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Place type

Caves

The record below ground. Cave dossiers rest on the oldest layer of claims in the archive — shelters, burials and refuges that precede any standing structure on the continent — plus more recent reports from guides and visitors working tours through the dark. The filings note what the geology and archaeology establish and what witnesses describe hearing or seeing where no light reaches; the archive does not adjudicate echoes.

44 dossiers21 jurisdictions77% open to visitors
Cave
Medium

Cave-in-Rock

Cave-in-Rock, Illinois

Cave associated with documented cultural history.

3 claims · 3 legends→
Cave
High confidence

Historic Bell Witch Cave

Adams, Tennessee

Cave in Adams; research record.

3 claims · 2 legends→
Cave
Medium

Lovelock Cave

Lovelock, Nevada

Archaeological cave associated with a Paiute giant tradition.

2 claims · 2 legends→
Cave
Medium

Anna Bixby's Cave

Cave-in-Rock, Illinois

Cave associated with documented cultural history.

2 claims · 2 legends→
Cave
Medium

Mammoth Cave

Mammoth Cave, Kentucky

The world’s longest known cave—420+ mapped miles and Floyd Collins’s tomb.

2 claims · 2 legends→
Cave
Medium

Longhorn Cavern

Burnet, Texas

The CCC-built cave with the Comanche council legend.

2 claims · 2 legends→
Cave
Medium

DeSoto Caverns

Childersburg, Alabama

The "Great Onyx Cave"—where DeSoto legend and Civil War saltpeter meet.

2 claims · 2 legends→
Cave
Medium

Wind Cave

Hot Springs, South Dakota

The cave that breathes—barometric winds at the natural entrance.

2 claims · 2 legends→
Cave
Medium

Bridal Cave

Camdenton, Missouri

The Ozark cave where a Native American wedding legend lives.

2 claims · 2 legends→
Cave
Medium

Organ Cave

Ronceverte, West Virginia

The cave where Lee’s army mined saltpeter—one of America’s longest.

2 claims · 2 legends→
Cave
Medium

Ruby Falls

Chattanooga, Tennessee

The 145-foot underground waterfall inside Lookout Mountain.

2 claims · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Russell Cave National Monument

Bridgeport, Alabama

Cave in Bridgeport; research record.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Carlsbad Caverns

Carlsbad, New Mexico

The Big Room—a chamber you could stack cathedrals in.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Luray Caverns

Luray, Virginia

The caverns with the "Stalacpipe Organ"—and a documented burial.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

The Lost Sea

Sweetwater, Tennessee

America’s largest underground lake—four acres of water in the dark.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Meramec Caverns

Stanton, Missouri

The cave Jesse James used as a hideout—Route 66’s cave.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Mark Twain Cave

Hannibal, Missouri

The cave Tom Sawyer made immortal—Hannibal’s 1819 labyrinth.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Fantastic Caverns

Springfield, Missouri

America’s only ride-through cave—a jeep tour under the Ozarks.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Natural Bridge Caverns

San Antonio, Texas

Texas’s largest show cave—discovered by cavers in 1960.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Caverns of Sonora

Sonora, Texas

The "most beautiful" cave—world-class helictites.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Cave of the Mounds

Blue Mounds, Wisconsin

The "jewel box" of American caves—discovered in a 1939 quarry blast.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Mystery Cave

Preston, Minnesota

Minnesota’s longest cave—13 miles under the bluff country.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Niagara Cave

Harmony, Minnesota

The cave with a 60-foot underground waterfall on the Iowa line.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Cathedral Caverns

Woodville, Alabama

The cave with the "Goliath" column—45 feet of flowstone.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Cumberland Caverns

McMinnville, Tennessee

The cave with the "Volcano Room" ballroom—and the Underground ballroom history.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Tuckaleechee Caverns

Townsend, Tennessee

The Smokies’ "Greatest Site Under the Smokies"—and the Big Room.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Lost World Caverns

Lewisburg, West Virginia

The self-guided cave with the "Snowy Chandelier" formation.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Skyline Caverns

Front Royal, Virginia

The cave with the anthodites—"orchids of the mineral world."

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Grand Caverns

Grottoes, Virginia

America’s oldest show cave—touring since 1806.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Oregon Caves

Cave Junction, Oregon

The "Marble Halls of Oregon"—and the 1934 lodge above.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Lehman Caves

Baker, Nevada

The Great Basin’s decorated cave—Absalom Lehman’s 1885 find.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Moaning Cavern

Vallecito, California

The cave with the rappel entrance—and the moaning sound that named it.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Jewel Cave

Custer, South Dakota

The third-longest cave in the world—200+ miles of calcite jewels.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Marengo Cave

Marengo, Indiana

Indiana’s most-visited cave—found by two children in 1883.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Onondaga Cave

Leasburg, Missouri

The "Queen of Missouri Caves"—a National Natural Landmark.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Low

La Cueva del Niño que Llora

Ciales, Puerto Rico

Named cave in Ciales mountain folklore.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Low

Gadao’s Cave

Inalåhan, Guam

Cave connected to a CHamoru strength narrative.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Low

Penn's Cave & Wildlife Park

Centre Hall, Pennsylvania

Cave research record.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Low

Tory Den

Burlington, Connecticut

Cave research record.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Medium

Cornwallis' Cave

Yorktown, Virginia

Cave associated with published local folklore.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Low

Seneca Caverns

Riverton, West Virginia

Cave associated with published local folklore.

1 claim · 1 legend→
Cave
Low

Kalabera Cave

Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands

Cave with CHamoru rock art and funerary history.

1 fact→
Cave
Medium

Tinta Cave

Malesso’, Guam

Site associated with a July 1944 massacre of CHamoru civilians.

1 fact→
Cave
Low

Tonga Cave

Songsong, Northern Mariana Islands

Rota cave used as a wartime hospital and storm refuge.

1 fact→