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TRAVEL DAY - 32 miles
BIG MEADOWS CAMPGROUNDto
LURAY KOA HOLIDAY CAMPGROUND
Today's report will be similar to the last one, a very short moving day does not make for good blog material. So a few pictures from our move and then we'll talk about this weeks activities.
So with cold overcast skies the whole time we were here at Big Meadows we didn't make it out on any of the hikes. What we did do was go down into Shenandoah Valley and explore another cave tour, this time it was Luray Caverns turn to impress us.
NOTICE
What I'm about to write is just my own personal observations and opinions,
but isn't that why you are reading this and not wikipedia?
There is no comparison between this cavern and the last one we saw. Luray Caverns are much larger, more beautiful and really gives you the WOW factor. I'm glad we went and saw Skyline Caverns first and enjoyed it for it's own unique formations and qualities.
What I did prefer about Skyline Caverns was the presentation by the tour guide. By design they run a smaller group of people on each tour and the guide, even though he was probably only 25ish, was very knowledgeable and able to answer any questions put forth to him. Just seeing those unique anthodite formations made the whole tour worthwhile to me.
Both tours are very similar in that they both cover a little over a mile in distance and last just over a hour in length. Both operations channel you through their gift shops full of souvenirs and such as you exit the tour. Skyline Caverns tour cost is $22 and Luray Caverns tour cost is $28. At Luray Caverns your cost includes admission to their Car & Carriage Caravan Museum, Luray Valley Museum, and Toy Town Junction - none of which we were interested in so I felt like we paid $6 too much for the cavern tour. They also offer a Garden Maze for $9. At the Skyline Caverns they offer a ten minute ride on their 1/5 scale Miniature Train or a Mirror Maze for an additional $6 each.
What I didn't like about Luray Caverns was the tour itself. There must have been 40 or more people on our tour alone. We were rushed from one highlight to the next because it took so long for everyone to arrive at each stop before the presentation could start. The guide was no more than 18 years old and told us she had been doing the tours since she was 15. She sounded as if she was presenting the tour from a script and if it wasn't in the script she had nothing to add when questioned.
In conclusion, Skyline Caverns was very well presented and has unique formations only found in three locations in the United States. Luray Caverns is much larger, more beautiful formations but very poorly presented. If you are going to see them both, see Skyline Caverns first if at all possible, they are only 23 miles apart and on the same road.
LURAY CAVERNS
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