The North Carolina Cave Tour Near Marion That Belongs On Your Bucket List
North Carolina’s only public cavern that offers official tours is a wonderland of odd twists, turns, formations, and colorful spectacles – all found deep within the recesses of Humpback Mountain. Oddly enough, each year millions of people drive right over top of Linville Caverns without realizing it because the Blue Ridge Parkway crosses the eastern slope of Humpback Mountain.
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Over on the mountain's western slope, however, Linville Caverns offers visitors and locals a peek inside a limestone cavern worn down by millions of years of acidic ground water that eroded the limestone away to slowly create the caverns.
Back in the early 1800s, it was this underground trout stream that lead a group on a fishing expedition to discover the caverns. They noticed trout emerging from what appeared to be solid rock, but after some exploration, it was soon discovered there was so much more than just a stream inside the mountain.
The caverns first opened as a private attraction in 1937 and is still open to this day for 30-minute guided tours.
With the arrival of the pandemic in 2020, tours have been capped at nine people and leave every 10 minutes. Face masks are required at all times during the tour, so be sure to bring your mask.
Linville Caverns is open year-round. From March through October, it opens daily (seven days a week) at 9 a.m. From November through February, it's open on weekends only. Tour rates range from $8-$10 depending upon age.
Tickets are sold on-site only. Find more information, see the official website for Linville Caverns.
Have you toured North Carolina’s only public caverns before? We’d love to hear about your experience so feel free to join the discussion.
Even though the official address for Linville Caverns is in Marion, the caverns is found within a 15-minute drive from another bucket list wonder in North Carolina: Linville Falls.
Robin Jarvis is a travel writer and editor for OnlyInYourState.com with a bachelor's degree in Journalism. Her love for travel has taken her to many parts of the world. She's lived in the Carolinas for nearly three decades and currently resides in Charleston. When she's not working, she loves to cook with friends and check out new adventures. General questions and FAM tours: [email protected]
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