Cave History

Agate Cave, WA.

Indian legend. Long before white man came to the northwest, two adventurous braves paddled into one of the caves and were never seen again.

Arch Cave, Mt. St. Helens.

Discovered by Bill Reese and Cascade Grotto member Jan Utterstrom, first described by Bill Halliday following a June 1963 visit.

Arnold Ice cave, DESCHUTES.

Arnold ice cave has been so known for a number of years and the name is apparently established. However, the late Robert B. Gould of Bend said that the name of Arnold came to be applied to the cave as a result of the misreading of a country road sign, which bore directions for Arnold (ranch) and the ice cave. Visitors combined the two names on the signboard, with the results Arnold Ice cave is now well known by that name. For additional information about the naming of this cave, see Click for photo. editorial in Bend Bulletin, April 18, 1927. More info in Larson book “Central Oregon Caves” For sale in cave store.

Barney’s cave,Mt.St. Helens. Discovered in 1968 and named after Charlie Baker’s dog (Charlie was Bob
Bakers dad.

Bat cave, Mt. St. Helens.

This complex lava cave was discovered in 1958 by Boy Scout Troop 348, led by Harry Reese. The cave was given its name due to bats in the cave. The Reese brothers found the upper passage on 11-5-1960.

Beaver Bay Cave, Mt. St. Helens.

Beaver Bay Cave is a lava tube segment that was abruptly truncated by mass wasting of a canyon headwall. Entry to the cave is complicated by talus resulting from ceiling collapse and hydraulic undermining of the tube floor. About 500 feet, map length, it is mostly low passages and rough crawlways.
Found and named by Clyde Senger in March, 1977

Beaver cave,Mt St. Helens.

Beaver Cave was named after the skeleton of a mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa) found in the cave, by the Reese boys in the early 1960s. First Oregon Grotto member known to have visited it was Jim Wilcox in 1965.

It was first mapped by Ronald Greeley and the moon-shot crew in 1969

Butter cave, Trout Lake.

This cave was used for storage of butter around 1909. There may be still some remnants of a door at entrance and old skid rails.

Cheese cave, Trout Lake.

In pioneer day potatoes was stored in this cold cave. Later on Roquefort cheese was stored in the cave and racks where built for storing. Now as of 2003 most of the rack are pretty rotten and fallen down. This cave has up to 60-foot ceilings and very wide passages.

Joseph Arnie discovered this cave in the winter of 1894. He found it by a vapor plume coming out of the cave. He and group return later and Peter Smith was lowered 45 feet into the cave. Cave was also know as Plume cave.Picture 1. picture 2.

Christmas Canyon cave,Mt. St. Helens.

Jim Nieland found this erosional cave in 1979. During heavy storms of rain and or snow water has been know to flow through the cave. You can hear water flowing through cracks and tree molds above the cave. The cave averages two feet high with a number of tree molds and skylights with over 2000 feet of passage.

The Canyon was named from a large debris slide from Christmas canyon on Christmas day 1933, destroying a bridge and isolating a CCC camp. More info in Speleograph 1996 Vol. 32 # 5.

(Info from Jim Nieland notes.) Click here for a waterfall picture of Christmas Canyon.

Chubby Bunny cave, Trout Lake.

This cave was discovered on 9-13-93 by Chris Lee, Al Lollar, Jason Lollar, Libby & Jim Nieland. Entrance was mostly covered with several large carred slabs and pieces of log left over from slash burn.A rock slab had to moved aside to allow acess from entrance room, into the main passage expposing a 10 foot vertical drop to the passage floor below. Rabbit bones were found on the passage floor few hundred feet from entrance.

Cougar Cave, Mount Saint Helens.

Discovered and named in 1977 by Clyde Senger, this cave was subsequently found to be connected to Joes Cave by a practically impassable eight-foot-long, 5-inch high passage. Cave also is know as Bill’s Short Cut Cave.

Coralloid, Deschutes.

(611-38) cave know since 1980’s by forest service employees Ric Carlson and others. Name by Oregon Grotto members for formations found in cave. I think maybe Dennis Glasby or Chuck O’Donnall named the cave.

Curly Creek cave, GPNF.

Report discovery by Bill Halliday in 1958

Datus Perrys Cave, WA.

Datus Perrys Cave, part of the Falls Creek Lava Tube System, was reported to Oregon Grotto in early 1968 by Datus Perry, a long-time resident and inveterate cave digger of Carson Washington. Best known for its lava stalactites and stalagmites, parts of the cave were photographed by Charlie and Jo Larson on May 19, 1968. Two photos depicting a two-foot lava stalagmite “before and after being broken,” included in the 1980 Oregon Grotto Slide Show, were actually photos of the stalagmite as found (broken) and of it reassembled. In 1975, Oregon Grotto members surveyed 800 feet of the cave before the survey was abandoned because the cave was too cold for “shirt sleeves.” (Larson, 2005)

Dead Horse Cave, Trout Lake.

