The Discovery Trail

The Discovery Trial will bring you 366 feet into Mother Earth, and is 1.2 miles long. This section of the caverns was discovered in 1963 by two local cavers, and is the largest of the 3 different sections. You can also tour the Dripstone Trail, which is an hour long and the easiest of the three sections of the cave. This tour brings you 240 feet below ground or the equivalent of 21 floors under the top of the mountain. The Dripstone Trail remains the most popular Blanchard caverns tour. Open year-round, the one-half mile trek passes through the oldest and most beautiful rooms in the cave. It is accessible to strollers and wheelchairs, but two strong assistants are needed to help with visitors in wheelchairs.

The Discovery Trail is another of the tours that is available at Blanchard Springs Caverns. This tour will last 1 1/2 hours. This one is a bit more complex than the Dripstone Trail.  It is in the lower portion of the Caverns. There are nearly 700 stair steps on this tour so if you have walking or health problems this one isn’t for you. On this tour you’ll take the routes of the early explorers and pass through campsites of their early expeditions. You’ll look up through the natural entrance where those early explorers dangled from ropes on homemade harness. You will see the underground stream which eventually gushes from the Blanchard Springs. This section of the Caverns is not filled with the formations of the Dripstone Trail, it is the first place where you will see the stream that runs through the caverns assisting in the creation of the caverns.  Maybe in time there will be the formations but for now, just enjoy the experience! Click Here for Discovery Trail Schedule