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LinvilleCaverns

United States United States Show cave

Linville Caverns

13 °C inside, all year.

Show caveStalactites

See the descentHow to visit

Jan Kronsell · Public domain

The descent

The entrance, at 683 m.

The real relief above Linville Caverns, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.

depth not publishedEntrance1,269 m1.0 kmvertical × 3.8depth not publishedEntrance1,269 m1.0 kmvertical × 8.2

The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey. No depth has been published for this cave yet.

683m

Entrance altitude

from the 30 m relief model

13°C

Inside, all year

the yearly average outside, at the entrance

539m

Rock above

the highest point within 1.5 km

Inside and outside

13 °C inside, all year.

Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 13 °C here, in January and in August. In July the afternoon reaches 29 °C at the entrance, 16 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are from June to August.

outside, at the entrance (683 m)inside
  1. 6°-4°Jan
  2. 8°-3°Feb
  3. 13°1°Mar
  4. 19°6°Apr
  5. 23°11°May
  6. 27°16°Jun
  7. 29°17°Jul
  8. 29°17°Aug
  9. 25°13°Sep
  10. 19°7°Oct
  11. 13°1°Nov
  12. 8°-2°Dec
Inside: 13 °C all yearEscape the heat: Jun–AugFrost outside: Jan–Feb

Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.

Cave in United States of America

Linville Caverns is a show cave in United States. The entrance is at 683 m. It has stalactites and stalagmites. It is open to visitors.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there.

  • Show cave: open to visitorsHours in OpenStreetMap: Mo-Su 09:00-16:30 · ticket requiredOfficial site
  • Spruce Pinenearest town · 11 km in a straight line
  • Parking 300 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
  • Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 1.5 km from the entrance
  • Tri-Cities Regional TN/VA Airport (TRI)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 75 km in a straight lineCar hire at TRI airport (Blountville)Discover Cars · sponsored link

Plan the visit

Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above.

The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.

The ground above Linville Caverns (Sentinel-2) N 1.5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around the entrance.

  • 1other cave entrances within 3 kmLinville Caverns
  • 5viewpoints within 3 kmBear Den Overlook (MP 323.0), Chestoa View Overlook, Wiseman's View and 2 more
  • 8named waterfalls within 4 kmBear Den Falls, Upper Linville Falls, Linville Falls and 5 more
  • 5car parks within 2 km
  • 1information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
  • 10campsites within 8 kmMountain River Family Campground, Linville Falls Campground, Linville Falls Campground RV Park & Cabins and 7 more
  • 10hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmLinville Falls Lodge & Cottages, Parkview Lodge & Cabins, Cross Creek Log Cabins and 7 more
  • springs within 2 km
  • sinkholes within 3 km
  • caving clubs and spots within 15 km
  • marked hiking routes within 3 km
  • climbing crags within 3 km
  • bus stops within 2 km
  • restaurants and cafés within 3 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Towns nearby

  • Spruce Pine11 km in a straight line
  • Newland19 km in a straight line
  • Bakersville23 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Linville Caverns.

The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.

Cascadyas1 waterfalls within 5 km
Linville Falls · 3.8 km
Peakyas26 mountains within 10 km
Humpback Mountain1,294 m · 3.8 kmTable Rock1,250 m · 5.7 kmBall Ground Mountain · 6.8 kmDoe Hill Mountain1,230 m · 6.9 kmArnold Knob · 7.1 kmMullin Hill · 8.3 kmGusher Knob · 9.5 kmHanging Rock · 9.9 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Month by month

The weather outside, at the entrance.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon681319232729292519138
Afternoon681319232729292519138
Night-4-316111617171371-2
Rain (mm)8684961101181141291201139794107
Rainy days1111121115182017118910
Sun hours/day4.74.95.97.27.38.17.57.36.76.15.84.3
Snow on the ground (cm)10105100000028
AfternoonAfternoonNightRain (mm)Sun hours/day
Jan66-4864.7
Feb88-3844.9
Mar13131965.9
Apr191961107.2
May2323111187.3
Jun2727161148.1
Jul2929171297.5
Aug2929171207.3
Sep2525131136.7
Oct19197976.1
Nov13131945.8
Dec88-21074.3

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (683 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Inside and around.

Linville Gorge-27527-2
Ken Thomas · Public domain
Linville Gorge-27527-3
Ken Thomas · Public domain
Linville WaterFall
Hemant bhor · CC BY-SA 4.0

Recent years

Wet years, dry years.

Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020148%244%85%157%177%108%75%200%143%162%129%97%
202196%128%161%40%63%74%96%146%58%122%23%27%
2022106%150%110%59%127%35%142%93%119%47%150%85%
2023130%108%81%125%72%122%87%123%57%20%40%173%
2024211%71%136%66%157%40%114%110%265%8%58%104%
202544%123%59%72%129%96%96%103%69%67%29%49%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Caves nearby.

Linville Caverns

United States

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 683 mEntrance altitude
  • 13 °CInside, all year

Tuckaleechee Caverns

United States · 168 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 372 mEntrance altitude
  • 15 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Dixie Caverns

United States · 216 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 353 mEntrance altitude
  • 13 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Craighead Caverns

United States · 229 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 400 mEntrance altitude
  • 15 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length, visitorsWikidata (Q6555113) · CC0
The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020
Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and islands nearbyCoastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit
cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.You are here
dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Coming soonVisit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Coming soonVisit
forestsForestyaEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit