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AUT 1975 ForestWander

United States United States Show cave

Seneca Caverns

10 °C inside, all year.

Show caveStalactites

See the descentHow to visit

ForestWander · CC BY-SA 3.0 us

The descent

The entrance, at 662 m.

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

depth not publishedEntrance1,130 m1.0 kmvertical × 4.3depth not publishedEntrance1,130 m1.0 kmvertical × 9.3

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.

662m

Entrance altitude

from the 30 m relief model

10°C

Inside, all year

the yearly average outside, at the entrance

171m

Rock above

the highest point within 1.5 km

Inside and outside

10 °C inside, all year.

Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 10 °C here, in January and in August. In August the afternoon reaches 27 °C at the entrance, 17 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket.

outside, at the entrance (662 m)inside
  1. 2°-7°Jan
  2. 3°-6°Feb
  3. 9°-2°Mar
  4. 16°4°Apr
  5. 20°10°May
  6. 25°14°Jun
  7. 27°16°Jul
  8. 27°15°Aug
  9. 24°12°Sep
  10. 17°5°Oct
  11. 10°0°Nov
  12. 4°-4°Dec
Inside: 10 °C all yearFrost outside: Dec–MarWettest: May

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 Pendleton County, West Virginia, United States of America

Seneca Caverns is a show cave in United States. The entrance is at 662 m. It has stalactites and stalagmites. It is open to visitors.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there.

  • Show cave: open to visitorsHours in OpenStreetMap: We-Su 10:00-17:00 · ticket required
  • Franklinnearest town · 14 km in a straight line
  • Parking 40 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
  • Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport (SHD)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 70 km in a straight lineCar hire at CHO airport (Charlottesville)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 Seneca 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 kmSeneca Caverns
  • 1car parks within 2 km
  • 2campsites within 8 kmSeneca Shadows Campground, Wrangler Meadow Campground
  • 1hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmYokum's Motel
  • 1restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • springs within 2 km
  • sinkholes within 3 km
  • caving clubs and spots within 15 km
  • viewpoints within 3 km
  • marked hiking routes within 3 km
  • climbing crags within 3 km
  • named waterfalls within 4 km
  • information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
  • bus stops within 2 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

  • Franklin14 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Seneca 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.

Peakyas19 mountains within 10 km
River Knobs870 m · 5.0 kmBland Hills · 5.8 kmBig Mountain · 7.7 kmSpruce Mountain1,482 m · 8.1 kmRiver Mountain · 8.3 kmBuffalo Hills · 8.3 kmSand Mountain · 8.6 kmPeters Mountain · 9.7 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
Afternoon23916202527272417104
Afternoon23916202527272417104
Night-7-6-24101416151250-4
Rain (mm)7476831021231161189092877287
Rainy days131214131616171511101011
Sun hours/day2.63.64.65.96.47.67.77.26.54.84.12.3
Snow on the ground (cm)1516113000001614
AfternoonAfternoonNightRain (mm)Sun hours/day
Jan22-7742.6
Feb33-6763.6
Mar99-2834.6
Apr161641025.9
May2020101236.4
Jun2525141167.6
Jul2727161187.7
Aug272715907.2
Sep242412926.5
Oct17175874.8
Nov10100724.1
Dec44-4872.3

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (662 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Inside and around.

AUT 1983 ForestWander
ForestWander · CC BY-SA 3.0 us
2019-10-27 13 33 57 View east along Pendleton County Route 33-4 (Briery Gap Road) between Lower Timber Ridge Road and U.S. Route 33-West Virginia State Route 28 in Simoda, Pendleton County, West Virginia
Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-27 13 34 00 View east along Pendleton County Route 33-4 (Briery Gap Road) between Lower Timber Ridge Road and U.S. Route 33-West Virginia State Route 28 in Simoda, Pendleton County, West Virginia
Famartin · 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
2020120%122%89%144%71%99%71%150%68%111%167%97%
202170%109%65%77%69%91%54%117%144%90%37%53%
2022105%93%69%72%110%72%95%118%89%74%119%76%
202371%90%86%61%71%81%85%100%98%61%87%102%
2024169%99%102%105%89%68%44%132%121%31%104%88%
202581%117%53%83%168%125%130%46%51%70%76%57%

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

Caves nearby.

Seneca Caverns

United States

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 662 mEntrance altitude
  • 10 °CInside, all year

Smoke Hole Caverns

United States · 27 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 340 mEntrance altitude
  • 12 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Luray Caverns

United States · 79 km

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

See the guide

Shenandoah Caverns

United States · 63 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 314 mEntrance altitude
  • 12 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length, visitorsWikidata (Q7450278) · 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