[luvarkansas]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow73

Last time I was there, Cave Mountain Cave was locked off with a very large gate. You had to get permission from the National Park Service to enter. Same with Fitton.

Wow, when was that? We were there a couple of years ago and it was still open, but only in the summer, of course. I was still thinking I might go in it someday. The last time we went over there I didn't feel like going in, and only "the boys" have been in it. Well, if they've closed it, at least they got to go in it. They enjoyed it. I walked in a little way the first time we found it, but we didn't have good flashlights so we couldn't go far. It was still interesting....the cool air was refreshing!

[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by luvarkansas

Wow, when was that? We were there a couple of years ago and it was still open, but only in the summer, of course. I was still thinking I might go in it someday. The last time we went over there I didn't feel like going in, and only "the boys" have been in it. Well, if they've closed it, at least they got to go in it. They enjoyed it. I walked in a little way the first time we found it, but we didn't have good flashlights so we couldn't go far. It was still interesting....the cool air was refreshing!

It's been over 15 years since I was last there! Normally you don't hear about things changing to become more accessible but sometimes miracles can happen I guess! LOL That's a nice, fun little cave and there's no reason it should have been blocked off, not much in the way of formations to get destroyed and no rare bat populations that I can remember.

Fitton on the other hand is huge and potentially very dangerous for the unexperienced. I've been in probably 20-30 different wild caves in AR (mapped quite a few of those!) and in Fitton once and would not go back without a guide who knows it very well. One could easily get lost in it and never be heard from again. It also has some extremely delicate gypsum formations that are very rare and should be protected. Hopefully it is still blocked.

[luvarkansas]

Stormcrow, did you ever go in Diamond Cave? My husband and son are so curious about it! Me, I think if you've seen one cave, you've seen them all. lol The area around Diamond Cave is so beautiful!

CM Cave is closed only through the winter months, to protect hibernating bats. I'm not sure of the exact months it is open, but I read somewhere it is closed August -May. Think it may open up about the middle of May, though. I was reading a little notice on the internet from spring of 2005 that said that someone had climbed the bars over the winter and killed about 200 bats with a gun. Grrrr. Why does there always have to be a couple of fools around to spoil things for the rest of us?

[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by luvarkansas

Stormcrow, did you ever go in Diamond Cave? My husband and son are so curious about it! Me, I think if you've seen one cave, you've seen them all. lol The area around Diamond Cave is so beautiful!

CM Cave is closed only through the winter months, to protect hibernating bats. I'm not sure of the exact months it is open, but I read somewhere it is closed August -May. Think it may open up about the middle of May, though. I was reading a little notice on the internet from spring of 2005 that said that someone had climbed the bars over the winter and killed about 200 bats with a gun. Grrrr. Why does there always have to be a couple of fools around to spoil things for the rest of us?

I have not been to Diamond Cave but I'm meaning to go to that area pretty soon. I'm about to start a series of paintings depicting what's happened to places in the Ozarks and I found an old 20's or 30's era photo of a skating rink that was near Diamond Cave and I'd like to see if anything remains of that building. Any chance you've seen anything in that area that might have once been a skating rink?? To the best of my knowledge, Diamond Cave was once a guided tour cave but I think it's been allowed to go wild, correct?

All this talk about caving makes me want to go buy all the equipment and start again!! It's a LOT of fun.

That's a shame about someone killing bats, not incredibly surprising though.

[luvarkansas]

[quote=Stormcrow73;5401834] Any chance you've seen anything in that area that might have once been a skating rink?? To the best of my knowledge, Diamond Cave was once a guided tour cave but I think it's been allowed to go wild, correct?[quote]

Yes, it was a show cave. The entrance has a door on it and is kept locked. There are "No Trespassing" signs everywhere. There is one old building left. Seems like my husband found out it was an old hotel, or rooming house, or something like that. It's made of logs, all the chinking is gone. Across the road is some kind of little camp house type thing, in fairly good repair, at least it was last time I was there (several years ago). I'm not sure if it ever had anything to do with the cave or not, but it looks old. It appears to be privately owned now, but I don't know for sure.

