Georgia Natural Wonder #152 - Climax Caverns – Decatur County (Part 1). 4,131

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #152 - Climax Caverns – Decatur County

Four more Caves to go on our top 10 caves of Georgia. We've really covered about 20 caves in 7 post so far. We stay down in southwest Georgia again for today's cave.



Climax Caverns – Decatur County

Pretty exciting finding some Natural Wonders down here in south west Georgia, but here we go with another.



Most of our images today come from a blog Bat Kat's Cave Chronicles  18th of August 2018



Bat Kat's Cave Chronicles is a series of posts about my underground adventures. In an effort to protect the caves, information will be limited, but photos will be abundant! If you are interested in taking up caving, please look into your local grotto.



Climax Caverns in Decatur County is home to the rare Georgia blind salamander (Haideotriton wallacei) and the Dougherty Plain crayfish (Cambarus cryptodytes), both of which lack skin pigment as the result of evolution in a lightless environment.



If you head to the Georgia/Florida border, you can visit Climax Caverns. This is known as one of the largest dry caves in the coastal plains of the U.S., which means it exists above water.



There are passageways and rooms that exist under the water here as well. You can find this cave region in east-central Decatur County near the village of Climax. You’ll need to drive about 225 miles south of Atlanta to find it.



Inside the cave exists rare species of animals, including the Georgia blind salamander and the Southeastern myotis bat. Visitors must sign a safety release with the owner of this property before exploring the cave since it’s located on private property.



Climax Caverns, in Decatur County, is one of the South’s biggest caves, with a maze of rooms and passageways. Thousands of marine fossils are embedded into the limestone walls. This dry cave is open for spelunking, but you must provide a release form to the landowner.


Begin Story Caving Before Pics

Climax Cave (GA): You must sign a release form and drop it off at the owners house before going into the cave.  Three times I mention it.



There is a gate in the Sand Crawl. The Flint River Grotto is the contact for the key.  No caving on Sunday. 



There have been reports of Histoplasmosis from trips going into South Climax.



Let me again post these super important links about spelunking in Georgia as I want these Forum Post to stand alone, so as a continued disclaimer list .....

Safety Rules of Caving
Nine listed Grotto's in Georgia (Scroll Down)
The Southeastern Cave Conservancy, Inc.
White Nose Fungus
National Speleological Society.

Again, there is very little Internet information on Georgia caves because cavers like to keep the locations secret, in order to preserve and protect the caves and the life they contain.The sport remains tight-lipped about cave entrances and maps. Still pretty exciting what I did find.



Climax Caverns is one of the largest caves in Dixie and the largest known "dry" cave (above water) in the entire Coastal Plains of the United States. Spelunkers from caving in Atlanta and the University of Florida at Gainesville have mapped several miles of the cave.


Descending into the Cave

Climax also has extensive passages and rooms under water. The water table in this area is very high. Members of the Florida Underwater Speleological Society at Gainesville mapped large portions of the cave that are under the water level, during the 1960's and 1970's. I have never seen any of their maps but several of their members told me the underwater system was "vast".


A wall decorated with beautiful formations



Ceiling decoration in one of the many rooms of the cave.



Location

Climax Caverns is located about two miles northwest of the small village of Climax in east central Decatur County, in deep Southwest Georgia on the Florida border.



The site is about 225 miles south of Atlanta, Georgia and about 42 miles north of Tallahassee, Florida.



The cave is named for the nearby village of Climax.



The village was named thus because the site was a temporary terminus or end of the track when the railroad was being built from Savannah, Georgia to the Alabama border during the 1800's.



Climax of the train track? There is another Climax up by Pine Mountain (Future Wonder).


Helictites and "soda straws" hang like icicles from the ceiling of one of the cave's rooms.


Calcite "flowers" decorate Glory Hole Caverns.This is a good example of the helictite formations in Glory Hole. It is what cavers call "cave flowers". They are formed by calcite saturated limestone drying out during dry periods, forcing the calcite out.



