Bedford, IN: Bluespring Caverns

A couple months ago I was flipping through Bloom Magazine's 100+ Best Things to See and Do in Bloomington, and I ran across something I hadn't seen before: Bluespring Caverns down in Bedford. An underground boat ride through a cave? Awesome. Two weeks ago some friends came for a visit and we found out that one of them LOVES caves, so off we went 25 minutes south to Bedford.

Bluespring Caverns is privately owned, so it's not a state park or anything like that. They have a nice (actually reasonably priced) gift shop with all kinds of cool rocks and gemstones and trinkets you can buy. We spent some time in the shop while waiting for our tour time. Generally they run tours every hour, but on busy days (like this day) they increase the frequency, so we only had to wait about 15 minutes before heading into the cave.

The tour guide takes you outside and down a ramp. As soon as you start going down this ramp, the temperature dramatically changes. The website recommends bringing a jacket and I do too!

Inside the cave is awesome. There were some lights at the entrance, but the rest of the light you'll see in the photos is coming from either the lights on the side of the boat or my flash.

The boats have cushions that also act as flotation devices. The ride is about an hour and the cushions were definitely nice to have.

We were taken through the caves with our guide telling us all about the history of the caves, the formations, the animals, the floods, etc. Our guide was pretty funny and I thought he did a good job, both telling the stories and navigating the boat.

Unfortunately I don't remember what any of these formations are called or the stories behind them, so I'll just let you look at the pictures instead.

It was definitely worth the trip down there. Each adult is $16, but there's a coupon on the website for $2 off per adult, so make sure to print that out before going to save a few dollars. We had a good time and are glad we checked it out!