Since we were already in the area, @nursealyse and I went to The #ForestvilleMysteryCave after the #NiagaraCave. The #MysteryCave, discovered in 1937, is the longest #cave in the upper #Midwest with a network of passageways at least 13 miles long. It was open to #tours until 1942 when devastating floods washed through. Because the cave doesn’t naturally have a door, the caves filled like a #bathtub. You can follow the #subterranean paths the water went and what effects the draining had. It’s filled with #stalactites, #stalagmites, #flowstone, #mineral deposits, #fossils, a ‘frozen’ #waterfall and the most incredible #underground still water pools, like the 12 foot deep #Turquoise Lake, the Garden of the Gods and Blue Lake, the largest pool in the Mystery Cave system. If you are interested, several tours are offered, ranging from the historical and basic walk through, to the photography-specific, the geologically intense and finally, all the way to the physically-challenging ‘wild caving’ in undiscovered parts of the cave (so awesome, right?!). Fun tidbit: the south branch of the #RootRiver passes through the cave, cooling the water drastically, making the River one of the best for #Trout #fishing.

A post shared by MN |Minnesota| Bucket List (@mnbucketlist) on Jul 31, 2015 at 9:25am PDT

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