I can't remember where my husband got his info about the history of the cave (but it was probably the internet), but I'll ask him and see if he can remember anything else I can tell you. You can find old postcards of Diamond Cave on eBay every now and then.

Someone who knows, can't remember who, told us a few years ago that a lady from California had bought the cave and was considering opening it back up. Seems like it might have been Edd French, a real estate agent there in Jasper. As far as I know, nothing has happened since then. Edd came to Jasper from somewhere else, but he knows as much about the area as a lot of locals, I think.

There is a beautiful creek that runs along the road just before you get to where the old cave entrance was. We walked up it once in the late fall or early spring, when the grasses and undergrowth were gone (I know, it said "No Trespassing", but, well, anyway....) and we found an opening where there was water flowing out of the hillside into the creek....it was large enough you could walk up in it, and the flowing water disappeared around a bend about 10 or 12 feet in. We weren't prepared to do any wading or caving, so we just looked around in the entrance. We found a little bat hanging on to the ceiling. You can also see some kind of dark spot, as you're driving along the road (only when the leaves are off the trees), that appears to be an opening about 5 or 6 feet high and probably 3 feet wide, kind of squarish, 'way up on the hillside above the creek. That spot has always fascinated my son, and he has wanted to get up there to it for years, but we never have. It's very steep.

After you pass the cave, the road crosses the creek at a low-water bridge and the creek is really pretty there, also. On past there it turns to gravel and there are a few houses down there. I don't think we've ever gone all the way to the end of the road. But talking about it is making me want to! I love to explore gravel roads out in the mountains, and that area is one of the most beautiful I've ever been to in Arkansas.

[Stormcrow73]

Well, sounds like perhaps the skating ring is long gone...too bad. Here's the picture I found:
NEWTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS SCRAPBOOK® ITEM

[luvarkansas]

Wow, that's a neat picture. The tall building in the right side of the picture looks like the one that's still there....or at least, it was there 2 or 3 years ago. Just the outside walls of it mostly, though. Hard for me to remember exactly what it looked like, except that it looked like it was 2-story.

[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by luvarkansas

Wow, that's a neat picture. The tall building in the right side of the picture looks like the one that's still there....or at least, it was there 2 or 3 years ago. Just the outside walls of it mostly, though. Hard for me to remember exactly what it looked like, except that it looked like it was 2-story.

I was hoping one of those others might be something you had seen! I'd like to think maybe the foundation of that skating rink might still be there. Hopefully we'll get a chance to get up there pretty soon for a picture taking expedition!

[anjoe]

The Museum in Smackover called the South Arkansas Natural Resouces Museum (everything you and the kids wanted to know about Oil and Brine History) would be a neat stop on your way to Texas. They will give a you tour of some of the old types of oil derricks, etc. also. Just google the South Arkansas Natural Resources Museum for more information.

[luvarkansas]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow73

I was hoping one of those others might be something you had seen! I'd like to think maybe the foundation of that skating rink might still be there. Hopefully we'll get a chance to get up there pretty soon for a picture taking expedition!

I don't think so, but I suppose it could be right under the surface of the ground. You will have to climb a gate with a "No Trespassing" sign next to it to find out, though, and anytime except after frost and before spring will be very overgrown with grass, bushes...and chiggers.

There may actually be more there than I'm remembering....my brain has turned to mush with old age....but not much more.

Can you imagine how much fun it would be to use a metal detector there? Probably has already been done many times over, though.

When you go, if you have time when you get through with the cave area, go on out to Parthenon, which is a beautiful tiny town in a valley, and even past it if you have time. That road goes on and on, every mile of it beautiful, winds through the mountains, turns to gravel, and eventually comes out on hwy. 16, pretty close to the trailhead for Alum Cove, which is a great little hike....has that natural bridge on it.

Be sure to let us know how your trip turns out if you get to go!