Hi guys! We have been living in San Miguel in Mexico for 2 months now, and as usual, if we stay in one place for such a long time, I begin to crave new experiences. I want to break away and go somewhere else, but we’re definitely not going anywhere until mid-December, and we’re sitting here quietly - taking the kids to kindergarten and gymnastics, walking in the park, eating ice cream in downtown and starting to use the heater.

And I am periodically attacked by longing for the United States, I remember Beautiful places, delicious food, and, of course, last summer, when we were with our children and . There we visited one place that I still haven’t told you about - Crystal Cave.

This cave is a terribly old formation, judging by the huge stalactites and stalagmites, but it was found quite recently - several decades ago - rangers walked past and felt a chill, parted the branches and found the entrance to the cave. Now, of course, it has been improved and made convenient for tourists - passages have been cut, paths have been laid, and lighting has been installed.

In general, there are more than 250 caves in Sequoia Park, but their locations are not disclosed to tourists - they are afraid that they will ruin everything. And they do the right thing - our brother loves to either break off a stalactite as a souvenir or wake up a bat! In addition, visitors pose a risk of introducing all sorts of diseases. One particularly dangerous for bats is White-nose Syndrome, a fungal infection transmitted by contact that leads to mass death of the poor mice. The visible symptom is the growth of fungus on the face and wings, hence the name of the disease.

In recent years, scientists have become very concerned about the epidemic of white-nose syndrome, so before entering the cave, visitors are told about the dangers of contamination and asked to wipe the soles of their shoes on a wet rug to remove any remaining soil on which the fungus can be transferred. In addition, they ask if they have been to other caves over the past few years. To protect the cave, backpacks, bags and other items with straps are not allowed. In general, everything is very serious!

You can’t get into the cave on your own - only as part of a tour, which can be different - from simple ones lasting 50 minutes, where you can safely go with very young children, to almost real research expeditions, when they give out special equipment. clothes, a helmet with a flashlight and you can crawl around non-tourist areas for 4-6 hours!!! There are also tours for Halloween - they are held not on the holiday itself, but a few days before it - on this tour you can not only admire all sorts of calcified formations and marble vaults of the cave, but also meet ghosts. In conditions of dim lighting and cold temperatures, I think the meeting will not be pleasant, so children under 8 years old are not allowed in :). Cost $20, duration 1.5 hours.

Of course we went to family tour, which, by the way, was also very interesting! We walked through several large and not so large halls, admired the huge growths, a small river and listened to the history and process of formation of the cave.












The guide initially told us that there would be an opportunity to take photos, but in the end, we had to take photos while she was talking, because then we moved on and there was no time to stop for photos. My photos may not convey either the scale or beauty of the Crystal Cave, but believe me, it’s worth going there!

Helpful information

  1. The cave is open from mid-May to November.
  2. Tickets can be purchased in advance, but only for the same day - at the Foothills Visitor Center or Giant Forest Museum (near the cave, by calling online tickets not for sale!).
  3. The cost depends on the type of tour. The simplest, Family tour, cost $15 for an adult in 2014, the most expensive, Adventure tour, cost $135.
  4. July-August usually has a big influx of tourists, so it's worth buying tickets first thing in the morning (especially on weekends).
  5. Tickets are sold only for the tour, which begins no earlier than 1.5 hours from the moment of purchasing the ticket, since you need to drive to the cave without traffic jams - about 50 minutes (traffic jams happen when roads are being repaired, and since there are only 2 lanes , then cars are allowed to pass one by one and sometimes you can sit in a traffic jam for 20-30 minutes).
  6. You can only get to the cave by your own car. The free shuttles running around the park do not go to the cave, and it’s a long walk to get there from the nearest shuttle stop.
  7. From the parking lot to the cave you have to walk down about 800 m along a paved path. You are not allowed to take a stroller there, but it is better to stock up on water, because you will have to go back up.
  8. The temperature in the cave is +10C, so it’s worth taking a sweater with you.
  9. Photography in the cave is free, but you cannot use flash or a tripod.

HOW IT WAS. F. Nedosekin.

To the opening of the cave under the cathedral in Trubchevsk. In 1926, I was already in the 6th grade and was elected secretary of the local history club at school. In the area of ​​Trubchevsk, at a distance of 25-30 km, I was familiar with nearby villages, rivers and forest lands.

