Tour Oklahoma: Alabaster Caverns State Park 07/23/09

Last year we heard about the Selman Bat Watch near Alabaster Caverns State Park (Freedom, OK). We wanted to go see it but learned you have to have a reservation and they “sell out” (though free) almost immediately so you have to plan way ahead. This year we registered on the first day we could and got right in on the day we wanted.

We also scheduled a cave tour ($8 adults, $5 children) for everyone but me. I’m way too claustrophobic. I really wanted to see the tour and was worried it wouldn’t be so bad. After seeing the pictures I’m glad I didn’t do the tour.

When we first arrived we checked in at the office and they were able to get us in on an earlier tour. Everyone took the tour while I read a book in the shade. It was starting to get hot outside. They were cool in the cave.

Everyone loved the cave tour. I bought a couple Frisbees in the gift shop and we threw the Frisbees around for a little while once they were finished. Then we went on an unplanned hike.

Then we decided to go eat. There is a café in the park that was pretty good although it was packed and took a very long time. Thankfully, we had plenty of time to spare and we were inside out of the heat.

Then we went to meet up for the bat tour. Our tour guide started out the orientation by doing the Echolocation Dance. Then they told some interesting facts and passed some snakes and spiders around (in cages).

Then we loaded up in Woodward Public School busses and drove to the site (outside of the park) where we would watch the bats fly out of the caves. They told us some more info about the bats. The tour guide was very knowledgeable. Then right on cue about half a million mommy bats came flying out of the cave in formation.

It was very cool. It is hard to describe. It was a little less exciting than I thought it would be, yet it was also extremely cool to see. We all thought they would be a little closer and more of a swarm. However, we were glad to see it. And they really were pretty close.

After a short break in the activity, the baby bats came flying out. There was no formation to their flight and they were closer to us yet still not a swarm. Over the course of the night probably another half a million or more would come out. They were so sporadic though it never felt like you were being overwhelmed.

We packed up in the busses and headed back to Alabaster Caverns. It was almost 10 pm.

We had decided earlier to go ahead and stay over the next day and see two more parks so we drove to Woodward and got a hotel. That’s about as rustic as we get. We’re not really “campers.” Maybe we will be before this state park experience is all over.