Business
BY KAMERYN GRIESSER
Frank Jasek was one of the early excavators of Inner Space Caverns in the 1960s.
Inner Space Caverns oers three types of tours, which are tailored for visitors of dierent ages and accessibility levels.
PHOTOS COURTESY INNER SPACE CAVERNS
Explore Georgetown’s 5-mile cave system under I35
Remains of mammoths, saber-toothed cats, armadillos, ground sloths and peccaries have been found in the cave.
In 1966, the Georgetown Corporation began leasing the property from the Laubach family and opened the cave for public tours. Today, Inner Space Caverns oers guided tours for all ages and levels of cave-curiosity. Quote of note Vessels said the name “Inner Space” comes from the otherworldly appearance of the cave, which contains several narrow passages, oddly shaped slopes, reective lakes and rock formations reaching down from the 20-foot ceiling. “We get people from all over the world coming here to see the cave. ... I think the mystery of it attracts people, and then they get to learn so much about our local, natural history here,” Vessels said.
About 30 feet beneath the bustling tra c of I-35, visitors can nd total darkness and complete silence among the glittering calcium deposits and mineral-rich ponds of Inner Space Caverns. Georgetown’s 5-mile cave system attracts tourists from across the world hoping to explore what Gen- eral Manager Taunya Vessels called one of Texas’ greatest paleontological sites. The overview Inner Space Caverns remained undiscovered for over 10,000 years until 1963, when the Texas Department of Transportation drilled into the empty space while building a highway, Vessels said. The department hired a team of excavators and scientists who discovered the cave system.
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4200 S. I-35 frontage road, Georgetown www.innerspacecavern.com
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