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Crawford State Park.(Washington State Parks)
- Article from:
- Oregon & Washington: A Guide to the State & National Parks
- Article date:
- January 1, 1996
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Hunter Publishing, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Location: 11 miles north of Metaline, in the extreme northeast corner of Washington.
History
The story of Crawford State Park centers around that of Gardner Cave. With a slope of 1,055 feet, this cave is the longest limestone cave in Washington state.
About 500 million years ago, much of North America was covered by ocean. As sea creatures died, their shells settled to the bottom, forming a limestone ooze that eventually turned into a rock called the Metaline Limestone. As mountains were forming about 70 million years ago, this rock was folded and faulted. The acid that formed when rainwater absorbs carbon dioxide eventually created a cave ...