On our recent longer trip, we spent three nights at Florida Caverns State Park in Marianna, FL (in the panhandle). When we arrived, it had been raining and our site was pretty muddy. All the sites were back-ins and it took us a couple tries to get the trailer where we wanted it. Happily, it didn’t rain much while we were there and the site dried out pretty quickly. The main reason I picked this campground was because of the cavern, but it wasn’t open until Thursday (it’s closed Tuesday & Wednesday). There was lots to keep us busy and we were definitely not bored!
The kids wanted to go through here so I went along. It’s pretty low, but there were no bats.
These spiders (golden silk orbweavers) seemed to be everywhere! It reminded me of another camping trip. As long as they stay outside & don’t get in my path, it’s all good.
Can you see her? Just hanging out, waiting for some unsuspecting bug to come along.
All along the bluff trail were cypress swamps.
The kids had so much fun exploring and the scenery is beautiful. There were a couple geocaches too.
Any entrances to caves/caverns were blocked off, but we still tried to see inside. One nice thing – the air coming out of them was cool! It was really hot that day and it was like nature’s air conditioning.
The trail wasn’t all easy – there were a few spots that were steeper.
The cavern tour was definitely worth the wait and the money (admission really isn’t that much – $8/adult & $5/kid). Our tour guide was great! We learned about the cavern – both how it was found & excavated and how they occur naturally. For instance, the column in this picture is cracked because at some point in the recent past the ground shifted some. Eventually, the crack with fill in and the stalagmite and stalactite will become a column again.
There are just so many photogenic things in the cavern!
This is Blue Hole. There’s a path to it from the campground and you can also access it from the day entrance. We stuck our toes in – it was a cool 72. Every afternoon, there were lots of people swimming here! However, it’s 30 feet deep and I wasn’t comfortable letting my kids swim without any kind of floaties or life vests (I didn’t know there was swimming so we didn’t pack any swim stuff).
Just under the bridge, this little guy was swimming. He’s little – maybe two feet long. Apparently, for whatever reason, gators don’t swim in blue hole. I’m not totally convinced (besides, where there’s a baby, there’s got to be a mama!). There’s nothing stopping them except maybe the cooler water?
We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Florida Caverns State Park! If we are ever in the area and need a place to stay, we will definitely stay here again!
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