As an activist and local historian, at the invitation of the director of the museum, Porshnyakov, he participated in excavations near the village of Khatyanovka, a mammoth camp. This interesting work lasted for more than 2 weeks. All finds: bones, tusks, tools were carefully packed and sent to Leningrad on the instructions of Academician Belyaeva. There was no sitting at home. This was the case in May 1926. There was a festive demonstration on the occasion of May Day. Spring is in full swing. The Desna River overflowed and overflowed its banks. Without waiting for the celebration to end, I was drawn to the city park by the river. The descent to the river along a steep slope was difficult, but I still decided to try. And so, going down the slope, and then along the steep slope of the town, 15 meters from the last tree, my foot fell into some kind of hole. I can't describe my fear. This has never happened to me before; there was nothing to hold on to, and my leg had to be freed. And the more I moved one leg, the more the hole in the pit widened.

Having stained my holiday suit, I still managed to stay on this steep slope. I myself held on, but my new cap was already floating in the water. Tearing the hole of the hole with my hands, I finally stood with both feet at the bottom of the hole. So within 30-40 m (minutes - Ed. note) I finally got to the bottom of the hole. Later I saw that it was not a pit, but a cave. I made such a hole that it was possible to crawl into the cave. The cave turned out to be more than 2 m high with a semicircular vault up to 2 m wide. I walked along it 4-5 m, stopped and realized that it was impossible to move further - it was dark. He came to the surface smeared. With great difficulty I climbed into the city park. Tired and smeared with wet clay, I came home and my father poured me some “firsts.” But after my story about my adventures, anger changed to mercy. He became interested and became kinder.

The next day I organized an “expedition” to the cave: brother Sasha, Vadim Nazhnov, Oleg Grashinsky and Pavlik Ionchik. We took with us "grub", a reliable rope 20-25m long, an ax, two shovels, a kerosene lantern and a large bag. To enter the cave, I had to make steps on a steep descent, tied with a rope, I was the first to go down to the cave. The guys held the other end of the rope tightly. And so, gradually, step by step, all the guys moved to the mouth of the cave. Work was in full swing. The cave was opened in full profile. The inspection of the cave began. Step by step they tapped the ceilings and walls of the cave. Every meter they made holes 0.5 - 1 m deep. The cave was a tunnel with a length, as it seemed to us, 30-35 m. On the walls were cut out regular shapes of rhombuses, squares and rectangles, the sides of which were 1-2 cm. And the only thing the word was scratched with a sharp object "AVVA". At the entrance to the cave, charred bones (apparently of domestic animals), coals and ash from a fire were discovered. Our exploration of the cave lasted almost 6 hours. Exhausted, tired and smeared with clay, we trudged through the city center to our homes. At home, our family and friends listened to our story. A few days later, the whole city, and later the nearby villages, knew about the discovery of the cave.

Director of the museum in 1919-1928. - Porshnyakov G.M.

The next day I came to the director of the museum, Porshnyakov, and told him about everything that had happened the day before. The director of the museum wanted to personally inspect the cave. And again the same company went to “storm” the cave. The director of the museum, Porshnyakov, is a very obese and elderly man, and we had to widen the path to the cave. He was pleased with what he saw, but only noticed the floor of the cave. We dug it up a lot. After examining the cave, a report was drawn up. One copy was sent by Porshnyakov to the Academy of Sciences, and the second copy was left in the museum’s files. The news of the discovery of the cave spread throughout the city of Trubchevsk and its environs. The holy fathers of the city believed that this was the cave of the “life of St. Nile.” The population of the surrounding area came to see the cave and take a handful of “holy land” from there, and I was ranked among the Holy Fathers. Later, when I left to study in Moscow, rumors circulated in Trubchevsk about that I found a treasure in this cave. Unfortunately, this was not the case, although we dug holes in the cave, hoping to find something similar. What significance this peper had for the city of Trubchevsk - I don’t know, and after my departure to Moscow I lost connection with the museum.The director of the museum, Porshnyakov, then expressed two assumptions;

1. The cave was an observation point for the approach of enemy ships to the city of Trubchevsk (XVI-XVII centuries)

2. A hermit monk lived in a cave.


F. Nedosekin in Trubchevsk visiting Levenki on Lenin Street with K. Portsevsky, O. Levenko, F. Prostakov. June 16, 1990

When I was in Trubchevsk in 1992, the entrance to the cave was blocked up and no traces of its existence were visible. Trubchevsky Directorate Museum of Local Lore you should pay attention to this historical monument cities. Nedosekin F.A., resident of Trubchevsk (1913 to 1928) Moscow, We have intentionally removed the full residential address (Editor's note).


