Deep in the heart of Texas, you'll find several natural wonders. One of these unique attractions is the Devil's Sinkhole State Park in Rocksprings. The park centers around a giant hole in the ground, which is home to 3-5 million Mexican free-tailed bats during the summer.
The Devil's Sinkhole is the largest single-chamber cavern in Texas. The area surrounding the park covers about 1,860 acres of land on the Edwards Plateau.
Peer over the side of this giant hole, and you'll face a 140-foot vertical drop into darkness. The cavern extends further down some 400 feet below the surface.
If you take a tour of the sinkhole at the right time of day, you'll get to see the bats inside take flight.
Texans first stumbled across the sinkhole in 1876. However, there is evidence that this site was a sacred place to Native people as far back as 2500 to 4000 BC. In fact, reports show that ancient campsites lined the mouth of the 50-foot-wide opening. The State of Texas Parks and Wildlife officially opened it to the public as a state park in 1992.
If you want to catch this natural beauty up close, you'll need to plan ahead. You can't go inside the cavern, but you can access the viewing area through official guided tours. These tours are available only through early reservations. Evening bat flight tours are only available during the summer months. When bat populations allow for it, morning tours are also available on certain days.
