Niagara Cave

Useful Information

Location:	29842 County Road 30, Harmony, MN 55939. Hwy I-90 Exit La Crosse, WI, Winona, MN, Rochester, MN, or Austin, MN. Near Harmony, MN. From Harmony: 4 km south on Minnesota 139, then 4 km west on county 30. ()
Open:	APR Sat, Sun, Hol 10-16:30. MAY to OCT daily 10-16:30. Available tours only through online booking system. [2024]
Fee:	Adults USD 20.95, Children (3-12) 12.95, Children (0-2) free. Prices plus Minnesota sales tax. [2024]
Classification:	Karst Cave River Cave Ordovician limestone
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	T=9 °C, L=4,800 m.
Guided tours:	L=1,600 m, VR=60 m, D=60 min, St=550. V=25,000/a [2010]
Photography:	allowed, no tripods
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Niagara Cave, 29842 County Road 30, Harmony, MN 55939, Tel. +1-507-886-6606, E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1924	discovered.
01-JUN-1934	opened to the public.
1982	cave lease acquired from auction by Jeanine Vikre.
1985	cave purchased by Jeanine Vikre.
APR-1995	cave purchased by the Bishop family.
01-JUN-2009	75th anniversary.

Description

Niagara Cave is a limestone cave with some formations and nice river cave profiles. It has a small river which forms waterfalls, the largest being 18 m high. This waterfall is called Niagara, after the Niagara Falls at the Canadian border, and is the reason why the cave is called Niagara Cave. The limestone contains several fossils, like Sunflower Coral. One room of the cave is used as a wedding chapel, where more than 300 weddings took place.

The cave was discovered in 1924, reportedly by a farmer who sent his children down a sinkhole to look for three little pigs who had been falling down into the sinkhole. According to legend, the kids climbed down, discovered the cave, rescued the pigs and climbed back to the surface. We have no idea if it is true, but it is a pretty common discovery story. Three men, Joe Flynn, Al Cremer, Leo Tekippe, were among those who subsequently explored the cave. In the early 1930s they acquired a lease agreement with John Kennedy, the farmer who owned this land. Then they developed the cave and opened it as a show cave in 1934. Al Cremer bought out his partners continued on as operator together with his wife Rose. After his death in the mid 1970s she managed the cave alone until she finally auctioned the lease in 1982. It was acquired by Jeanine Vikre, who managed with her son Ron. Only three years later they were able to purchase the land and so it was not a lease any more. Ten years later they sold the cave to the Bishop family who operates the show cave since then.

In August 2015 the family built a solar power station which produces 45,000 kwh/year. This is more than the cave consumes during operation. In other words: the electricity which is needed to operate the cave is produced by the sun. They state they are the first show cave in the world which achieved that. Well. We are impressed that they use solar power for their cave, but the solar cells are off site, so they actually produce electricity for the grid and get their own electricity from the grit. That’s great, but, not what they say: they insist that they produce the electricity themselves. Think about a fridge in the cafe, or an air condition, they work overnight when no sun shines. In other words: they compensate the grid for the electricity they use and actually use non-renewable electricity instead of a battery. But the bigger flaw in the statement, is obviously that they state they were the first. This is such a nonsense, we were inspired to create a new page:

The karst cave has formed in 450 Ma old Ordovician limestone, which contains numerous fossils. The fossils of cephalopods, fisherites (fossil calcareous algae), gastropods, horn corals, and trilobites can be seen on the tour.

Like all others they have now online booking, and like always its complicated. And they do not give their open hours any more, you have to check for available tours instead. So above times are just a guess based on some random samples. Fortunately online booking is not required, and it is possible for the whole season, no nasty restrictions.