- In 1936, I had to, together with the director of the museum Vs.Prot. Levenko examined the cave, but could not find anything new; nor did they find the inscription cited by the author. The cave was carved out... (inaudible) with a sharp blade, and has a vaulted ceiling. The work of a hermit monk?

24.4.1973 V. Padin.


- In 1929, May 15. Students of Trubchevskaya high school 2nd stage: G. Germanov, O. Grashinsky, A. Nedosekin, F. Nedosekin opened in Trubchevskaya Cathedral Mountain underground passage deep into the mountain.

V.P. Levenok 1979.

Central Park in New York is famous for many things. At night, it is famous for its robberies, rapes and outcast parties. During the day, picnics and dates are often held here; in winter, the park is famous for its ice skating rink. In autumn, the park is full of romance. Dry leaves rustling underfoot and the most romantic horseback rides in Central Park - the best option for the first date. But it was originally built to be a place for big city folk music, as well as to maintain the connection between city residents and nature.

Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux, the architects who oversaw the construction of Central Park in the 1860s, included natural elements such as waterfalls, ponds, and large areas with lots of trees.

But there was one natural element that was there even before construction began. It was a narrow cave that is believed to have been partially carved out by humans, whose remains were discovered during excavations.

Olmstead and Vaux decided to integrate the cave into their elaborate park plan. They even deliberately added a narrow stone staircase that led to one of the cave entrances.

The cave was a big hit with visitors, especially children, but by the early 1900s it had become a nativity scene:

In 1904, a man was caught in a cave trying to commit suicide (by the way, he was not the first; the others simply did not have time to save and were found dead). His body, still showing signs of life, was found on the stone steps, so some believed that this was in fact an attempted murder.

In 1922, artist Alexander MacArthur was sentenced to three months' hard labor because he was "misbehaving" inside a cave (self-pleasure), and in 1929, about 335 people were arrested in Central Park for having sex in public place, more precisely in a cave. I'm just surprised by the odd number...

The park manager, after some deliberation, decided to close the cave in 1930. Builders have bricked up the entrances and now park visitors walk past the once popular and secret cave in Central Park without even realizing it is there.

Special website for readers of my blog

P.S. My name is Alexander. This is my personal, independent project. I am very glad if you liked the article. Want to help the site? Just look at the advertisement below for what you were recently looking for.

Advertising

The ice cave is scheduled to open on last numbers February. Now specialists are building up the ice and finalizing all the technical nuances related to its further content inside. According to official comments in the future Ice cave will work all year round.

Zaryadye Park is located in the very center of Moscow: between Kitaygorodsky Proezd, Varvarka and Moskvoretskaya Embankment. It was erected on the site of the Rossiya Hotel. Entrance to the park itself is free for everyone. Only paid attractions.

Zaryadye Park Ice Cave ticket price, opening hours: Zaryadye Park has started freezing the ice cave

The structure with columns, labyrinths and arches covering an area of ​​350 square meters will be available all year round in the Conservation Embassy pavilion. The height of the “glacier”, which will allow guests to plunge into the atmosphere of the Arctic, will reach six meters. It is planned to open it to visitors at the end of this winter.

“The ice cave structure consists of curved metal pipes with a total length of 15 kilometers. About eight tons of special coolant circulates inside. The temperature in the cave will vary from minus five to minus eight degrees Celsius,” said Moscow’s chief architect Sergei Kuznetsov.

The author of the project and artist Alexander Ponomarev noted that special equipment that supplies coolant was placed under the “glacier”. New layers of frost are artificially frozen on the walls, ceiling and floor of the cave, which then turns into ice. Complete ice cover will form in about a month and a half. In total, about 70 tons of ice are planned to be frozen during this time.

