Bat Cave
N 35° 26.911 W 082° 16.629
17S E 384094 N 3923533
"Bat Cave is the largest known granite fissure cave in North America. The main chamber is a dark cathedral more than 300 feet long and approximately 85 feet high." (From the Nature Conservancy's website linked below)
Waymark Code: WM1CXC
Location: North Carolina, United States
Date Posted: 04/08/2007
Views: 166
SITE INFORMATION
"After hiking a mile up a steep trail through a mature hardwood forest, you will be rewarded with Bat Cave’s natural air conditioning: a cool moist draft that constantly pours out of vents on the side of the large cave. Bat Cave is the largest known granite fissure cave in North America. The main chamber is a dark cathedral more than 300 feet long and approximately 85 feet high. Fissure caves are formed by rock splits, boulder movements, and other motions of the earth, while most other caves are formed by water dissolving and abrading rock.
While seeing this impressive cave opening is the attraction for most visitors, the rugged slopes around Bat Cave contain an equally important array of habitats and creatures. Hickory Nut Gorge is cloaked in cove hardwood forest, while Carolina hemlock and chestnut oak forest are found on the cliff tops and ridgeline. The forests harbor a number of threatened or endangered plants, such as broadleaf coreopsis and Carey’s saxifrage. The preserve has an abundance of spring wildflowers, including bloodroot, toothwort, trillium, and violets.
One of the Conservancy’s goals in managing this preserve is to reestablish the critically endangered Indiana bat to its former habitat. The cave itself is closed to visitation at all times and the preserve is closed from October to mid-April in an effort to allow the bats to hibernate undisturbed. If bats are disturbed during hibernation, they fly around and quickly use up the stored energy that they need to survive the winter. Three previously undescribed invertebrates -- a spider, a millipede, and an amphipod -- also live in the cave and are specially adapted to survive without sunlight and with a limited food supply. In warm months, you may see the crevice salamander sunning on exposed rocks." (from TNC website linked below)
My posted coordiantes are for the parking area alongside Hwy 64-74. It is here where you will park to meet your guide who will lead you to the Bat Cave.
For more information please visit the NC Nature Conservancy's Bat Cave Preserve website at:
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/northcarolina/preserves/art5586.html
Please visit the website linked above for more information on the Bat Cave and how to sign up for a tour.
(Special thanks to "Coinsandpins" for assisting me with this waymark:-)