In the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, in the Blue Ridge Mountains,

there's a network of dark cold caves called the Ray Caverns.

A path leads down into the cave and it takes you past Dream Lake,

a big pool with this calm reflective surface.

And all around it, there are a ton of stalagtites hanging down from the ceiling and stalagmites

reaching up from the ground.

It's this jaw-droppingly beautiful space.

But wander a little further into the cave,

and your jaw might drop a little more.

Because there in the middle of the cave

is an enormous organ.

And this isn't your average church organ

because instead of pipes every key of this organ is connected to a

tiny mallet that hits a different stalagtite.

This is Atlas Obscura, a celebration of the of the world strange, incredible and wondrous places. And today we visit the great Stileg Pipe organ, and we meet the son of the man who made it.

He would get letters from people all over the world and then he

developed an international following. They all sort of thought my dad was a genius.

The story of Leland Sprinkled

and the Stileg Pipe Organ.

After this. So, So my parents came to me and said, well for your birthday, you get your choice.

We can have a birthday party or we can take a trip to a cave.

And I said, the cave.

...