Park contains hidden worlds

At first glance, Goat Cave Karst Preserve looks like a neighborhood park with a nature trail, but much more is going on beneath the surface.

The 9-acre preserve on Deer Lane is home to karsts—fissures, caves and sinkholes formed when water bore holes into the area's porous limestone.

Karsts delve down to the water table and connect local surface creeks to the Edwards Aquifer, said Nico Hauwert, city senior environmental scientist. The caves are home to species such as salamanders, millipedes, beetles, crickets, scorpions and some spiders.

"There's this whole underground world down there that nobody knows about," Hauwert said.

Goat Cave Karst Preserve got its name when explorers rescued a goat that fell into the cave in the 1980s, he said.

The preserve has four caves—Wade Sink, Hideout Sink, Goat Cave and Maple Run. The Underground Texas Grotto and the Austin Nature Center lead scheduled tours of Goat Cave.

Justin Shaw, a lead adventure guide with the University of Texas' recreational sports division who has led tours of Goat Cave, said caving offers the thrill of the unknown.

"With a mountain, you know how tall it is," he said. "With a cave, you do not know how far down you can go."

Note: Do not explore the caves unless on a guided tour.

Goat Cave Karst Preserve, 3900 Deer Lane, 512-974-6700, www.austintexas.gov/departments/parks-and-recreation, Hours: Dawn until dusk