Est. 1881 · In continuous operation since February 1881 · One of Colorado's oldest show caves · Discovered by Pickett brothers, developed by George Washington Snider · Electrified July 4, 1907
The cave was first documented in July 1880 when brothers George and John Pickett, exploring Williams Canyon with Rev. Roselle T. Cross, noticed candlelight flickering in a small shelter cave and found wind pushing through a crevice. The reverend published an account in his church newsletter, which the Colorado Springs Gazette reprinted on July 2, 1880.
George Washington Snider, an Ohio stonecutter who had come to Colorado, read the account and located the entrance. He began excavating in late 1880, opening the passage enough to discover a large chamber he called Canopy Hall — a room nearly 200 feet long filled with stalactites and stalagmites. Snider described the first sight of it as though 'Aladdin with his wonderful lamp had affected the magic result.' Unfortunately, after he spoke of his discovery publicly, townspeople swarmed the cave and stripped many of the formations — damage that cannot be undone.
Snider began offering guided tours in February 1881, charging $1 per ticket, making Cave of the Winds one of Colorado's oldest visitor attractions. He initially partnered with a man named Charles Rinehart to purchase the surrounding land. The partnership deteriorated; Rinehart eventually sued for breach of contract after Snider negotiated a separate deal involving a second cave system discovered through a nearby steam vent. The litigation stretched for years, pushing Snider into debt.
Electrical lighting was installed on July 4, 1907, which dramatically increased visitor numbers. The cave has remained in continuous operation ever since and expanded over the 20th century to include outdoor adventure attractions. Today it offers multiple cave tour formats and above-ground rides, operating daily year-round from its mountain park above Manitou Springs.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_the_Winds_(Colorado)
- https://caveofthewinds.com/learning-center/cave-history/
- https://sjrnews.com/notes-westwater/haunted-lantern-tour
- https://seeksghosts.blogspot.com/2019/06/manitou-springs-cave-of-winds.html
ApparitionsUnexplained phone callsObject movementUnexplained lightsScent phenomena
The cave's haunted reputation draws directly from its 19th-century ownership history. George Washington Snider, who developed the passages and ran the tours, is the primary apparition reported by paranormal teams. He has been described observing tour groups from the Grand Concert Hall — standing at a distance, watching.
The more affecting story concerns Nelly Snider. She reportedly took Snider's tours repeatedly, fell in love with the cave itself as much as its guide, and eventually married him. Together they spent years running operations, exploring new passages, and in some accounts sleeping inside the cave on their honeymoon. When the Rinehart lawsuit began and stretched on year after year, the financial pressure and the threat to everything they had built took a serious toll on Nelly. She suffered a mental breakdown serious enough to require institutionalization.
After her release, she disappeared one night. George found her at the base of a nearby cliff. The accounts of her death vary across different telling of the story — some describe a fall, others frame it differently — but the consistent element is that the litigation and the debt had finally broken her. Guides keep a lantern associated with Nelly in the cave as a kind of memorial, and visitors on the haunted tours report detecting the scent of roses in areas near it.
Beyond the Snider accounts, staff have documented landline phones ringing when they had been physically disconnected from the wall. Calls have been received from inside the cave when it was confirmed unoccupied. Objects in the gift shop are found displaced on morning opening. Paranormal teams have captured photographs of unexplained lights in the Grand Concert Hall and Lovers Lane sections of the cave.
Notable Entities
George Washington SniderNelly Snider
