Skip to main content

Route 66 Wednesdays; Grand Canyon Caverns

East of Peach Springs along Old US 66 in Yavapai County is the Grand Canyon Caverns.


Grand Canyon Caverns is a rare series of dry limestone caves approximately 200 below the surface of Old US 66.  Originally the Grand Canyon Caverns were called "Dinosaur Caverns" but the name changed once it was discovered that the roughly 60-mile network of caverns extended to the Grand Canyon.  Grand Canyon Caverns was known to the local Hualapai Tribe located in Peach Springs but they were discovered in 1927 by gold prospector Walter Peck (yes, the same name as the EPA agent in Ghostbusters).  Grand Canyon Caverns quickly became a tourist attraction with tours entering the natural entrance until a new entrance was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935.  The modern elevator shaft to the main cavern was installed in 1962 which was also the year that Grand Canyon Caverns was designated a fallout shelter.

The grounds around Grand Canyon Caverns have many displays of vintage cars and assorted dinosaur sculptures.




The visitor center has a large display detailing facts about Grand Canyon Caverns.  For a price, you can actually stay the night in the Crystal Cavern.


The Crystal Cavern is located 220 feet below the surface at the bottom of the main elevator shaft.  The temperature of the Crystal Cavern is a constant 56F.



There are many displays citing facts about the Grand Canyon Caverns.  The guided caverns are surprisingly well lit which should be obvious from the fact that I was able to pick up clear pictures with a Blackberry phone.



It isn't probably all that obvious but the shaft in the rocks overhead is the natural entrance which was sealed when the modern elevator was installed.


The actual Grand Canyon Caverns Inn is located directly below the natural entrance.


There are still underground food rations from the height of the Cold War still on display.



Apparently, things didn't go well when this bobcat fell down the natural entrance as it was mummified by the dry air of Grand Canyon Caverns.


As for Peach Springs, it is the current headquarters for the Hualapai Tribe and is located directly west of the Mohave County line near Grand Canyon Caverns.






Peach Springs dates back to the 1880s when it was created as a rail siding of the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad.  Peach Springs can be seen on the 1882 A&P operating map.

1882 A&P Railroad Operating Map


Site Navigation:

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

New River Gorge National Park & Preserve - Thurmond

New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is best known for whitewater rafting and other forms of adventure tourism.  Yet, found in the hollows and isolated valleys are quiet farms and former coal mining towns.  Well off the beaten path and isolated from much of its surroundings, Thurmond provides a unique view into Central West Virginia's industrial past. Thurmond began as a railroad town in the late 1800s.  Sparked by the arrival of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad and the local coal industry, Thurmond quickly grew into a sizeable transportation and coal center.  When it incorporated as a town in 1903, Thurmond was a full-fledged community - home to two banks, two hotels, and many other services and stores. A CSX freight train passes the old coaling tower in Thurmond.  It was here that many steam locomotives would refill and refuel. Thurmond was home to a C&O railyard which serviced the numerous steam engines passing through the narrow valley.  Thu...

The Tale of Tollhouse Road, western California State Route 168 and failed Piute Pass Highway

Western California State Route 168 is entirely located in Fresno County and is linked historically to the Tollhouse Road corridor.   Tollhouse Road is one of the oldest highways in the Sierra Nevada range of Fresno County. The corridor presently begins in at Clovis Avenue in downtown Clovis and extends northeast to Huntington Lake. In 1866 the Woods Brothers established mining claims on Pine Ridge. In 1867 Fresno County would grant the brothers a toll franchise to construct a roadway to the desirable logging areas atop Pine Ridge and near Dinkey Creek. The Woods would establish a tollhouse at the start of their franchise road and lumber mill. The lumber mill attracted settlers which led to the establishment of the mountain town of Tollhouse. Fresno County would purchase the Tollhouse Road in 1878 and make it a public highway. The county would remove the tolls and incorporate the corridor into the existing county road network. Prior to the establishment of Clovis in 1...

Old Dunlap Road (former California State Route 180 in Yokuts Valley)

When California State Route 180 was commissioned in August 1934 the alignment in took in Sierra Nevada range was very different than from today.  The original highway alignment from Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley) to east Grant Grove (then part of General Grant National Park) originally followed what is now Ruth Hill Road, Dunlap Road, Pinehurst Road (modern California State Route 245), Dark Canyon Road (partially now Forest Road 14S45).  After funding fell through for the planned Kings Canyon Road the was corridor eventually picked up as a 30-mile-long cooperative project between the Division of Highways and Federal Government.  Much of current alignment of California State Route 180 bypassing Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley) and Dunlap was complete by 1941.  The post-1941 alignment of California State Route 180 in Squaw Valley was shifted onto what was once Dunlap Road in Squaw Valley.  This alignment itself was later bypassed by modern California State Route...