Zaryadye Park Ice Cave ticket price, opening hours: how to get there, where the park is located

Zaryadye pavilions are open from 14:00 to 20:00 on Mondays and from 10:00 to 20:00 from Tuesday to Sunday. The park itself switched to 24-hour operation on October 27 last year.

The idea of ​​Zaryadye Park is Russia in miniature, it is a kind of museum under open air, in which landscape zones of four climatic zones were created - northern landscape (tundra) and forest, steppe zone and water meadows. Moreover, each zone maintains its own microclimate.

The park is located between Varvarka Street and Moskvoretskaya Street, Kitaygorodsky Proezd and Moskvoretskaya Embankment.

You can get to the park by metro, car or public ground transport:

There are four metro stations near the park:“Okhotny Ryad”, “Teatralnaya”, “Revolution Square” and “China Town”. You can get from the metro to the park by different routes.

From the Okhotny Ryad metro station (exit No. 7 - to the Museum of the Patriotic War of 1812), you need to go straight all the time: past Historical Museum, along the entire Red Square and past St. Basil's Cathedral.

From the Teatralnaya metro station (exit No. 10 - to the Museum of the Patriotic War of 1812), you need to walk along Bogoyavlensky Lane, then along Rybny Lane (past Gostiny Dvor) to Varvarki Street.

From the Ploshchad Revolyutsii metro station (exit No. 11 - to Bogoyavlensky Lane), you need to walk along Bogoyavlensky Lane, then along Rybny Lane (past Gostiny Dvor) to Varvarki Street.

From the Kitay-Gorod metro station (exit No. 8 - to Slavyanskaya Square) you need to walk along Kitaygorodsky Proezd towards Moskvoretskaya Embankment or along Varvarka Street.

You can get to the park by bus using different routes:

By bus M5, 158 you can get to Varvarki Street (Red Square stop) and walk to the entrance to the park from Moskvoretskaya Street.

By bus 255 you can get to Moskvoretskaya Embankment (Zaryadye stop) and walk to the entrance to the park from Moskvoretskaya Street.

On Slavyanskaya Square (Kitay-Gorod metro station) there is a large transport hub where buses M5, M7, M8, M9, M10, M27, 144, 904, 38, 101, 158, K, N1, N2, N3 stop , H4, H5, H6, H7, the site became known. From Slavyanskaya Square you can walk to the park in 15 minutes (entrance to the park is from Moskvoretskaya Street).

The park has underground parking for 430 cars. 33 places are provided for people with limited mobility. Check-in is from Moskvoretskaya street, check-out is on Kitaigorodsky proezd.

Opening hours: Every day from 7:00 to 00:00. Departure - around the clock Cost: 250 rubles per hour.

As for the operation of the park itself, it is open to visitors around the clock. The pavilions are open daily from 10 am to 8 pm. On Mondays, the park holds sanitary hours, and therefore the pavilions open a little later - from 14.00.

Noticed a typo or error? Select the text and press Ctrl+Enter to tell us about it.

In the USA, in the state of New Mexico, nature has created an amazing underground world. In the darkness, corridors stretch and twist, creating entire labyrinths. The mysterious darkness here is not lifeless - the halls and galleries are inhabited by flocks of bats. These miraculous dungeons can be found in the Carlsbad Caverns Park.

A nice bonus only for our readers - a discount coupon when paying for tours on the website until August 31:

  • AF500guruturizma - promotional code for 500 rubles for tours from 40,000 rubles
  • AFTA2000Guru - promotional code for 2,000 rubles. for tours to Thailand from 100,000 rubles.

And you will find many more profitable offers from all tour operators on the website. Compare, choose and book tours at the best prices!

Despite the fact that its main tourist attraction is caves, this area includes many more interesting places. It includes desert, mountains and forests that deserve attention. In the park you can find a huge variety of animals. One of the largest swallow colonies lives here.

The caves were explored more than 1000 years ago by the indigenous population. Seeking shelter, the Indians entered the caves, where they settled. Traces of their presence can be seen on the walls leading to the underworld - the Indians left mysterious drawings on them. The halls have probably become a haven for ancient civilizations more than once. Bonfires burned in the underground galleries, and people prayed to the gods.

