Ozark Mountain Caves
North Arkansas is part of a geologic area known as the Ozark Plateau and contains over 4,500 known caves. While most of these are undeveloped, eight of them are open for tours. In these "show caves", you experience adventure, see beautiful calcite formations, learn of historical uses of the caves, and view fossil remains of creatures from the past. If you think our mountains are beautiful on the surface, you will be awed by the beauty below!
Show Caves
Of the eight show caves open in North Arkansas, three are within a 30 minute drive from Harrison. Crystal Dome, and Mystic Caverns are located seven miles south of the Harrison city limits on Arkansas Scenic 7 Byway with entrances about 400 feet apart. Hurricane River Cave is located approximately seventeen miles south of Harrison off Highway 65.
Less than a one hour drive from Harrison, Cosmic Cavern is located near Berryville, Arkansas, and Onyx Cave is located in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
A little more than a one hour drive from Harrison, to the east is Bull Shoals Cavern, or to the west is War Eagle Cavern. And, about two hours drive from Harrison to the southeast is Blanchard Springs Cavern (the only cave in the U.S. operated by the U.S. Forest Service).
Ozark Caves
Mystic Caverns
Location: 7 Byway, eight miles south of Harrison
Phone: 888-743-1739
Web site: www.mysticcaverns.com
Come experience a once-in-a-lifetime caving adventure through two of the Ozarks most beautiful caves, Mystic Caverns and Crystal Dome Caverns! Although their entrances are only 400 feet apart, Crystal Dome was discovered over 100 years after Mystic.
"The subterranean wonders of the two caves at Mystic Caverns prove that Arkansas' beauty exists even underground."
Readers' Digest - "The Most Scenic Drives In America"
You will follow the path the first settlers to this area traveled as a trained guide escorts you on your tour through Mystic. Tours leave every 35-40 minutes, and it takes an hour and fifteen minutes to complete the tour. The caverns are always a comfortable 58 degrees.
Mystic Caverns is located on Arkansas' National Scenic 7 Byway, eight miles south of Harrison Arkansas. Mystic Caverns has also added a hiking trail and a mineral collection for its guests. For hours and rates, call toll free 888-743-1739 or visit their web site.
Hurricane River Cave
Location: Highway 65, 30 minutes south of Harrison
Phone: 800-245-2282
Web site: www.hurricanerivercave.com
A naturally beautiful cave located in the Ozarks is Hurricane River Cave. Along this journey you will be guided along a level ancient underground riverbed. These fantastic water-eroded passageways are the most unique of their kind among American show caves.
This cave features stalactites, flow stone, draperies, soda straws, rimstone dams, cave popcorn, columns, milkmoon, stalactoflats, canopies, along with rare and unique shields, and more!
You will be accompanied at all times by a guide for your safety and the protection of the cave. A number of unusual skeletons have been discovered in the cave. Among them are a saber-toothed cat, many bears, and in 1989, a complete Indian skeleton, which is still in its final resting place as of 2000.
Not only are the caverns spectacular, but so are the grounds. The cave entrance is at the base of a towering bluff and is graced by a much photographed waterfall (specially created for the visitor) that spills some twelve-hundred gallons per minute. Green manicured lawns, flowering shrubs, flowers and trees complete the scenery. Especially pretty in the early spring are the native Arkansas red bud and dogwood trees.
