The station was "abundantly supplied with water by a living spring and stream of delicious water and excellent grass and plenty of wood for campers are all about." It also provided "first-rate meals prepared to order.and (was) always supplied with hay and grain." This station was likely of recent construction because it was along a new road from Tucson to Tres Alamos, a farming community in the San Pedro Valley. Ramsey, a native of Louisiana, was owner of the Mountain Springs Station, a stage stop approximately 22 miles east of Tucson, in the foothills of the Rincon Mountains. Colossal Cave was used from 900 to 1450 AD by the Hohokam, Sobaipuri, and Apache Indians.Įarly History of Colossal Cave and the Mountain Springs Ranch Īccording to David Leighton, historian for the Arizona Daily Star newspaper, in 1876, a man named Sidney H. It instead feeds the "active" nearby Arkenstone Cave that continues to grow formations. This is because the cave was formed by water depositing limestone, but this source has disappeared. The meaning of this is that its formations are completely dry, or "dead", and do not grow. The cave is an ancient karst cave, classified as "dry" by guides (though this is not a speleologic term). Previous names include 'Mountain Springs Cave' and 'Five–Mile Cave'. Temperatures inside average 70 ☏ (21 ☌) year-round. It contains about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) of mapped passageways. 1940sĬolossal Cave is a large cave system in southeastern Arizona, United States, near the community of Vail, about 22 miles (35 km) southeast of Tucson. After your tour at Kartchner Caverns, you can drive 30 minutes to Tombstone for lunch and a great afternoon with your guests.Geologic feature in Pima County, Arizona Postcard c. Overall it's a nice tour - however I prefer visiting Kartchner Caverns, AZ which is a live cave. Try going in the morning hours - less traffic and try to go on a weekday during the school year - less kids. There is also a nice food snack shop but a bit pricy. The visitor center is nice and there are great gifts you can buy. Some places of the tour are a bit narrow so if you are the least bit afraid of being underground in tight spaces, I recommend don't go on the tour. There is over 363 stairs during the 50 minute tour. Some bats are in the cave making the visit memorable. Shorts, and good walking shoes are recommended - no flip flops. Good history on the local natives, the rancher who bought it, and now the updated visitors site. You will see beautiful cave formations like stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, boxwork, and helictites. This is a "dry" cave - meaning it's not growing anymore. Good for a one time trip because of all the negatives and wont be returning likely. My heart dropped when I seen where one of my kids could've fell when he tripped, if he had tripped the other way. A warning for people not so able footed and little ones: lots of uneven stairs up and down and some ledges where little ones can fall some 10 to 20 feet down with a slip of the foot immediately next to the path one walks upon. Anyway, the price sure has gone up ($18 for an adult) and the roads are full of potholes. Funny story from that is they got into the margarita machine one night. They say Coatis have taken refuge there, and boy does it smell bad and is extremely distracting from the tour. Cave itself is interesting, just what I dont recall is the stench for the first third of the tour. Tour guides are always fun, knowledgable and great. Basic tour was, and always has been as good as it gets for a cave of this type.
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