Cosmic Cavern’s mysteries run deep

Randy Langhover started working as manager of Cosmic Cavern north of Berryville 50 years ago. He bought the cave in 1980, and with exploration and excavation, has expanded it three times, making it the largest private show cave in Arkansas. Why is he so fascinated with the cave still? “We are still exploring,” he said.

When he talks about opening new areas of the cave, and the quest to find an elusive waterfall he heard in 2011 when the cave underwent epic flooding, it becomes quite clear that this is a man whose business is a true joy.

The Boston Mountain Grotto Cave Club is helping dig out a clay tunnel leading into other, previously unexplored areas. The group came on June 10, digging out 15 feet with buckets emptied via zipline to a lower area of the cave. They will be back on Sept. 9.

About 90 percent of this cave, which gets 27,000 visitors in a year, is underwater. The lakes are considered one of the more beautiful parts of the cave. In 2011 when the big flood hit, water in the cave went up to 65 feet, and when the water dropped 15 feet, the floor of the cave started vibrating. They wondered what was making the cave shake, then heard a huge waterfall.

“We want to find where all that water came from, and we don’t want to wait for a 100-year flood to find out,” Randy said.

He has done a lot of the excavation himself, and tour guides enjoy telling visitors the stories of him using dynamite to blast new holes. But now he is relying on the cave club to help with the arduous task.

“We’re at the point now where we are anticipating a room,” Randy said, “and I’m still looking for the waterfall.”

Cosmic Cavern is a family business. Randy, his wife, Anita, and their two girls, Leila, 14, and J.P., 12, keep the cave business running. Leila, a skilled gymnast, started leading cave tours this year and helps run the cash register.

In addition to guided tours that last an hour and 20 minutes, they also offer wild tours several times a week during the summer.

“In 1994 we added wild tours, a two-and-a-half-hour trip,” Randy said. “It’ s pretty physical. We have to be selective about people we let go back there. They have to have both upper and lower body strength because you climb a 20-foot wall. You don’t have to crawl, but you do have to climb, and you have to go on the regular tour first. We made that rule after one person on the wild cave tour freaked out, grabbed a rock, and no one could get through. I told her that was my rock. She had to let go.”

Some people, especially if they have never been in a cave, find the regular cave tour wild. There are places where you duck to avoid a head knocking and places you squirm around a rock to get through. There are steep stairs, and since the cave is damp and dripping, there can be slick spots.

The cave features a nine-foot soda straw (a hollow tube formed where water leaches through cracks) the longest known in the Ozarks. Stalactites, stalagmites, helictites (spiral-shaped formations) and flow stones, plus two bottomless lakes add to the natural wonder.

How does he know they are bottomless? “It is physically impossible to find the bottom because it slants,” Randy said. “The crack can go one or two miles down. We know we are in the same Roubidoux aquifer that feeds Blue Spring and Roaring River. The Alaska earthquake in 1964 made the water dirty in all three places. That’s how we know they’re all tied together. A diver in Roaring River, the deepest spring in North America, went down 472 feet this past year, and died after not decompressing adequately.”

Early owners didn’t like bats, and started fires in the cave to eliminate them. Smoke damage on formations can still be seen. But, almost miraculously, the soot is being covered up by drips in the cave’s 96 percent humidity.

Later on, onyx was harvested and sold in shops in Eureka Springs.

Much of the cave is pristine, such as the formations in the north lake section. When the lake in that area was discovered in 1993, it made national news. Many of the beautiful formations are transparent.

Randy’s roots in the Ozarks reach back to when his grandparents had a ranch on Table Rock Lake. After high school, he heard about Onyx Cave in Eureka Springs and decided he wanted to be a cave guide. After four years at Onyx Cave, he was approached to be manager of Cosmic Cavern.

In 1985, they built a bridge back to Ghost Room. And, yes, there are ghosts in Cosmic Cavern.

“Through the years we have had psychics come in,” Randy said. “One said the little boy ghost people see is named Jake, but we have always called him Sam. The psychic asked him if he wanted to go, and he said ‘no.’ He will unscrew light bulbs and make noises. He’s playful. He was tapping on the boat the other day.

“Several people have seen a lady in a Victorian dress who appears and then disappears. At times a grizzly man has been seen looking down from a hole in the ceiling. We could probably do a ghost tour.”

For a lot of people, one tour is not enough to take it all in. Randy said they get a huge amount of return business.

In addition to being a cave owner, Randy has been a Carroll County sheriff’s deputy for 48 years, serving under 11 sheriffs. He has been a reserve deputy since 2002. He also distributes brochures for 40 area tourist attractions brochures to 600 locations.