FREEDOM—Hidden in the hills of Northwest Oklahoma is the world’s largest gypsum cave open to the public.
The main cave at Alabaster Caverns State Park has been wowing people for more than a century with its soft and smooth pink and white sulfate in the nearly mile-long gypsum cave containing a rare form of gypsum called black alabaster and other gypsum formations such as selenite crystals (similar to those found at Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge outside of Jet). There several other “wild” caves at the park too.
Over time, water carved caverns through the gypsum directly southwest of Freedom and the Cimarron River. Gypsum is typically mined for drywall, plaster, and concrete. Minerals from the gypsum water within the main cave have formed what tour guide Thora Fox described as “cave coral” lining the cavern walls.
Prior to Alabaster Caverns becoming a state park in 1956, people traversed Cedar Canyon and used the caverns for both as an outdoor excursion and as an outlaws’ hideout. First recorded exploration of the caves was 1898.
According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, Hugh Litton homesteaded the area during the Cherokee Outlet Run of 1893. In the 1920s and 1930s, various individuals leased the land comprising Alabaster Caverns and allowed limited touring of the locally known “Bat Caves” for a nominal fee.
Public tours of the main cavern increased with the 1939 purchase and renovation of the caverns by an Englishman named Charles Grass. He nicknamed the natural wonder Alabaster Caverns. When his health began to fail in the mid-1950s, businessmen in Freedom and Waynoka sought for the state to purchase the land and reclassify it as a state park.
The town of Freedom also used it as a nuclear fallout shelter in the mid-1950s. Up to 3,080 people could squeeze into the natural made shelter, said Fox, who has been guiding visitors through the main cave for 13 years.
Fox added while all of the fallout shelter supplies have been removed for safety reasons, the main cave still serves a tornado shelter for that region of Woodward County.
There are 200 to 300 natural air holes throughout the cavern and its numerous chambers, making it the perfect hiding place for not only robbers and thieves, but also five species of bats.
Gone batty
More than 20,000 bats camp out on the ceiling between November and March, Fox said.
On this particular summer day, there were two resident cave bats who made an appearance as tourists trekked their way to the middle of the cavern. Fox affectionately pointed Sunshine and Larry out as they flitted in and out of various formations overhead.
The cave myotis, a medium-sized bat with dark fur on its back and paler fur underneath, is commonly found hibernating in the caverns. The cave myotis is joined by the western big-eared bat, eastern pipistrelle aka tricolored bat, western big brown bat, and Mexican free-tailed bat throughout the year.
Fox explained bats can fly up to 50 miles a night and eat half of their weight in bugs. She said bats are carriers of disease yet are immune to those diseases. She also defied the myth “blind as a bat,” commenting to the crowd “most bats see three times better than humans.”
Cave-in changes cavern course
As travelers from Minnesota, North Carolina, and New Mexico along with Enid area residents gazed in awe at the cavern’s ceiling whirlpools that were carved out over time by water that still trickles through today, Fox instructed them that the tour would now turn around and re-walk the path they had just came.
Tours through the main cave used to start at the other end of the cavern, Fox said, that was until a mud slide became a rock slide and sealed off that entry point in October 2018. There had been massive rains in the area, and that part of the main cave essentially collapsed on itself. Five million pounds of rock caved in—an equivalent to 200 dump trucks, she added.
Fox had given the last full tour of the cave the afternoon before and a colleague was starting to lead a group of children into the cave that fateful morning only to radio for help to return the kids to the surface. Tours were suspended for the rest of the year so assessments could be done and repairs made to allow visitors to safely return in 2019.
The rock slide not far from the original entrance not only blocked the pathway but also irreversibly damaged the computer-controlled lighting system, which was initially installed more than 50 years ago following the advent of electricity.
Unfortunately, Fox said, this meant guided tours would no longer get to experience total darkness at the midway point. There are no decisions at this time by park officials, she added, as to whether the lighting system would ever be restored or if the rock would ever be cleared for full tours again.
The former exit point of the cavern now serves as both entrance and exit today. The 45-minute tours go midway through the 55-degree cavern and then double back into the heat where they load onto a tractor-pulled open trailer and ride back to the park office.
Explore the wild side
For the more adventurous visitors to Alabaster Caverns State Park, there currently are four undeveloped caves called wild caves they can explore on their own. Wild caving or spelunking permits may be obtained at park office; no permits are issued between Oct. 1 and April 30 for protection of hibernating bats.
There are other things to do at the park as well including camping, hiking, picnicking, and watching nature.
One of five state parks in Northwest Oklahoma, Alabaster Caverns is one of the state’s most popular tourist stops, averaging more than 20,000 visitors per year. Black Mesa State Park at Kenton, Boiling Springs State Park at Woodward, Little Sahara State Park at Waynoka, and Salt Plains State Park at Jet are the other four that also attract people from around the nation and beyond.
Alabaster Caverns State Park, 217036 Oklahoma 50A, Freedom, is open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Guided tours of the main cave are at the top of the hour with the first one at 9 a.m. and the last one at 4 p.m. Each tour is limited to 30 people or less and no pets are allowed. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors 62 and older or active duty military with ID, $7 for youth ages 6-12, and free for kids 5 and younger. Wild caving is permitted during the day; spelunkers must register at the park office for a permit and equipment instructions. Call (580) 621-3381 for more information or group tour rates.
That sounds like a great place to visit. I will be going to check it out.