Beneath the rolling green hills of southern Indiana, the sinewy 21-mile Myst’ry River courses through the subterranean passages of Bluespring Caverns near Bedford, Indiana. Serious spelunkers can crawl through the caverns, most of them still unexplored, in an area known as Limestone Country because of the porous rock beneath the surface — perfect for forming caves. But for those of us who like a more relaxed adventure, the best way to travel the longest subterranean river in the United States is on a specially designed 17-person flat-bottomed boat.
Climb aboard for the hour-long, 1.7-mile trip as the boat navigates the river’s twists and turns, moving through passageways with walls coated in a fine film of mud. The tour is a memorable one, with the boat maneuvering tight corners that take it from high vaulted chambers into narrow passages on a river abundant with rare albino blindfish and crayfish. Overhead, water occasionally drips from stalactites, and when a drop hits a boater, the clammy experience is affectionately known as a “cave kiss.”
These dripping ceilings, along with the few moments when the guide switches off all illumination — plunging guests into a dense, impenetrable darkness — show visitors what the early explorers of these caves, known to locals since the early 1800s, must have experienced.
Upon your return to the land above, grab a snack at the Hospitality Center and picnic under the sun in the wooded cove by the parking lot. Then try your hand at panning for gold, learn the geological history of the cave through the storyboard exhibits and buy treasures such as native Indiana rocks and arrowheads at the caverns’ gift shop.