottom of the food chain. They also occasionally eat their own legs if food is scarce, so hopefully if you're being chased by a cave cricket it gets hungry before it catches you.

The campsite I booked at the park claimed to have a tent site, and it does have some rutted grass and what seems like a rocky tent pad. Not good choices, but the real bad news is that these areas are maybe ten feet from the doors to the restrooms and directly in the security lights. I don't see myself being on display in my tent or tearing up the bottom on the gravel. Thus tonight is an in-car night. I'm set up for that, so we'll see how it goes. They do have some nicer tent sites that are walk-in which I would have used if I had been here more than a night.

The campground is growing on me. They have wifi and laundry and showers. I still think I could've seen all the park has to offer in half a day, but I did try to slow down this trip. Maybe the blogs will be better with the extra time. I'm not betting on it though.