Bluff Dwellers' Cavern Tavern Events

COURTESY PHOTO/Bluff Dwellers Cave invites cave, beer and food-truck enthusiasts to attend the upcoming Cavern Tavern special event. The cave tour will focus on the role caves historically played in producing, storing and consuming alcohol, and local breweries and food trucks will be on-site to fill plates and cups.
COURTESY PHOTO/Bluff Dwellers Cave invites cave, beer and food-truck enthusiasts to attend the upcoming Cavern Tavern special event. The cave tour will focus on the role caves historically played in producing, storing and consuming alcohol, and local breweries and food trucks will be on-site to fill plates and cups.

Lovers of caves, locally-crafted beer and food trucks have an opportunity to enjoy all of the above in the coming weeks as Bluff Dwellers Cave hosts a new, themed tour, dubbed Cavern Tavern. The maiden event will take place on Friday, July 12, followed by two more events on July 19 and July 26.

Visitors will be given a guided tour of Bluff Dwellers Cave and learn how caves have been used historically to brew beer and alcohol. At the end of the tour, guests will be able to sample and purchase beer from local breweries, as well as purchase mouth-watering plates of food from unique food trucks.

Indian Springs Brewing Company will be on-site July 12 with a broad variety of beer to taste. Bacon Me Krazy food truck will also be serving up burgers, fries and nachos -- all of which can be topped with fresh bacon.


The idea for Cavern Tavern came about as a result of a brainstorm session courtesy of Nicole Ridlen, general manager.

"Lots of people take our regular tour, but how can we bring them back to the cave?" she wondered.

That's when she thought to have a themed tour that still tied into the cave and the history of caves.

"Caves have been used to produce, store and consume liquor for centuries," Ridlen said. "The oldest evidence of beer and brewing was actually found in a cave in Israel."

Ridlen has managed Bluff Dwellers Cave for three years. She was recruited by a friend from school whose great-grandfather discovered the cave in 1925. Ridlen's passion for caving developed when she was an adventurous, adrenaline-seeking young adult. As her interest grew, she joined cave-related organizations and eventually pursued a master's degree in geology with a focus on speleology; the study of caves. Ridlen is now pursuing a Ph.D. in geology.

"I'm the staff geologist," she joked. "I just happen to have a bachelor's degree in business too."


Whistling Springs Brewing Company will be on-tap July 19 and The Driveway Diner food truck will be satisfying taste buds with slow-smoked BBQ and all the fixings.

Indian Springs Brewing Company and The Driveway Diner will both return to the Cavern Tavern on July 26.

The Cavern Tavern Tour package is $19.99 and includes a 45-minute-long cave tour, a Bluff Dwellers Cave beer glass, a glow-in-the-dark bracelet and beer tasting, where you will be able to purchase full glasses of beer as well. Tickets are limited in quantity and can be purchased at the cave gift shop or online at Eventbrite by searching for "Cavern Tavern."

Those wishing to forego the Cavern Tavern cave tour can purchase a Bluff Dwellers Cave beer glass in the gift shop for $7.99 and purchase beer by the glass from the featured local brewery.

Tours begin at 5 p.m. and will begin every 20 to 30 minutes. Beer tasting will begin at 6 p.m., and the food trucks will be dishing up delicious food until 9 p.m.

Bluff Dwellers Cave is located at 163 Cave Road in Noel.

General News on 07/11/2019