Vacation Photo Log 2026 - Texas Hill Country Edition - Chapter Three: Natural Bridge Caverns

[CapnSteve]

Last summer, my wife and I spent 10 days at the Grand Canyon, specifically Star Party 2025. This year we decided to stay a little closer to home and rented a tiny house South of Austin as our base of operations to further explore the Texas Hill Country.

To beat the heat (kind of, more on that later!), and to challenge my photography skills, we headed over to Natural Bridge Caverns, the largest commercial cavern system in Texas. It has been open for tours since its opening July 3rd 1964. The 75 minute guided walking tour route covers 3/4 of a mile and descends to 185' at its deepest point. It keeps a constant temperature of 70 degrees F, but it feels like 85 degrees F due to the constant 99% humidity! Shorts weather, but still cooler than the 95 degrees F at the surface.

Challenge one for photography: if your camera and lenses have been riding around in a dry, cool car all day, they will fog when they hit the high humidity. So, I brought my lens cloth. Second, they allow flash photography and my bulky 14mm Rokinon (my fave for low-light/astronomical photography) creates a huge flash shadow under it, so I have to leave that lens behind. I also push my ISO to 1600, so that maybe I can get some shots with and without the flash. OK, here we go...

The natural bridge, underneath this is the entrance to Natural Bridge Caverns (Nikon Series E 28mm):


This formation is called Sherwood Forest, with flash (Nikon Series E 28mm):


Two shots of the Fairy Castles, with flash (Nikon Series E 28mm):




A shot of the Castle of the White Giants, with flash (Nikon Series E 28mm):


Below that, here is a picture of Emerald Lake. Water was low that day, you can see average water marks on the wall. According to Colton, our guide, it takes about an hour of hard rain to start seeing the water level rise in the caves and it never gets deep enough to close tours (so far!). This is the deepest part of the tour at 185', looking down to 205'. With flash (Nikon Series E 28mm):


Past that, beginning to climb, we enter the Hall of the Mountain Kings (can you tell these were college students that discovered the caves?). Using their lighting (Nikon Series E 28mm):






The Hall of the Mountain Kings was the last one on the tour before we exited, so one last picture, with flash (Nikon Series E 28mm):


Very fun, rocks, and I did not need to wipe condensation off my lenses. I guess the 15 minutes we waited to start in a outdoor (covered) area did the trick! They offer "crawling tours" to more remote parts of the caves, but that is a hard "no" for me!

[brer cat]

1. You got some really interesting shots! Thanks so much for sharing.

[CapnSteve]

5. Thanks brer cat!

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Planning to visit the LBJ ranch ? It's interesting, or was to me.

The original dwellings and furnishings reminded me of stuff that my mother had shown me that used to belong to her parents and grandparents (from WV, not TX, but it was pretty much the same back then), and older folks we had visited there.

It's also kind of sobering to see the lonely graveyard where they buried someone who was once the most powerful man on the planet. He came from the Hill Country, and he returned to the Hill country.

Be aware in advance that the tour is by bus only. When I went through Luci Baines Johnson came out to greet the passengers, and Lady Bird Johnson was sitting in a chair on the porch, but she has since passed away. Luci Baines and her sister Lynda Bird Johnson Rob are still alive, so who knows, you might see them, although I believe Lynda lives with her husband in Virginia, and is still active in DC charity and organizational life.

Oh, and nearby is the famous bat cave where you can watch thousands of bats emerge at sundown (at least in season). You can smell it from far, far away.

For something really different, there are plenty of dinosaur trackways in TX -- including some at the Heritage Museum of the Texas Hill Country. https://tpwmagazine.com/parks/walking-in-the-footsteps-of-dinosaurs/

[CapnSteve]

6. Great Ideas for our next trip, thanks!

Drove right past LBJ's but did not stop this time...

[eppur_se_muova]

9. If you're looking for someplace to just "hang" a while, try Fredericksburg. Center of German immigration ...

... and some interesting history there. I took a short course in flintknapping there, but I never got the hang of it.

You missed the Easter "Hill Fires", and it's too early for Oktoberfest, but there are sights to see, including museums, if that's your thing.

Neu Braunfels was also settled by German immigrants, but I never visited there and don't know much about it.

[CapnSteve]

10. We did hit Fredericksburg after Enchanted Rock....

...it's not a visit to central Texas without a reuben and a heffe weissen from Auslander's!

[eppur_se_muova]

12. That's the kind of "local flavor" I was thinking of ! nt

[Deuxcents]

3. My son lives just south of Austin but north of San Antonio and the next time I go to see him, I wanna go here!

Looks like it would be a great way to spend some time Really enjoyed the pictures

[CapnSteve]

7. Great fun 2-Cents!

[Grumpy Old Guy]

4. Great photos!

Thanks for sharing!

[CapnSteve]

8. You are welcome, GOG!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

11. Wow, amazing photos, my dear CapnSteve!

So beautiful and so different from our everyday lives. The colors, the shapes, the way things twist and turn.

Thank you for taking us along!

[George McGovern]

13. Remarkable cavern system. I've never seen anything like it. I appreciate your tour very much.

Great wide angle flash photography!

I located an article about the St. Mary’s University classmates who found the caverns.
https://www.stmarytx.edu/2020/natural-bridge-caverns-discovery/