U.S. Cave Facts

On the Road, Travel Destinations
on May 16, 2011
j-cave-facts-longest-deepest-oldest
Courtesy of National Park Service
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More than 20,000 caves dot the United States, according to the National Speleological Society, which also offers up these underground superlatives:

  • Total number of miles mapped: Nearly 5,000
  • Longest Cave: Mammoth Cave, Mammoth Cave, Ky., 390 miles
  • Deepest Limestone Cave: Lechuguilla Cave, Eddy County, N.M., 1,604 feet
  • Largest underground chamber: Carlsbad Caverns’ Big Room, Carlsbad Caverns, N.M., 33,210 square  meters
  • Longest sea cave: Painted Cave, Santa Cruz Island, Calif., 1,227 feet
  • Longest underwater cave: Wakulla-Leon Sinks Cave System, Leon and Wakulla counties, Fla., 32 miles
  • Longest Gypsum Cave: D.C. Jester Cave System, Greer County, Okla., 6 miles