Mitchell Caverns (finally) set to re-open
Well, it's official. Mitchell Caverns, closed after an incredibly short-sighted and disastrous decision made by California State Parks in January, 2011, is set to re-open on November 3, along with the Providence Mountain State Recreation Area, which is home to the caverns.
Closing the caverns in their remote location without even a caretaker on site, predictably led to destruction, vandalism, and theft, valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars. Incompetent management at the highest levels of California State Parks was entirely responsible for the destruction and loss, but the damage has been repaired, and rumor has it that new LED lighting in the caverns will make viewing them better than ever. The visitor center has been upgraded and remodeled as well.
The caverns are named for Jack Mitchell, who first visited two limestone caverns known as the "Crystal" or "Providence" caverns in 1929. Mitchell, who was ahead of his time, thought about turning the remote caverns into a tourist attraction. He staked mineral claims on the caverns in 1930, and in 1932, suffering from the Great Depression and bad business ventures, Jack and his wife Ida moved to the desert to attempt silver prospecting. To keep his claim valid, he had to work it, so he built tunnels, shipped ore, and filed a patent.
Mitchell developed the area, creating trails to the property and bringing water to the site, and Jack and Ida began charging $1 per person for tour groups. Their home remains today as the visitor center for the caverns. The Mitchells never became wealthy from their investment here, but in a manner of speaking, we did. In the 1940s, the Mitchells began petitioning the California Division of Beaches and Parks to add Mitchell Caverns to their roster. The State of California finally agreed to accept Mitchell Caverns as a state reserve after Jack died in 1954. In 1972, the caverns and reserve became a part of the Providence Mountains State Recreation Area. Thanks Jack and Ida!
Tours will feature El Pakiva (The Devil's House), Tecopa (after a Shoshone chieftain), the Queen's Chamber, and a bottomless pit, along with stalactites, stalagmites, columns, the waterfall shapes of flowstone, rimstone dams, coral pipes, and helicitites.
The park will be open Friday through Sunday, and on holidays. Day use and cavern tours will be available, with reservations for cavern tours opening after November 1. Some slots for cavern tours will be left for first-come, first serve, and the phone number for cavern tours will be announced in the near future.
The campground at Providence Mountain will not be available until sometime in 2018, though Hole in the Wall campground in the Mojave National Preserve is not far away.
For more information on Mitchell Caverns we recommend this site HERE.
