Rickwood Caverns State Park
| Rickwood Caverns State Park | |
| Alabama State Park | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Alabama |
| County | Blount |
| Elevation | 968 ft (295 m) [1] |
| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. [1] |
| Area | 380 acres (154 ha) |
| Opened to public | 1954 |
| - State purchase | 1974 |
| Management | Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources |
  Location in Alabama
|
|
| Website: Rickwood Caverns State Park | |
Rickwood Caverns State Park is a publicly owned recreation area and natural history preserve located 7 miles (11 km) north of Warrior, Alabama.[2] The 380-acre (150 ha) state park offers tours of caverns with illuminated limestone formations estimated to be 260 million years old, blind cave fish, and an underground pool.[3]
History
The caverns were brought to public attention by Eddie Rickles and Sonny Arwood who combined their own names to create the name "Rickwood." Rickles had come across the caves in the early 1950s as the leader of a Boy Scout troop exploring the area. Rickwood Caverns operated as a commercial entity from 1954 to 1974, when the property was acquired by the state and reopened as a state park.[3] The funding crisis of 2015, which saw the closing or reassignment to local authorities of five Alabama state parks,[4] resulted in the seasonal closing of Rickwood Caverns, which had been a year-round operation until that time.[2] The park had been threatened with closure since as early as 2009.[5] As of April 2016, the park reopened and is hoping to operate on a year round basis. [6]
Activities and amenities
The park surrounding the caverns features 380 acres of wilderness, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, picnic area with shelters, hiking trails, playground, campground, panning for gemstones and gift shop.[7] Described as "mysterious and beautiful",[8] the caverns feature guided tours of the so-called "miracle mile" of active "living" formations, 300 million year old fossils which are clearly visible in the soft limestone walls, spring-fed pools, and other curiosities.[9]
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rickwood Caverns State Park. |
- Rickwood Caverns State Park Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- Pages with reference errors
- Pages with broken file links
- Geobox usage tracking for protected area type
- Commons category link is defined as the pagename
- State parks of Alabama
- Protected areas of Blount County, Alabama
- Caves of Alabama
- Show caves in the United States
- Limestone caves
- Landforms of Blount County, Alabama
