The location of this cave with its awe-inspiring and stunningly beautiful natural creations is in the southwestern part of Texas just eight miles west of Sonora. One can access the Caverns of Sonora by taking exit 392 off of Interstate 10.  Please join us on this photographic tour...

A friend and I had started our trek heading west from Houston and our goal was to view national parks, state parks and other scenic points of interest.

As we passed San Antonio and continued west, we started seeing ads for the Caverns of Sonora.

We were making pretty good time on the road and decided that we could spare an hour or so to take a look and discover what this cavern beneath the surface of the ground had to offer.

The butterfly pictured above has been a trademark for the Caverns of Sonora since 1960. It truly looks like a butterfly has alighted upon the crystallized walls of the cavern and in fluttering it's wings has been frozen for all eternity with it's wings in a wide open pose.

In touring these caverns, they are not the largest of caves by any measure but they are strikingly attractive and well illuminated so that one can enjoy viewing the many different formations via a closer perspective.

Other than some necessary stair climbing both up and down, most of the cave had level pathways with railings for safety.

Stalactites hang down from the ceiling and are continually growing.

Stalagmites are also growing up from the floor.

The cave is chock full of interesting and different types of shapes and forms to tickle the imagination. 

Several looked just like slices of bacon.

Another grouping looked like a spilled bucket of popcorn littering the floor.

Other tree like structures add interest.

At one point it looks like you are walking into the belly of a whale! 

One can imagine a lions tail dangling down from the ceiling.

The limits of imagination can be stretched to describe all the interesting clusters of design found in the Caverns of Sonora!

Above the cave grounds, picnic tables are offered and we took advantage of using them for our lunch. On the other side of the fence we saw a large herd of grazing cattle.

We were later to see Carlsbad Caverns National Park. It is vast and has huge chambers in comparison to this cave. If you like seeing things up close and personal, then this cave would satisfy you. It is truly a gem!