This is definitely not an overnight process but one that takes centuries of slow growth.

History

Climax Caverns has been known as an attraction for daring spelunkers for more than 150 years.



Only the outer-most rooms nearest the cavern entrance have been visited by most spelunkers however.



Many of the novice cavers who have ventured beyond the front area have become lost in the vast maze of the huge cavern.



Some have had to be rescued, especially the ill-prepared who went into the cave without sufficient lights.



The tract around the cavern contains about 210 acres; the area immediately around the cave has remained predominantly forested. The section north of the cave site was used for pasturage during the 1960's and had been cleared of much of the old growth trees.



The cave is located at the very edge of Curry Hill which is part of the "Pelham Solution Escarpment" or the rim of the Flint River valley. The valley itself is totally flat land from the river up to the rim of the escarpment. The rim looks like a hill when approaching it but isn't -- it is merely a sharp change of elevation from the valley to the top of the Dougherty Plain.



A county highway runs past the site less than 200 yards from the cave entrance. When the State Highway Department paved this road in the 1950's, they thoughtlessly designed drainage for the road so that it pours directly into the cave itself. Their only concern was to get rid of storm waters rolling down the side of the hill in the ditch beside the highway. Never mind that the "hole" they fed the muddy storm waters into just happened to be one of Georgia's most magnificent treasures. Over the years, the drainage has dug a deeper and deeper trough leading from the roadside to the cave entrance, as the drainage has continued to erode the soil and carry the soil and drainage debris into the cave. Tons of dirt have been washed into the cave since the road paving and as a direct result of the paving itself. Unless the drainage is stopped, it will eventually result in an early death of the cave as passages are filled up.


The Sand Crawl


Sand Crawl Success



The land around the cave has been owned by the Long family for many years. Woodrow Long was a member of the Decatur County Commission for a long time and served as Chairman during the 1960's and 1970's. He created a company in the 1970's to manage income from any possible commercial development of the cave.

Geology

The cave is located on what is known as the "Pelham solution escarpment", the edge of the valley of Flint River. It is one of the youngest land regions of the southeastern United States -- only a few million years old, folks. The limestone formation the cave is located in was formed from fossilized sea life and sand and muck of the ocean floor. The rocks of the cave contain thousands of tiny fossils. It has been dated to the meeting of the Oligocene and Miocene epochs, or about 7 million to 16 million years old. That makes it some of the "youngest" land mass in the United States and as a result, the limestone is much softer and far more porous than any areas outside the Coastal Plains.



The limestone rock is a conglomerate, or combination of sand, muck and both plant and animal life, formed at the bottom of ancient oceans. Over the eons, millions of sea creatures ranging from the miniscule to larger animals died and sank into the muck on the ocean floor. The muck helped preserve their bodies or skeletons, forming fossilized remains. Climax Caverns is full of these fossils--a geologist's delight!



A huge chasm leading from the nearby paved highway has developed since the 1950's, when the road was paved. Road drainage was purposefully fed into the site by the State Highway Department to prevent rain waters from causing erosion alongside the highway. The drainage route started as a small ditch but because of the soft surface soil, has eroded into a giant trough. All this erosion has been fed directly into the cave entrance, bringing tons of soil and trash into the cave, clogging passages into the main portions of the cave.

Proposed Development

OK this one fellows web site goes off on a tangent about proposed development and I have a lot of photos to post.



So I am going to let him tell us how South Georgia is missing out as an excuse to post more of these wonderful images from Bat Kat's Cave Chronicles.



Climax Caverns and the caves and waterfalls in adjoining Grady County could be the catalysts for creating a major tourist industry in Southwest Georgia -- an industry that could bring millions of new dollars into the region and many new jobs.



These natural wonders should be developed as a major park area comparable to the development of Lake Lanier Islands, Stone Mountain and the Georgia World Congress Center -- all in metro Atlanta and Jekyll Island on the coast.



However, the commercial development which has become pervasive at Stone Mountain should be avoided. In other words, no "antique auto museums" or other tacky attractions that lend a carnival atmosphere.



