Florida Museum of Natural History


Useful Information

Location: Gainesville, Powell Hall, SW 34th Street and Hull Road. Interstate 75, exit 75, east on State Road 24 (Archer Road), north on State Road 121 (S.W. 34th Street), at the third traffic signal, east (right) on Hull Road. Entrance to the University of Florida Cultural Plaza on the south side of Hull Road.
Open: All year Mon-Sat 10-17, Sun, Hol 13-17. Thanksgiving, Christmas closed.
Fee: free
Classification: SubterraneaCave and Karst Museum SubterraneaCave replica
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address: Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Powell Hall, Education and Exhibition Center, SW 34th Street and Hull Road, PO Box 112710, Gainesville, FL 32611-2710, Tel: +1-352-846-2000. E-mail: contact
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History


Description

The Florida Museum of Natural History has an artificial limestone cave on display, which shows many details of the formation and content of a typical northwest Florida cave. The cave shows speleothems like stalactites and stalagmites. Typical inhabitants are opossums, crickets, blind cave crayfish, southeastern bats, diamondback rattlesnakes, barn owls, and raccoons.

The artificial cave has a long history at this museum, there was already an artificial cave in the eighties, when the museum was still named Florida State Museum. This exhibit does not exist any more, and among other changes a new exibit in Powell Hall, on the western edge of the University of Florida campus was opened. Here a new cave was crated recently.