In October 2004, my husband and I took our usual anniversary vacation.  That year, we chose Canaan Valley Resort near Elkins, West Virginia. 

After hearing my parents sing the praises of this state park, we were anxious to spend a weekend relaxing and enjoying the natural beauty of this enormous valley renowned for its ski areas.  Once we got there, however, we found that in the fall of the year, there isn’t much activity in Canaan Valley itself, and we set out to make our own West Virginia adventure.

After collecting brochures on area attractions, we chose Smoke Hole Caverns as our destination.  A leisurely drive through rural West Virginia back-roads brought us to the caverns.  The scenery was beautiful; pastoral farms, old-timey stores and the Seneca Rocks Discovery Center all flanked our path as we traveled a little over an hour from Canaan Valley to the caverns.

Once there, we found we had arrived in between scheduled tours.  The Smoke Hole Caverns area also features a restaurant, and we took a little time before buying our tickets to enjoy a delicious lunch of open-faced roast beef sandwiches while enjoying the scenic beauty of the surrounding Seneca Mountains.  Our lunch complete, my husband and I made our way to the combination gift shop/ticket sales office and purchased our tickets for the next tour.  The guide gave us important information to help us prepare for the tour while we waited for our underworld adventure to begin.

Our guide informed us that the caverns are a constant 56˚F, and recommended that we wear either a sweatshirt or jacket while on the tour.  She also told us that while the trail was well-maintained and relatively flat, that it was a mile or so long, and anyone with difficulties walking may want to think twice about taking the tour.  There are few places to stop and rest once inside the caverns, and some of the passages are a tight fit.  Since we were already wearing sweatshirts, my husband and I purchased our tickets and waited for the tour to begin.

In ten minute’s time, the announcement that the tour was about to begin was made.  We followed the guide outside and to the entrance of the caves.  She unlocked and opened the door, and a blast of cold air immediately struck us, making us thankful for our warm clothing.  Peering through the crowd, the caverns were dark and eerily quiet.  The guide led us through the door, down a narrow path and into the cavern’s first chamber.  The sound of perpetually dripping water filled the air, and the smell of million-year-old dust filled our noses.  Then, she flipped on the lights.

The enormous cavern was illuminated with lights of every color, beautifully accenting stones and rock formations.  Our guide used her flashlight to highlight spots around the cavern, telling us the legends and history around some of the more notable formations.  My favorite in the first cavern was a huge ledge above us and to the left, overlooking the rest of the cavern.  Our guide told us that when the Native Americans were making use of Smoke Hole Caverns, the spot on the ledge was used for sacred ceremonies such as weddings and tribal councils.

As we wound our way through the twisting and turning caverns, our guide flipped lights on and off to illuminate our path.  She pointed out large formations of stalagmites and stalactites, formed over millions of years by constantly-dripping water.  A few of the more interesting formations we saw included “The Devil’s Footprint”, which is what appears to be the impression of a single cloven foot in solid rock, “The Fairy Village”, a series of tiny, delicate formations inside a small adjunct chamber, and some of the larger “flowstone” formations, which are usually made of limestone but look like huge mounds of softserve vanilla ice cream.

While photography is permitted inside the caverns, I didn’t have much luck.  We purchased a single-use camera at the gift shop, but because of the low light, many of the pictures we took were very dark and hard to see.  I recommend either a good camera with a high-speed film or a digital camera, which would allow you to take pictures until you are happy with the results. 

Our guide was friendly and informative, and allowed our group to take as much time as we needed to look at the formations and take pictures.  She answered our questions to the best of her ability, and imparted her information in a way that added to the mysterious, other-worldly feel of the caverns.  The tour, which lasted about an hour, ended as our guide led us up the stairs and back into the warm autumn sunlight.  The hike back to the restaurant and gift shop was about a half a mile, but was enjoyable in the beautiful Seneca Mountains surroundings. 

Smoke Hole Caverns is a great way to experience natural history in the making.  After millions of years, the caverns are constantly changing and evolving, providing a new experience with each visit.  Exploring West Virginia’s “underworld” is a welcome change, making any vacation to Northeastern West Virginia a truly unique experience.