Smoke Hole Caverns

Over the past 30 years Smoke Hole Caverns has become a destination resort that keeps growing. Smoke Hole Caverns & Resort is family owned and operated and is swiftly becoming a landmark destination with a reputation for rustic elegance, log cabin rentals, log motel, conference center, guided cavern tours, shopping, guided hunting & fishing adventures, winding motorcycle tours, which all blend thoughtfully together to combine a memorable mountain vacation. www.smokehole.com

The Smoke Hole Gorge is where the South Branch of the Potomac River squeezes between North Mountain and Cave Mountain. For over 20 miles the river has carved a half-mile deep canyon, with nearly vertical walls. The misty fog that often lies along the river as it runs through the "hole" makes the name appropriate. Where the name really came from is uncertain. Some old timers call the canyon "Smoke Holes" and claim Native Americans used the caves for smoking meat.

Smoke Hole Caverns magnificent formations are the result of millions of years of intricate processes and trillions of drops of mineral laden water. Water dripping and seeping through the limestone bedrock leaves trace mineral deposits that over millions of years creates the spectacular stalactites, stalagmites, and helectities, flowstone, columns and dazzling multi-colored formations that you will see in the West Virginia Underground. www.fs.fed.us/r9/mnf/sp/smoke_hole.html