Luray Caverns, 45 kilometres north of Harrisonburg near the town of Luray, is the largest cavern system open to the public in the eastern United States and a National Natural Landmark since 1974. The cave passages are enormous — some chambers are 9 metres high — and decorated with an unusually dense concentration of stalactites, stalagmites, columns, and flowstone formations, many of them reflected in still underground pools.
The most famous feature is the Stalacpipe Organ, a 1954 contraption that strikes stalactites throughout a 14-acre section of the cave with rubber-tipped pneumatic mallets to produce musical notes — the world's largest natural musical instrument. The cave tour takes about an hour and covers 1.5 kilometres of illuminated passage. The temperature inside is a constant 13°C year-round, making it a welcome escape in summer.
story: > Luray Caverns was discovered in 1878 by Andrew Campbell, who lowered a lantern into a small sinkhole and found a vast underground room below. The cave had been sealed for millennia. Within a year of discovery, a railway spur had been built to bring in visitors; the cavern has been open continuously for tours since 1879 and has never closed for more than a single day.