Longhorn Caverns

Before the park the cave was Sherrard's Cave, in D. G. Sherrard's pasture. It holds a constant 65 degrees, and a layer of flint good for toolmaking made it more useful still to the Comanches who sheltered there and gave the Indian Council Room its name. The Handbook of Texas says the numbers and kinds of bones found inside suggest predators used it as a den. Besides the night club of the 1920s, one room served for plays and religious services. About eleven miles have been explored; the guided tour covers a mile and a quarter.

What the plaque says

Longhorn Caverns Rich in history and folklore. A young geologic formation, only a few million years old. Bones of elephant, bison, bear, deer, other animals have been found here. When white men came to area in 1840's, Indians knew the caverns; Rangers once found and rescued a kidnapped girl from Indians in "Council Room." During Civil War (1861-1865) gunpowder was manufactured and stored here. In 1870's outlaws, including the Sam Bass gang, sometimes lived in the cavern. Site of night club in 1920's. Has many unique features. Was opened to public in 1932. (1967)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Longhorn Cavern State Park — steps away
  A cave carved by an underground river in the Hill Country, cleared of mud by hand in the 1930s and reached down 52 stone steps on a guided tour.
• Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery — 3.4 mi
  A free federal hatchery below Inks Dam on the Colorado, with thirty production ponds that draw birds and a look at how fish are raised from egg to harvest.
• Inks Lake State Park — 3.8 mi
  A state park on a constant-level lake of the Colorado, between Buchanan and Inks dams, with pink granite and gneiss at the water and CCC work along Park Road 4.
• Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge: Doeskin Ranch — 17 mi
  A free federal refuge north of Lake Travis kept for two songbirds that need old juniper and oak, with trails at the Doeskin Ranch unit near Bertram.

More markers nearby

• Hoover's Valley Cemetery — 2.2 mi
• The Tobey Community Cemetery — 3.2 mi
• Buchanan Dam — 5.2 mi
• Granite Industry in Llano County — 6.5 mi