Wonder Cave

Wonder World - Bevers Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Between Austin and San Antonio. I 35, San Marcos exit, in the San Marcos city limits, Wonder World Drive.
Open:	All year, Jun-Aug daily 8-20, Sep-Oct daily 9-18, Nov-Feb Mon-Fri 9-17 Sat-Sun 9-18, Mar-May Mon-Fri 9-18 Sat-Sun 9-19. Closed on Christmas Eve and Day.
Fee:	Adults $10, Children (4-11) $8.
Classification:	Karst cave Cretacious Limestone (Buda Limestone, Georgetown Limestone, and Edwards Limestone). Tectonic cave
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:	T=22 °C, L=395 m, D=28 m.
Guided tours:	D=105min
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Wonder World Park, P.O. Box 1369, San Marcos, TX 87666, Tel: +1-512-392-671
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

1893	discovered by Mark A. Bevers, drilling for water in what is now the parking lot of the park. It was calles Bevers Cave.
1903	bought by W. S. Davis who opened it to the public.
1916	bought by Arthur B. Rodgers for $50, a gray horse and a saddle. He installed electric lighting, paths, handrails and ladders. He also renamed the cave into Wonder Cave.
1951	ventilation shaft installed to supply fresh air into the cave and vent moisture from the cave.
1955	leased by Ralph Marker from the son of Arthur B. Rodgers.
1958	bought by T. J. Mostyn.
1970	surveyed.

Description

Wonder Cave is a rather small cavern with little formations. The passages are narrow and steep. But this is a result of the unique process which formed this cave. It developed along the Balcones Fault Zone, which runs south from Waco to Bexar County, then turns westward to Uvalde. It's a rare Speleology Tectonic cave and was formed primarily by tectonic forces. And among these rare tectonic caves, the caves produced by faults are the most rare ones.

It is sometimes called a dry cave, which is not a scientific term but explains the fact, that the cave was not formed by the solution of limestone by water. The divergent rims of plates produced divergent forces inside the rock and thus opened a crack in the rock. Another commonly used name is earthquake cave, because such forces always result in earthquakes. Of course, the cave was not formed during a single quake and existed then unchanged. It was formed by the still existing forces and the process was accompanied by earthquakes.

Although it was discovered by Mark A. Bevers, drilling for water, the first exploration of the cave several days later, used a natural entrance. Elizabeth Bevers, his wife, was throwing dish water out the back door, when she saw vapor coming out of a crevice. Mr. Bevers and Doras Biedler, a neighbor, were able to roll a large boulder away, revealing the entrance to the cave.

The fossils embedded in the limestone are of geological interest. The cave contains some troglobionts, such as the Texas blind salamander (Typhlomolge rathbuni), a blind shrimp (Palaemonetes antrorum), and a blind isopod (Cirolanides texensis). They are also found in other nearby caves.

The cave is now part of the Wonder World Theme Park. At the end of the tour, at the deepest point, an elevator takes the visitors up 48 meters to the surface and another 30 meters to the top of a metal lookout tower.