A former gravel mine in Minford is about to transform into one of southern Ohio's most unusual holiday attractions. The free Christmas Cave opens for its 11th season on Nov. 20, offering nearly a mile of lighted displays, Nativity exhibits and underground scenes carved out of the White Gravel Mines, with no admission charge required to walk through.
Dates, Hours and What to Expect
According to WLWT, this year's Christmas season at the cave runs every Friday and Saturday for five weeks, beginning Nov. 20 and continuing through Dec. 20. A separate calendar listing from indyschild.com specifies the dates as Nov. 20-21, Nov. 27-28, Dec. 4-5, Dec. 11-12 and Dec. 18-19, with hours running from 4 to 10 p.m. each night. The display sits at 4007 White Gravel McDaniel Road in Minford, roughly a two-hour drive from downtown Cincinnati, per WLWT.
Visitors will find 16 exhibits telling the story of Jesus' birth spread across nearly a mile of displays both above and below ground, according to WLWT. Per the Martins, who created the Christmas Cave, that includes 16 underground biblical scenes and three Nativity exhibits stretched across roughly three-quarters of a mile of underground path. The site also features two tunnels of lights and new outdoor displays added for this season, WLWT reports.
Free Admission, Donations Appreciated
There's no admission fee to walk through, though the Martins recommend a $1 donation, which can be made at the grounds, according to WLWT. Visitors looking for more logistical details can check ohparent.com, which notes that no reservations are needed for general admission, though reservations are required for field trips and for anyone needing mobility assistance, since the caves are not handicap accessible. The outlet also reports that the display is entirely self-guided, winding through nearly a mile of exhibits at the White Gravel Mines.
Tom and Mindy Martin are part of a team dedicated to educating visitors about the Christmas story through the display, WLWT reports. The Christmas Cave traces back to 2016, after the nonprofit running White Gravel Mines had already operated the site since 2009, per indyschild.com. Reports describe the underground temperature as staying constant year-round, though accounts differ on the exact figure — WLWT and the Scioto Post both cite 55 degrees, while Belt Magazine puts the figure at 58 degrees.
A Tradition That's Grown for a Decade
Volunteers have staged the display every year since 2016, and it has become one of southern Ohio's best-known holiday traditions, drawing visitors from well beyond the region, according to ohparent.com. WLWT reports that thousands of visitors come through each year, per the Martins. Other accounts put more specific numbers on that turnout: the Statehouse News Bureau reported that more than 30,000 people made the journey the prior season, while the Scioto Post put last year's total at more than 33,000 visitors.
The crowds can be especially heavy on weekend nights. The Statehouse News Bureau has reported that as many as 6,000 people meander through the mile-long underground trail on Friday and Saturday nights through December. That kind of draw echoes an earlier chapter of southern Ohio's holiday-display history: Belt Magazine notes that Rudd's Christmas Farm in nearby Adams County once brought in up to 200,000 visitors over a season before the Rudds ended the display in 1999 after 30 years. The Christmas Cave's organizers appear to be carrying that tradition of large-scale, homegrown holiday spectacle into its second decade, this time underground.
