South Texas Caves: Discover the hidden world beneath your feet

SAN ANTONIO - Whether it was a weekend getaway or a field trip, chances are you have been to a local cavern. Believe it or not, these local attractions aren't the only caverns in South Texas. In fact, a cave could be deep beneath your home – and you may not know it.

So what makes these caves unique to our community?

"Bexar County has a little over 700 documented caves. The state of Texas has a little bit over 7,000,” said cave explorer Marvin Miller.

Miller is a cave explorer and member of the Bexar Grotto Club, a group of about 40 cave enthusiasts who meet twice a month.

“Some people go caving all the time. Some people don't go caving much at all. But it's just people who are interested in caves,” explained Miller.

And there are tons of caves in our area to explore. Lynnrae Smith is General Manager of Cascade Caverns in Boerne.

“If you have five to ten acres of land somewhere in Central Texas, you probably have a cave on your property. You just haven't discovered it yet,” said Smith. “They say it's 10,000 [caves] they haven't found yet. And that's just, I believe, in Bexar and Kendall County alone.”

Why do we have so many caves here?

The answer is limestone.

"Limestone will be dissolved by acidic water. And rainwater, when it falls on the ground, it picks up carbon dioxide, makes a weak carbonic acid that as it goes down through the cracks in the limestone, it will dissolve the rock,” said Miller.

Caves in our area were formed millions of years ago, and more caves continue to be formed through water. Cascade is the wettest show cave in the state of Texas, and we set out to explore.

Below the surface there's plenty of amazing features. From bats to prehistoric animals.

"This is a mastodon shin bone,” Smith pointed out. “Mastodon is basically a smaller version of a woolly mammoth.”

The main feature of Cascade Caverns is water that continuously builds the cave.

“The cave’s already overgrown the walls they built 70 years ago. Normally, this doesn't happen for over 100 years in other cave systems,” said Smith. "One of the big things we have to do after floods is to make sure debris and stuff doesn't get clinging on, so we can still let the water drip. If water can't drip, this cave can't grow anymore.”

But the most amazing thing is the peace and serenity caves offer.

“The only thing you have when you're down inside there is what's around you and the people around you. And it gives you a moment to be underground and take in this beautiful natural thing,” said Smith.

A natural thing for everyone to enjoy.

"There's plenty of caves out there for people to explore. We're not trying to hide them!" said Miller with a laugh.