DISPROPORTIONATE SUCCESS IN CAVE MANAGEMENT: HOW GRAND CAVERNS IS CHARTING A COURSE BACK ONTO THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE

First discovered in 1804, Grand Caverns (previously Weyers Cave), is America’s oldest show cave in continuous operation. Since 1806, it has offered guided interpretive tours and attracted international tourism to the historic Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. (Town of Grottoes, VA: population 2,899 – 2020 census). Over the last 218 years, Grand Caverns has been owned and operated by a variety of private entities, however, presently it is owned by the Town of Grottoes, likely making it the only local government owned show cave in the United States of America.

In this talk, we delve into our ongoing efforts to secure Grand Caverns’ inclusion on the UNESCO Global geosites list by sharing recent improvements to the cave management. Accounting for more than 20% of the Town of Grottoes’ budget, Grand Caverns continues to allow the Parks & Tourism Department to operate as an enterprise fund. We explore our robust informal and formal education program development, digital cave cartography, our unique partnership with James Madison University, and the research opportunities we continue to promote. By using the geoheritage framework, Grand Caverns can again rejoin the internationally renowned. Moreover, we hope to share our path of success as a viable alternative to a traditionally extractive one, evidenced even within Grand Caverns’ previous owners.