This park should feature the natural wonders and the region's history.

Cave trails

Climax Caverns is large enough to offer at least one mile of walking trails for visitors.



Different length trips could be offered: a "quickie" one hour tour or a half-day tour.



The trails should be paved with cement for safety.



They should be designed so as to avoid damage to the cave and especially formations.



Railing should be added to areas where formations exist to prevent visitors from touching or breaking them.



Lighting fixtures should be hidden and used tastefully.

Visitor center

A visitor center should be located west (downhill) from the cave entrance. NO buildings of any type should be developed over the cave area. The visitor center would contain a ticket center where visitors pay for admission, restrooms, lounge area and a small auditorium where visual presentations can be made on Climax Caverns and the rest of the park.



A special program on speleology, the science of study of caves, should be developed. A souvenir shop should offer books and brochures on speleology, caves and brochures about other public parks in America which feature caverns.

Gardens

A very large gardens area of several hundred acres should be incorporated into the park area at Climax.



Like the gardens areas in the rest of the proposed park areas, it should concentrate upon native plants and trees and on a level and size comparable to Callaway Gardens at Pine Mountain, Ga.

Campgrounds

A large campgrounds area should accommodate both recreational vehicles (motor homes) and wilderness camping with tents.



Restaurant

A full-scale restaurant and a smaller "coffee shop" should be offered. The restaurant should specialize in Southern dishes and seafood.


Bainbridge youth peeks through drapery

Photo shows mixture of "drapery", "soda straws" and floors covered with calcite. This area has been damaged by thoughtless cavers and muddied as well.


Cave flowers on walls. A pointing finger shows the size of these artistic creations of Mother Nature. These helictites are known as "cave flowers" to spelunkers.


Decorations cover ceiling, walls and floor

This area of Climax is highly decorated with calcite formations. Ice-like calcite formations hang from the ceiling in a myriad of different shapes.



A visitor from Alaska might feel at home were it not for the warm atmosphere.



The temperature in the cave remains a constant 68 degrees year round, plus or minus two degrees -- a sharp contrast to the cave areas of northwest Georgia, north Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky, where temperatures average in the mid-50's.


Youth admires flowstone. A Bainbridge, Ga. teenager admires calcite "flowstone" coating the walls of Climax Cave. Note that this youth lacks one of the most important tools for caving--a hard hat. NEVER -- ever, enter a non-commercial cave without a hard hat. This youth learned his lesson with several bumps on his noggin.



This flowstone has been heavily muddied by irresponsible cavers.


Fabulous formations decorate ceilings

Ceiling area of Climax Caverns coated with delicate helictites and other cave formations.



Truly a Natural Wonder of Georgia.


Large stalactite and drapery hangs from ceiling



Calcite formations known as "drapery" which look like draped curtains hang from the ceiling.



Such formations are created by water saturated with calcium carbonate, dripping a drop at a time over the course of centuries.


Pack In Pack Out please.

It takes an average of 100 years for a cave formation to grow one inch.



However, it is believed that in the limestone of this area that the formation is speeded up because of the greater porosity of the soft rock.



Wrap Up Information

Climax also has extensive passages and rooms under water.



Members of the Florida Underwater Speleological Society at Gainesville mapped large portions of the cave that are under the water level, during the 1960's and 1970's.



Pretty funny that I run out of stuff to say before Bat Cat finishes her photos.



You can see why that one fellow is upset that this is a Natural Wonder of Georgia and it could attract tourism.



Bats Cat's Cave Chronicles.



Watch your step always.



This cave goes on a ways.



From the watery depths.....



Searching for the way out.



A muddy mess.



Climax Caverns!



Go with a Grotto.



Well earned beer and burger.



Son of a Gun, that was a lot of photos. Quite a Cave. I thought I was going to have some room for a tangent on Decatur County. Then I dug up a lot there, so we are going to break this down to a two post wonder and county. We end today's post with some more Cave Girls as our GNW Gals for today.