North Carolina has exactly one show cave, and this is it. Linville Caverns sits at the base of Humpback Mountain in northern McDowell County, just south of Linville Falls on US Highway 221, and it has been running guided tours since the late 1930s.
It was found in 1822 by local fishermen, and has drawn locals and travellers ever since. The cave was formed in a deposit of Shady Dolomite at the base of Humpback Mountain.
The caverns are described as active, which is a specific claim rather than a flourish: water is still moving through, and the stalactites and stalagmites are still growing rather than sitting dry and finished.
The residents are the reason to come in the colder months. Tricolored bats and little brown bats hibernate in the caverns from late autumn until early spring, and they are the caverns' best known inhabitants.
They are also under threat. White nose syndrome, caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, has been found among the bats roosting here. It is harmless to people and to domestic animals and lethal to bats, and the visitor centre does something about it rather than just posting a sign: every guest walks through a bleach solution on the way in, which kills any spores on the soles of their shoes. If you have been in another cave recently, say so.
The cave also carries a Civil War story, and the tour still points out where deserters from both armies are said to have sheltered.
Tours are half an hour, guided, and easy going, which makes this an unusually approachable cave. It is open year round, and sits close enough to the Blue Ridge Parkway and Linville Falls to fold into a day on the parkway without much of a detour.
Other places on the map within a couple of hours.
