Smoke Hole Caverns – 6/4/2022 – Nic of Time

We stayed at the Smoke Hole Caverns, so it only made sense to check out the caverns. The Caverns are located next to West Virginia’s largest gift shop. The kids were very excited to see the gift shop and we actually left without buying anything but the cavern tickets.

History

Smoke hole got its name from the Seneca Indians. The Seneca Indians would use the caverns to smoke their meat. This created clouds of smoke that would move into the valley and it would look like a “smoke hole”

The cavern was also used as a bunker and to store ammunition.

Later on, early settlers and immigrants would use the cavern to make corn whisky after the Civil War. The cavern has a cold stream that runs through it and it was an ideal spot for moonshine.

Cavern Tour

We have done many caverns and I would always recommend wearing a sweatshirt or light jacket. While they are not uncomfortable, the temperature stays in the mid 50s. I would also recommend wearing tennis shoes as the floors were pretty muddy.

The tours run Monday through Sunday from 10am-4pm, with the exception of Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Tours begin every 30 minutes.

Tour Rates:

Adults: $17.00
Senior Citizens/Military Personnel: $15.50
Children (Ages 5 thru 12 Years of Age): $12.00
Children (Ages 4 & Under): FREE

The tour lasted around 45 minutes and we walked about 2/3 of a mile. A lot of the floor was slick due to water and there were a lot of stairs but nothing unmanageable.

Tours are guided.

Our Cavern Tour Experience

We had an awesome tour guide (although I cannot remember her name), very knowledgeable and made the tour fun and educational.

The cavern has water that runs through it. Color light have been placed near them to make it “Rainbow Falls”.

Due to people touching some of the rock formations, this has left them inactive and they will no longer continue to grow.

The cavern does have a “fish tank”. These fish are provided lights and oxygen 24/7. If fish or other critters were to reside in other parts of the water throughout the cavern they would be blind within a few days. (Same for humans).