Alabaster Caverns State Park

The Alabaster Cave State Park is 10 km south of the town of Freedom located in Oklahoma a State Park in Woodward County. In the 81 -acre park, which is accessible via State Highway 50, is a 1200 m long cave with different colored plaster moldings of alabaster.

History

The oldest records of an exploration of the cave date back to the year 1898. 1939 Charles bought grass on the land. Under Charles Grass, the cave was rudimentary developed for tourism, markets and the name " Alabaster Caverns " was coined. In 1953 she sold Glass for 34000 U.S. dollars to the state of Oklahoma. The cave was placed under administration of the Oklahoma Planning and Resources Board. 1956 became the area along with the show cave in the classification State Park.

Geology

More than 200 million years ago during the Permian covered a large inland sea the area. When dry gypsum- containing deposits were left behind. In them Gipsvarietäten as selenite, white, pink, and the rare black alabaster are included. Through large-scale raising of the land and water eroding the cave passages were washed out over time. The main cave is 1200 meters long and has a maximum height of 15 m and about 18 m wide. The individual rock formations and cave chambers carry -sounding names such as " Ship's Prow ," " Devil 's Kitchen " or " Crystal Vault ". Away from the developed show cave with guided tours are available 5 other caves that can be explored with appropriate speleological speleological equipment from March to September in consultation with the park administration.

Fauna

In the cave system, the five different species of bat roosts " Cave Myotis " (Myotis velifer ), " Western Big - eared Bat" ( Plecotus townsendii ), Eastern Pipistrelle ( Perimyotis subflavus ), " Western Big Brown Bat" and the " Mexican Free- tailed Bat " ( Tadarida brasiliensis).

Tourism

In the State Park there are trails, an amphitheater, camping facilities and a visitor center.