Tour of Park Geology - Cave and Karst Parks

 

Cave and karst systems are important because the overwhelming majority of the nation's freshwater is groundwater. About 25% of the groundwater is located in cave and karst regions. The protection and management of these vital water resources are critical to public health and to sustainable economic development. Also, caves are storehouses of information on natural resources, human history and evolution. Recent studies indicated that caves contain valuable data that are relevant to global climate change, waste disposal, groundwater supply and contamination, petroleum recovery, and biomedical investigations. Caves also contain information related to anthropologic, archaeologic, geologic, paleontologic, and mineralogic discoveries and resources.

Caves and karst features occur in 120 parks in all regions of the National Park System (81 contain caves and an additional 39 contain karst). Over 3,900 caves are currently known throughout the system. Karst is a region of irregular topography with sinks, underground streams, and caves that were formed by dissolution of soluble rock. The number of caves ranges from as few as 10 to 15 caves per unit, to more than 450 caves per unit.

Caves--Primary Feature

• Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico
• Great Basin National Park, Nevada
• Jewel Cave National Monument, South Dakota
• Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
• Oregon Caves National Monument, Oregon
• Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Missouri
• Russell Cave National Monument, Alabama
• Sequoia National Park, California
• Timpanogos Cave National Monument, Utah
• Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota

Caves--Lava Tube

• Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho
• El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico
• Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii
• Lava Beds National Monument, California
• Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, Arizona

Caves--Sea cave

• Point Reyes National Seashore, California

Other--Karst Features

• Antietam National Battlefield, Maryland
• Colonial National Historic Park, Virginia
• Everglades National Park, Florida
• Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Missouri
• Valley Forge National Historical Park, Pennsylvania

This page lists parks that have a common geologic theme. If you would like to contribute images or materials for park pages, please contact The National Park Service