Boone's Cave Park is a 110-acre county park located near

Lexington, North Carolina Lexington is the county seat of Davidson County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 18,931. It is located in central North Carolina, south of Winston-Salem. Major highways include I-85, I-85B, U ...

It was established in 1909 by the Daniel Boone Memorial Association. It is named after

American pioneer American pioneers were European American and African American settlers who migrated westward from the Thirteen Colonies and later United States to settle in and develop areas of North America that had previously been inhabited or used by Nati ...

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...

History

There are a number of "Boone's Cave", but the cave in the park is rumored to be the where Squire and Sarah Jarman Morgan spent their first winter, with the then teenage Daniel upon entering the region in 1751, perhaps to escape Native Americans. There was a total of 25 people in the group, with all 10 of the Boones children, and other family members and neighbors who all left Pennsylvania together. The Boone family and everyone else soon built homes near the cave, located next to the

Yadkin River The Yadkin River is one of the longest rivers in North Carolina, flowing . It rises in the northwestern portion of the state near the Blue Ridge Parkway's Thunder Hill Overlook. Several parts of the river are impounded by dams for water, po ...

. The Boones eventually settled on the opposite banks of the Yadkin River, which serves as a county line and into what is now Davie County, about two miles (3 km) west of Mocksville.

Geography

The park is approximately 120 acres and supports a variety of flora and fauna native to the area, including a number of hardwoods such as

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Origin of names The common English name ''hornbeam' ...

and

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...

. Over 50 different flowering plants such as

laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

and wild

hydrangea ''Hydrangea'', () commonly named the hortensia, is a genus of over 75 species of flowering plants native to Asia and the Americas. By far the greatest species diversity is in eastern Asia, notably China, Korea, and Japan. Most are shrubs tall, ...

can be found in the park. The cave itself is 140 foot deep from start to finish, but so shallow that most sections require crawling to gain access. It is within sight of the Yadkin River and part of the 165-mile Yadkin River Trail.

Gallery

Image:Boone's Cave Park Lexington NC cave.jpg, Entry of cave Image:Yadkin River at Baptism Rock in Boone's Cave Park.jpg, "Baptism Rock" at the Yadkin River, between the cave and the original homesite Image:Boone's Cave Park Lexington NC house.jpg, Remains of Park Ranger's cabin built by the CCC in the 1930s

References

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External links

Official website
at Davison County, North Carolina Parks and Recreation
Visit Davidson County information
(PDF)
Video Overview of the Cave
Parks in North Carolina Protected areas of Davidson County, North Carolina Caves of North Carolina Landforms of Davidson County, North Carolina Former state parks of North Carolina

History

Geography

Gallery

See also

References

External links