Inner Space Cavern is celebrating its diamond anniversary this year, marking 60 years since its fascinating discovery.
Hidden for over 10,000 years, Inner Space Cavern is a large and complex cave featuring beautiful formations, large rooms, and prehistoric ice age animal bones, including saber tooth tigers, giant sloths and mammoths. The cavern was formed by water passing through Edwards limestone and is estimate to be around 20-25 million years old.
The cave was first discovered by a Texas Highway Department core drilling team in the spring of 1963 during the construction of an overpass for Interstate 35. Core samples of the earth were taken to determine if the ground was stable enough to support the overpass. As they were drilling one of the test holes, the bit suddenly dropped 26ft. and the highway crew knew there was something down there besides rock, according to innerspacecavern.com.
After it was discovered, a group of spelunkers from the Texas Speleological Society surveyed and explored over 7,000 feet of cave. It was later opened to the public in the summer of 1966.
While the incredible formations in the cavern haven’t changed much in the last millennia, the owners of Inner Space have added multiple tours options and the Saber Tooth Zip Ride, which takes guests 130 feet into the air and flies them through the air at over 30 miles per hour.
New in 2023 is a stone sluice, or mining trough, which will open to the public in the coming weeks.
“Our brand new stone sluice is beautiful and about to open to the public,” General Manager Taunya Vessels said. “It’s the only stone one of its kind in Texas. Visitors can buy bags or buckets of gemstones, arrowheads, or fossils and use the sluice to find all sorts of treasures.”
2023 also marks 10 years since Inner Space opened the Hidden Passage Tour, where a guide will lead guests on an undeveloped, rugged trail through the cave to explore delicate formations with only the light of a flashlight.
Vessels said there is not an anniversary event planned yet, but to stay tuned. More information on available tours, the Saber Tooth Zip Line and the about to open new sluice, visit www.innerspacecavern.com or by visiting their Facebook page.
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