Wonders of Wyandotte

One of the wondrous formations in Wyandotte Caves

Wyandotte Caves are located along the Ohio River in Southern Indiana,
at Leavenworth in the O'Bannon Woods State Park. There are
two caves, known locally as Little Wyandotte (Siberts Cave) and Big
Wyandotte (Historic Wyandotte). They cover a total of 9.2 miles.

One of the unique facts about Wyandotte Caves is that some of
the rooms are so large they could hold a football field! One of the main
attractions is Monument Mountain. It is known as the largest underground
mountain in the world. This formation is 135 feet tall! Another unique
feature in Wyandotte Cave is the Pillar of the Constitution,
35 feet high, is known as the tallest stalagmite in the world. Some
of the other features include Crater Room, Pillard Palace, and Bandits' Hall.

Wyandotte Caves is the winter home for several species of bats. Four
have been found hibernating in it the past few years. These are the
Little Brown, Big Brown, Eastern pipistrelle, and the Indiana Bat.
The Indiana Bat is very abundant in Wyandotte Caves.


A cluster of Indiana Bats in Big Wyandotte Cave
(Photograph courtesy of Dr. Clark McCreedy)


***Go to our Bats Graph page to see how the numbers of these
four bats have changed over the past few years.***

You can read more about these and other bats on our Bats of Indiana
link below. Wyandotte Historic Cave (Big Wyandotte) is closed
to the public from Labor Day to May 1 each year to allow the
bats to hibernate undisturbed. It is hoped that this will allow
the populations of the endangered bats to grow.

Wyandotte Caves were given National Natural Landmark status by the
Department of Interior in 1972. If you would like to tour the caves, click
on the photo of the Wyandotte Caves Visitor Center below to go to
the officialWyandotte Caves website which has tour information.



Wyandotte Caves Visitor Center

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Comments? Questions? You can e-mail us at: jgoble@cannelton.k12.in.us