Blanchard Springs Caverns
Blanchard Springs Caverns is an attraction in Arkansas, at a modelled elevation of 264 m. Strand Knob stands 561 m to the west-southwest, 12 miles off. The nearest named place is Blanchard Springs Recreation Area, a park 0.3 miles away. Sylamore Scenic Byway runs past it.
The story
Blanchard Springs Caverns is a cave system located in the Ozark–St. Francis National Forest in Stone County in northern Arkansas, USA, 2 miles (3.2 km) off Highway 14 a short distance north of Mountain View. It is the only tourist cave owned by the United States Forest Service and the only one owned by the federal government outside the National Park System. Blanchard Springs Caverns is a three-level cave system, all of which can be viewed on guided tours. The Dripstone Trail runs through the uppermost level of caverns for about a 0.5 miles (0.80 km) and opened in 1973. The Discovery Trail opened in 1977 and loops through a 1.2 miles (1.9 km) section of the cavern, descending to the lower level of the cave, 366 feet (112 m) underground, as well as to the Natural Entrance, about 100 feet (30 m) below ground at that point, following the stream bed of the springs that created the cavern. This trail includes the Rimstone Dams, which create pools along the stream bed, and the Ghost Room, a small but very well decorated room in the uppermost level, with its huge white flowstone. Also offered is a "Wild Cave" tour which allows access to undeveloped parts of the cave to more adventurous visitors. It follows the upstream section of the cave, allowing visitors to see all three levels as the original explorers did, continuing beyond where the Discovery Trail ends.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q639485, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What to expect
How to reach it
- On the Sylamore Scenic Byway
- 113.3 mi off the Great River Road, National
Named places within 25 miles
- Scrappy Mountain: 3.3 mi
- Bald Scrappy: 3.8 mi
- Cedar Scrappy: 3.9 mi
- Hickory Knob: 4.8 mi
- Boulder Mountain: 5.7 mi
- Handford Bluff: 8.7 mi
- City Rock Bluff: 9.5 mi
- Lover's Leap: 9.6 mi
- Calico Bluff: 10.4 mi
- Simpson Point: 10.6 mi
- Blanchard Springs Recreation Area: 0.3 mi
- Gunner Pool Recreation Area: 2.8 mi
- Sylamore Experimental Forest: 4.6 mi
- Barkshed Recreation Area: 5.5 mi
- Ozark Folk Center State Park: 6.5 mi
- Steele Falls: 3.7 mi
- Cougar Falls: 12.2 mi
- Three Springs Falls: 12.5 mi
- China Falls: 12.7 mi
- Bumpers Falls: 12.8 mi
- Stone County Museum: 7.8 mi
- Tomlinson Art and Science Center: 10.7 mi
- Melbourne AR History Museum: 17.0 mi
- Shirley Centennial Museum: 22.7 mi
- Ozark Heritage Arts Center: 23.1 mi
- Blanchard Spring: 0.4 mi
- Rock Garden: 14.8 mi
- Trail Head Lower Wilderness.: 21.1 mi
- Sinkhole Icebox: 23.2 mi
- Hidden Spring: 3.4 mi
- Big Spring: 4.1 mi
- Tassel Spring: 13.0 mi
- Pebble Spring: 23.8 mi
- Jimmie White Memorial: 1.3 mi
- Hicks Hotel and Store: 24.3 mi
- Devil’s Backbone Road Cut—Geology: 24.9 mi
- Harness: 15.2 mi
Summits around it
The highest named summits within 13.5 miles of Blanchard Springs Caverns. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strand Knob | WSW 239° | 561 m | 12.1 mi |
| Bald Knob | SW 235° | 547 m | 12.2 mi |
| Roper Mountain | WSW 244° | 495 m | 10.8 mi |
| Irons Mountain | SE 128° | 477 m | 11.6 mi |
| Sugar Hill | S 191° | 451 m | 9.5 mi |
| Panther Mountain | SW 232° | 440 m | 9.0 mi |
| Lost Mountain | SSW 197° | 438 m | 11.4 mi |
| Hawkins Hill | SSW 196° | 438 m | 13.2 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:13 | 18:47 | 19:21 |
| June solstice | 05:53 | 19:51 | 20:29 |
| September equinox | 06:57 | 18:33 | 19:07 |
| December solstice | 07:16 | 16:19 | 16:59 |
Local time (America/Chicago).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Mar–Jun, Aug–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 38 | 42 | 50 | 59 | 68 | 76 | 80 | 79 | 72 | 61 | 50 | 41 |
| Precip in | 3.5 | 3.4 | 5.0 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 5.1 | 4.3 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — MTN View, 9 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikipediaWikidataOfficial siteOpenStreetMap element node/12478786761
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