Lake Shasta Caverns National Natural Landmark

August 6, 2019

Lake Shasta Caverns National Natural Landmark is one of three known caverns in Shasta County. The beds originated 250 million years ago when the earth was subjected to the folding of its crust. Ultimately, this created the Klamath Mountains. The caverns once sat at the bottom of a Jurassic era ocean and grew out of cracks in the rocks. Dripping water seeps minerals through the limestone and slowly forms the massive stalactites, stalagmites, stone draperies, soda straws, and flowstone deposits. The Discovery Room, one of eight known rooms in the cavern system, contains all types of limestone rock formation.

The first recorded white explorer was James A. Richardson, a federal fisheries employee – though the local Wintu population likely knew about it earlier. His claim of discovery is still clearly legible on the wall where he wrote it that day – November 11, 1878 – with carbide from his miner’s lamp. It was formerly named Chalk Cave and Baird Cave, named after Spencer Fullerton Baird who was the first Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries for the United States Fish Commission.

The idea of preserving this natural phenomenon first came to Grace M. Tucker, an attorney from Chehalis, Washington. In 1955, she obtained sole ownership of the caves. In 1959, Mrs. Tucker, along with Roy Thompson and his two brothers, formed Lake Shasta Properties, Inc. The site was declared a National Natural Landmark in May 2012.

Until 1964, Lake Shasta Caverns were seen each year by only a handful of hardy spelunkers who inched their way through steep, restricted natural fissures to view its startling formations. Before opening to the public, a new entrance was needed, as the current was a small hole in the ceiling, barely large enough for one person to fit through. Using explosives, workers blasted a tunnel from a rock face deep into the mountain, hoping to reach the lowest known room, the Basement. However, along the way, a large rock wall was knocked down, revealing the Discovery Room, perhaps the most fascinating room in the caverns.

Today the caverns are only accessible via The Lake Shasta Caverns tour, which includes a boat ride across Lake Shasta and a bus ride up the mountain to the entrance of the caverns.

Lake Shasta Caverns tour tickets can be purchased in person or online. Once you exchange your ticket for a boarding pass, you will be directed down a stair case leading to

a dock where you will embark upon a 10-minute boat ride across Lake Shasta.

The views along the water were fantastic, and this was just a fun little experience in and of itself.

After the boa ride across the lake, you will then take a 10-minute shuttle bus ride up a steep mountain to the entrance of the caverns.

The entrance to the caverns is just a standard heavy metal door set into the face of the mountain. Upon entering you will walk down a long man made tunnel to the

Discovery Room, where you’ll see every type of limestone formation:

flowstone,

column,

stalactites,

stalagmites,

and bacon!

Thompson room

Dome room

Crystal room –

chandeliers,

popcorn,

santa claus,

and sabertooth tiger

Basement room dead room

The cavern wall is still marked with the signature of James A. Richardson’s discovery, written with carbide from his miner’s lamp.

Natural tunnel

Chimney room stairs to upper room

The “draperies” in the Cathedral Room were formed from calcium carbonate crystals in a stalactite waterfall.

Elsewhere, stalagmites reach up from the cave floor and, fusing with stalactites, create multicolored fluted columns. Gravity-defying masses of straw-thin helictites seem to swirl and swarm.

Top of stairs from chimney room

The in the picture below where you see the natural light enters the caverns is the entrance  that James A. Richardson, a local fishery worker, first discovered the caverns in 1878,

and it was used as the main entrance until the 1960s when the caverns were opened to the public and the current entry door was established. We enjoyed the tour it was a fun and educational afternoon.

Lake Shasta Caverns National Natural Landmark
20359 Shasta Caverns Road
Lakehead, CA 96051

**************************************************************************************************

This post contains affiliate links, so I make a small commission if you purchase through my links – that support helps to keep this blog running.

Copyright Foodie Made Simple, LLC. All text, recipes and photographs are copyrighted and may not be published elsewhere without express permission. Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Tumbler, Google+ and Facebook users, you are welcome to “pin” photos! re-tweet and “share” links all you like, just don’t copy the recipes themselves. Fellow bloggers are welcome to repost my recipes, just write the recipe in your own words, use your own photograph, then link back to the original recipe on rvcookingmadesimple.com