Anyone who grew up in Central Texas probably visited Wonder World as a kid. It was around long before we had Six Flags theme parks on every corner. In addition to touring the giant underground cave, you can view Central Texas from the top of a 190' observation tower, try standing up straight in the anti-gravity house, and take a train ride through a wildlife park where you handfeed the animals.
I had not been to Wonder World since the mid-70s but since we were going to be San Marcos anyway this weekend, we decided to take our kids and their cousins there. And not much has changed! It was like stepping back into a time warp. They still have the giant dinosaur and cavemen signs with cutouts for your face. I had my picture taken there over 30 years ago, and my kids happily carried on the tradition. Although Wonder World looks like a throwback to days gone by, it's very clean and well-maintained. And we had a blast!
We purchased our combo ticket using a coupon printed off the internet. The combo ticket let us visit all the attractions for one price. The 45-minute cave tour was our first stop.
Wonder World's cave is different from other caves we've visited in that visitors here are encouraged to touch any and every thing in the cave. "You can even kiss the walls if you wish". This alone made the whole trip worthwhile for my little nature-loving explorers.
The reason they allow visitors to touch things inside the cave is because it is not a wet cave formed by water. It is the nation's only dry cave to be formed by an earthquake. This earthquake took place along the inactive Balcones Faultline. So you won't see any stalactites in this cave, but you'll still see plenty of fossils and interesting rock formations.
Our cave tour began in the Poker Room where the original owner and founder played poker and hid his whiskey back in the early 1900s. We then walked down a long hallway that followed a path beneath the Balcones Faultline. Looking up at the cave's ceiling, you could easily see the faultline running the length of the cave.
And our tour guide pointed out the giant keystones in the ceiling that were wedged between the faultline and kept the cave from closing in on iteself.
The next cavern we visited was called the Darkroom. After we were all seated, the guide turned out the lights and we got to experience total darkness. You couldn't even see your hand in front of your face.
Just outside the Darkroom was the Wishing Well. Back in the late 1800s, the nearest source of water was a 6-mile hike from the homestead. In the Texas heat, that became unbearable. So they started drilling for water. Instead of water, they found a giant cave. Eventually after exploring around in the cave, they discovered a hole that went 200ft down into the Edwards Aquifer. So this became their new source of water. And given that the year-round temperature in the cave is 71F degrees, I'm sure that was a big improvement!
The last room in our cave tour was the cavernous Fossil Room.
The ceiling is a petrified sea floor, so you can see all kinds of fossils in here.
We spent lots of time in here looking at all the different rock formations and using our imagination to guess what they looked like.
Our tour guide pointed out the most famous formation called the "Caveman's Toilet". And the kids couldn't wait to sit on it!
One of the nice things about this cave tour is that you don't have to backtrack to where you came from in order to leave. They now have a steel cage elevator that comes down to the bottom of the cave and takes you all the to the top of the Tejas Observation Tower.
From the observation deck of the tower you can see the two distinct land formations that meet up along the faultline -- the Gulf Coastal Plains and the dramatic uplift of the Texas Hill Country.
After taking turns looking through the telescope, my kids begged to climb the metal staircase to the very top of the tower.
This was a definite challenge for someone like me who is afraid of heights. But up we went ... and the view from the outside was even more spectacular.
The next stop on our tour was one of my favorites -- the Anti-Gravity House. I remember as a kid thinking how awesome this place was. And it is just as much fun today!
Physics was never my strong suit in school, so I can't begin to understand how they do this exhibit. Just suffice it to say that it's nearly impossible to stand up and walk straight in here.
And watching a demo of balls rolling uphill was way cool! The guide did warn us that you may experience extreme vertigo in here, so be very careful and walk slowly. And after a few minutes I did begin to experience this sensation and felt like the room was spinning and I couldn't walk straight. But it was no big deal and just added to the experience.
After playing around in the Anti-Gravity house, we stopped by the snack bar for popcorn and icees before hopping on the train. We also bought some deer feed for $1/bag since our tour guide said we could handfeed the animals on our next stop at the Wildlife Park.
The train ride takes you through a waterfall into Mystery Mountain and when you come out the other side you're in the Wildlife Park.
The train drives around the park area as you look at native wildlife. At one point, the train stops and deer walk up to the train to be fed. The kids loved this and were climbing over each other to feed the deer.
After the train ride, your tour ends at the Wonder World gift shop where my kids were fascinated to see their first Jackalope.
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