What is the longest cave in West Virginia?

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WOWK) — West Virginia is home to many caves for explorers to navigate. It just so happens that one of them is the sixth longest cave in the U.S. and the 17th longest cave in the world.

Considered to be the longest cave in West Virginia , Friars Hole Cave has eight entrances that can be found along Droop Mountain in Pocahontas and Greenbrier Counties.

The cave, which is mostly made up of Greenbrier Limestone dating back to the Mississippian Age (358-323 million years ago), consists of 45 miles of mapped passages, 44 miles of which have been surveyed. The entire cave system is around 52 miles long and contains 11 known entrances.

During the Civil War, parts of the cave was used for mining saltpeter, a practice in West Virginia caves that dates as far back as 1776 . A photograph of a vertical pit entrance to the cave, called Crookshank Hole, appears in the June 1964 issue of National Geographic, and in 1976, it was discovered that the cave connected to the nearby Snedegars Cave.

Today, the cave entrances are on lands that are either privately owned or belong to the Friars Hole Cave Preserve, and only experienced, well-equipped cavers with permission from the various landowners are allowed to explore.

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