Already at the end of the 19th century, the entrance to the Carlsbad Caverns was rediscovered by a young man. While searching for lost cattle, he accidentally saw a dark flock of bats rising from a hill. An inquisitive teenager discovered a dark hole in this place, which led him to the first cave in his life. It was he who became the first explorer of this underground kingdom. He had a self-made wire ladder and a lot of enthusiasm. Opening new halls and galleries, he gave them names that are still used today.

Nevertheless, only a few were ready to believe the teenager’s stories about the mysterious labyrinth of caves. Most considered them fiction. Only photographs were able to convince people of their existence. For the first time, photographs of the caves were exhibited in the city of Carlsbad and immediately created a sensation. Many spectators wanted to see the amazing interweaving of caves with their own eyes. Just 8 years later, the fame of the caves had spread so much that a decree was signed to create a National Park.

Since then, their systematic study began. The subsoil and the diversity of natural formations attracted scientists, explorers and speleologists. The park consists of 116 caves, but the main attraction is a complex of 80. They go underground to a depth of more than 300 meters, and the length of all caves reaches 12 km. The largest area is comparable to 14 football fields. This is a real underground kingdom with galleries, corridors and riddles.

Cave formation

The Carlsbad Caves were formed in a completely different way from most existing ones. Ordinary caves have been eroded over thousands of years groundwater, but not in this case. More than 4 million years ago, in this area, water saturated with hydrogen sulfide began to seep through faults and cracks under the limestone. Mixing with ordinary rainwater and interacting with oxygen, it was converted into sulfuric acid. It was this aggressive environment that washed out the underground labyrinths of the Carlsbad Caves. Several million years ago they formed the appearance that can be seen now.

Carlsbad Caverns today

Not all galleries and halls are accessible to tourists. You can get into the main complex of their 80 caves. The Cave of Massacre is separately accessible, but only as part of an organized tour.

At the center of the study is the Lechuguia Cave, which is inaccessible to visitors. It is the deepest in the United States, and information about the location of its entrance is carefully guarded. For a long time, the cave was not popular either among visitors or scientists.

Until 1986, when a cave corridor was discovered under the stone rubble. Behind it, countless passages and galleries were found, going deep underground. Speleologists from all over the world come here to explore the unique underground world. Almost untouched in the Lechuguia cave environment allows you to study geological processes in it.

The hallmark of the Carlsbad Caverns are bats. There are 17 species in the park, but the majority are tailless Mexican mice. Once their population numbered about a million individuals, but in modern conditions it has sharply declined. Mice live in flocks, and their diet consists exclusively of insects. Migration to Mexico occurs in the fall.

The flight of bats from the caves and back is an impressive sight. They move in a dense black stream, spiraling upward. You can observe this after sunset for three hours. Bats fly very close to each other at speeds reaching 40 km/h, but do not collide. This is ensured by the fact that nature has endowed them with a unique location system. IN national park A special amphitheater has been built where visitors can listen to a lecture about night creatures and watch their flight.

The caves themselves deserve no less attention than the flight of bats. Excursion routes stretched across underground kingdom for 5 km. They span 80 caves, showcasing countless stalactites and stalagmites. Among them there are so thin that when the wind blows, touching each other, they emit a barely audible gentle ringing. The walls of the caves are decorated with elegant, miraculous patterns created by nature itself. The resulting underground colonnades create the feeling that this is the palace of an unknown ruler, hidden under the earth's surface. In the labyrinth of caves you can even find a lake - a small reservoir with green water.

  • Eternal Flame Falls, New York, USA
  • Ponytail Falls, USA
  • Jacob's Well in Texas, USA
  • Superstition Mountains, USA
  • Trump World Tower in USA
  • Geyser Fly in the USA

For the convenience of tourists, all caves are equipped with paths, fences and lighting, so exploring the galleries will not be difficult. Descending into this natural dungeon, visitors find themselves in another world. Unknown artists and sculptors decorated the walls of caves millions of years ago. It's hard to believe that all this was created without any human intervention. The vaults and walls are decorated with a rich palette of colors - gray, blue, violet and blue play with colors in the galleries. A visit to the Carlsbad Caverns gives unforgettable experience to all tourists.