Tag: Dome Room

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Cave Pearl Crystal Cave Sequoia National Park

There are several opportunities to see “cave pearls” when exploring Crystal Cave in Sequoia National Park (CA). Cave pearls form when acidic water drips onto grains of sand or tiny stones. The dripping water causes the grains to move so that they do not attach to the cave floor while the calcite within the water causes the grains of sand to grow into bigger pebbles (and then rocks) as more and more calcite covers them. This is a cave pearl found among the rimstone dams in the Fairy Pools formation in the Dome Room at Crystal Cave.

Cave pearl at Fairy Pool in Crystal Cave Sequoia National Park

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Fairy Pools Crystal Cave Sequoia National Park

My favorite of the many magnificent cave formations at Crystal Cave in Sequoia National Park (CA) was the Fairy Pools. Also located in the Dome Room, these delicate flowstone dam pools are perfectly framed by other cave formations which make them look like they do come out of some type of fairy tale:

Fairy Pools in Dome Room in Crystal Cave at Sequoia National Park

The Fairy Pools are right along the cave path which allows you to inspect them closely (not from a distance as with many of the other popular formation within the cave). This allows you to see up close and personal how calcite makes many different types of cave formations in a single spot:

Lily Pads in the Fairy Pools formation in Crystal Cave