Bracken Cave Preserve (Bat Conservation International Inc) — Attraction in Texas

Our family of four (kids aged 9 and 12) visited one weeknight in late August. We arrived at 6pm as instructed and were able to walk around the (small) area and hear some interesting information about how the cave was formed and how it relates to the nearby Natural Bridge Caverns.

An hour or so later, there was another interesting talk from a charismatic lady who told us about the bats and their behaviours. Unfortunately this talk was cut short by the emergence of the bats themselves, at which point we all migrated over to the seating by the bat cave.

Watching millions of bats come out of a cave is, ultimately, what you choose to make of it. They don't "do" much except pour out of the cave continuously for several hours and then fly away. This was plenty enough for me! My 9 year old became restless after a few minutes until he noticed a hawk diving and preying on the bats, and a few skunks which were exploring the area in front of the cave. Watching these animals, and noticing how the shape and pace of the "batnado" changed over time, kept him entertained for a good while. We ended up leaving about 8.30pm having felt that we've definitely "done" the bats.

If you like animals and you want to do something a bit unique while in San Antonio,...

Absolutely amazing! Surprise date for my wife. The babies have grown up and are flying now. About 20-30 million a night. Jeanie, Mike, Dwayne, and the others are so knowledgeable. We even got to see a skunk, armadillo, porcupine, and a snake. The portapotty is the nicest one I've ever been in hahaha! People complaining on Google reviews about being able to see it on camera. Its not the same. The smells, the sounds, the interactions with other people, the information and knowledge you gain. I would gladly pay 30 bucks to experience it again. We spend $30 on food that sucks all the time. If you have the opportunity to go, do it! It's the largest colony of bats in the world! I've seen Carlsbad Cavern bats fly and this was way...

Bracken Cave is among the top 12 caves we have been to. This is a relatively new cave first ezplored in 1960. The cave has been protected so there are none of the "dead formations" from people touching the formations. There also are not the broken off formations that happened when people were allowed to take souveniers.

There are fantastic flow stone, ribbon, bacon, and column formations. There are some nice soda straws but they are not long (less than 15 cm). The formation are growing rapidly from the high humidity and water in the cave. The temperature is around 16 C (70 F) year round with a relaiv humidity of about 99%.

The price is around US $22 per adult. Very reasonable for such an...