Discovering Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park

     Vase Flower                                    Skunkbush Sumac                                  Spring Beauty

Summer is finally here! Flowers are blooming, birds are singing, and days are getting warmer. Although we are still getting cold spells, a green blanket covers the hills, transforming the previously barren landscape. One difference I had not foreseen between New York and Montana was how late it gets dark. It currently doesn’t get dark until after 10pm and on the Summer Solstice, June 21st, it may be light until after 11pm! With all these promising signs coinciding with the end of the school year, it is no wonder visitation at Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park is increasing. There are many activities, events, and special presentations offered throughout the week good for audiences and families of all ages. Check out the link at the bottom to get a coupon in honor of June Family Month!

This past May 18th marked the 9th annual Kids to Parks Day. Parks all over the country celebrated this day by hosting different activities, presentations, and talks oriented towards getting kids enthused about the outdoors. Lewis & Clark Caverns had never participated in this national day of play before, and I envisioned it as a great way to attract local families.

When I was in the early planning stages for this event, I attended the Montana Environmental Education Conference in late March. While there, I connected with many nature-based organizations and told them about my idea to host an event with educational booths, informational speakers, a guided hike, a Junior Ranger program, and maybe even a food truck.  Many seemed very intrigued and enthusiastic about the idea and before long my wallet was insufficient to house all the business cards I had collected! By mid April the majority of the event details were set; now to get creative in promoting the event.

I had never had to promote a completely new event and tried to think out of the box to

capture audiences across the board. I created radio advertisements, newspaper articles, asked local schools to promote the event, made Facebook events/reminders, worked with mayors of the neighboring towns of Whitehall and Three Forks to get the day officially proclaimed, and even did a TV interview (link at the bottom). However, I had the most fun creating stickers for school-age kids on tours to take home and show their parents.

The day of the event, we had around a dozen organizations set up tables for visitors to enjoy all day. Some of these included a table on skulls and skins hosted by ZooMontana, complete with a live great horned owl (T-L), Montana Outdoor Science School had a table on arthropods (B-L), CFWEP brought live macro invertebrates for kids to capture and ID (T-R), and the Smart Schools booth aimed to teach kids about recycling and waste (B-R). Since I was roaming around all day, I had the privilege of showing a wild rubber boa we had found and were using for educational purposes before releasing it later that day (C).

There were also special presentations offered periodically throughout the event. The park ranger, Julia Smit, hosted a Junior Ranger program, Bill Cook gave a Bear Aware program (B), Duane Buchi presented on the significance of grizzly bears to Lewis and Clark, and I led a guided hike at the end of the day (T-L). Blue Smoke BBQ food truck was a welcome sight when they arrived midday, just in time for lunch (T-R). Although, it was not the best weather, with a light drizzle all day, that didn’t stop over 70 visitors from having a great time partaking in all the activities!

Simultaneously, I have also been helping to lead tours and activities up at the cave. We offer two types of tours on a daily non-reservable basis: the Classic 2 hour, 2 mile moderately strenuous tour, and the Paradise 1 hour, 1 mile easy tour. It has been a pleasure leading groups through the cave and getting to experience all the perks of the recent lighting and handrail update project. Over the winter, extensive measures were taken to make the cave more accommodating with new stainless steel handrails that bend smoothly around formations and tight spaces, lights in the handrails lighting up the walkway, and more light in each room revealing formations previously in the dark.

Brown Waterfall Room                     Limestone Carved Steps                              Cave Bacon

      Stainless Steel Handrails                                                         Crystal Pool

Personally, I tend to lead a majority of the Paradise Tours. These tours offer a short and easy option for those who have a restriction that does not allow them to do the full 2-hour moderately strenuous tour. Patrons on this specialized tour see all of the same formations and receive very similar information, all the while entering the cave on a flat trail that leads straight to the largest room in our cave system—the Paradise Room.

Photo: Andy Austin- Montana State Parks

The highlight of the month so far for me, however, was National Cave and Karst Day, June 6th. To celebrate this day, I demonstrated to patrons that the rock that makes up the cave, limestone, is made from the shells of ancient sea creatures. Seashells are made of calcium carbonate, which creates bubbles and fizzing when it comes in contact with acid. I then had patrons choose from a number of rocks to determine which one was limestone and tested them by using hydrochloric acid (skull and crossbones container). This got many oohs and ahs from even the youngest of onlookers.

With all of this going on and much more, June is a perfect time to stop by, especially for families. In honor of making tours more affordable for families, we are offering a coupon for two adults and two children (additional members will be charged the regular tour rate of $12 ages 12 and up, $5 for ages 6-11). Check out the special interview with Assistant Manager, Tom Forwood, highlighting the new lights, tour options, and June Family Month (see links below). Stay tuned next month for updates on summer happenings.

Photo: Andy Austin- Montana State Parks

June Family Month Coupon- http://stateparks.mt.gov/lewis-and-clark-caverns/  

Cave: KXLH- 9 Interview Tom Forwood- https://kxlh.com/sponsored/montana-state-parks/2019/05/17/lewis-clark-caverns-family-discount-month-see-the-caverns-in-a-whole-new-light/?fbclid=IwAR0jAxD3IFgo47l24sIbiyPjZOu3DBINRe_ozREnuzZTNXGIQhZRHmHoeF0

Kids to Parks Day: KXLF- 4 Interview Tamara Beal- https://kxlf.com/this-week-in-fish-and-wildlife/2019/05/16/this-week-in-fish-and-wildlife-kids-to-parks-day-set-for-lewis-and-clark-caverns/