Niagara Cave

flowstone

Cold, narrow and dark down here.

We took a Saturday drive to the bluff lands of south eastern Minnesota on Saturday.  Our first and only firmly planned stop was Niagara Cave near Harmony, MN.  We were the first group to tour the cave that day and we had a tour guide named Leah all to ourselves.  This cave is worth the 2.5 hour drive from the cities and the $11 fee.  We were down there for about an hour and walked the mile long length of the cave.  The walkways, although narrow and low at times, were smoother and easier to walk than other caves I have looked at.  We saw flow stone, Stewartville limestone, stalactites, stalagmites, and all kinds of strange rocks.  A 60 foot waterfall is inside the cave.  The amount of water on this waterfall is less than what your kitchen faucet can put out but it's still beautiful.  It's fun to explore beneath the ground.  Our tour guide extinguished all the lights at the end of the tour so we could get some idea of what it is like to be in the real dark.  She said that after a few months, our eyes would quit looking for light and we would go blind.  That made me think of those miners in Chile. I cannot imagine the terror they went through.  This cave has no bats.  The only entrance is inside a building so the bats have no way of getting down there.  The passages were excavated by hand with most of the work being done during the Depression years.  That was before we had strong lanterns and led lights.  I was glad to have the chance to visit this awesome cave.