Blanchard Offers Photography Tours Again in August & September
Blanchard Offers Photography Tours Again in August & September
Blanchard Springs Caverns received national attention when the photographs of A. Y. Owens displayed its awesome beauty on the pages of Life magazine over 40 years ago. Life called Blanchard “one of the most extraordinary cave finds of the century”!
Those photographs were taken before the U.S. Forest Service opened the Dripstone Trail. Located about 15 miles northwest of Mountain View, AR, Blanchard Springs Caverns has been a challenge to many photographers. A normal Dripstone or Discovery Trail Tour provides a leisurely look at the wonders of the spectacular rooms in Blanchard, but there is not enough time to look, listen, and think about taking pictures. So special tours just for photographers will be offered – two on the Dripstone Trail on Sunday, August 28, 2016 and Sunday, September 25, 2016; and one on the Discovery Trail on Sunday, September 11, 2016.
Each photography tour will be limited to the first 10 people who reserve a space. Reservations and advance payment are required; tickets are available on www.recreation.gov. Reservations will be confirmed on a first-come, first-served basis. The price for the tour will be a special rate of $20.00 per person, plus the ticketing fee of $3.00 per ticket. No other discounts apply. The Dripstone Trail photo tour is easy and less than 3/4 mile long, but the Discovery Trail photo tour involves a lot of stairs, both down and up.
Each photo tour begins at the Visitor Center at 12:00 pm, and each tour will last four hours. Tripods are welcome. The tours provide time but not instruction for cave photography. The Caverns stay around 58 degrees all year long despite the outside temperature. You may want a light jacket, but you’ll be carrying equipment and moving around, and that will help keep you warm.
Blanchard Springs Caverns is located on Highway 14, 15 miles northwest of Mountain View. For information or applications for the photography tours, call the Caverns at (870) 757-2211. For more information on the Caverns, look us up on the web at http://www.fs.usda.gov/osfnf/.