Dead Horse Cave is no ordinary lava tube cave. It is the most complex, mapped, lava tube cave in the U.S.–so complex that the generic term “lava tube” seems inappropriate. A very popular cave, broadly consisting of the River Passage, Lower Cave, and Masochists Maze, the cave has three known entrances: the lower entrance (which floods occasionally), the upper entrance (also known as the Rat Hole), and a dug entrance near the northeast corner of Masochists Maze (repeatedly dug open and later backfilled, present condition unknown).
Well known to locals for decades, as with many other caves in the Trout Lake area, cavers were led to the lower entrance of Dead Horse Cave on Nov.5, 1965, by Lyle Ryan, a Trout Lake resident and employee of SDS Lumber Co. The upper entrance was accidentally found by Don and Maylin Nelson who visited the cave with an Oregon Grotto group on Oct.26, 1969. The opening was confirmed as an entrance by Bob Baker, the first person to enter the cave via this opening.
This cave lies in the path of ground water moving downslope obliquely toward Dead Horse Creek, which it parallels to the north. Water, manifested by pools, broken streams, subterranean fracture springs (and one boiling spring) streams through parts of the cave; then sinks back into the open rock or sediments, and eventually finds its way to the bed of Dead Horse Creek about 400 feet below the cave’s lower entrance.
It was four years after learning of the cave’s existence before cavers–expecting to map a deserving but small cave–got around to Dead Horse. An Oregon Grotto team began mapping Oct.19, 1969, and was repeatedly amazed by what lay beyond the “small” cave. It just kept on going and going. The lower maze area was not mapped until Oct. 10, 1971. The last major mapping, Mar. 9-10, 1991, logged about 4,500 feet of passage in Masochist Maze (Larson, 2005)

Dendrite Cave, Deschutes,

(611-77). Pretty sure this cave was found and named by Dennis Glasby of the Oregon Grotto in 1980’s. Cave has dendritic pattern.

Dollar-and-a-Dime Cave, Mount Saint Helens. Description: Discovered in Nov. 1966 by M.W. Becker and his brother while searching for caves using a formula they had devised for finding caves in the Cave Basalt. On their way home, they stopped at a tavern in Woodland where pitchers of beer cost $1.10, hence the name “Dollar and a Dime.”
Part of a bewildering network of interconnected near-surface tubes, its broad arched, mostly walking passages, it harbors an astonishingly-thin lava bridge and a 6-foot lava fall, various interesting mineral deposits and lava formations. There are multiple entrances: the upper entrance is in a small collapse trench; the lower entrances are in a large collapsed sink, 35 feet x 50 feet in size. Four maps exist–two originals plus revisions of each–one includes Column Cave (incorrectly labeled “Pillar Cave”). Dollar and a Dime, and Prince Albert caves were featured field trips during the 1972 NSS Convention in White Salmon.

Dynamited Cave

When I was starting my caving, back in the Pleistocene as I recall, there
was a report that the sinkhole where the Dynamited entrance is, held a
strange and wonderful lava tube, one with vertical drops in it. This was
before I started the OG and well before the WVG. Early 60’s I was in
contact with Cascade G via Halliday and was an Oregon chapter of his Western
Speleological Survey.

The story was, that kids from Troutlake or Stevenson had gone in there,
roped down a pit and when they dropped off the stretchy rope (there was no
“caving” rope back then, and everything stretched hugely under body wt) it
twanged back, well out of reach. Seems hard to believe, as more than one
had to do it, but who knows. They were trapped. To get out, they piled
up a mound of rocks and one was able to grab the rope and climb out
(probably hand over hand, explaining why they all couldn’t do it–much harder than
folks think). That kid went for help and the parents came and got the
rest out. They saw the cave as hazardous, and being loggers, had access to
dynamite. So they mined the entrance and brought it down.

Halliday announced he was getting up an effort to open that legendary
cave, and so I headed up there with a couple of my Reed buddies. Bill had a
comealong and we stressed that out pretty good and managed to pull a few
rocks out of the pile, one time the harness slipped off and the weighted cable
came snapping back with great force, narrowly missing us.

That got us a hole you could squeeze decent sized humans thru and we were
in. Sure enough, the legend was true. Pretty amazing to us, back then.
And the rock pile was there to see.

We once, as we were exiting, met some locals coming in to do the
cave….when we said there were vertical drops, one, carrying a gunnysack showed us
what he had in it….a long rope ladder made of hemp rope, and some
“pitons”, which were in fact railroad spikes.

When the first gate was put on the cave, it was just an expanding bar/tube
in the squeeze hole. That didn’t last long as the locals apparently
didn’t like the idea of applying to Seattle for access. I presume someone
drove their log truck tractor up there, ran a log cable from the road to the
gate, and drove away with the gate….leaving a hole you could then walk
thru.

Steve

Edison Ice cave, DESCHUTES.

On June 6th 1910, a large fire blazed some 30 miles from Bend. One of the Firefighters was Jack Edison, who when returning to camp with George Vandevert, discovered a cool opening in the earth, entered, and found an ice cave. Not only was Edison’s name given the cave but also the fire. Edison Butte nearby is named for the same man, apparently a member of a transient crew. Edison Ice cave is about four miles west of Wanoga Butte.

Guler Ice cave, Skamania.

Cave has been known since about 1869 and served as a ice suppy for the Dalles and Hood River in pioneer days. Picture.

Kim’s cave, Mount Saint Helens.

Found late 1980’s. The cave is mostly duck walk to a very tight squeeze. Which opens up. Cave was name by Jim Nieland after Kim Luper who found the cave. A.K.A. “Two Rocks” and “Mine Field.”

Lavacicle cave, Deschutes.

From an article in the Oregonian 6-25-1987 Lavacicle cave is the only lava cave that has lava formations in the world. A forest service crew working on a fire discovered the cave in August 1959. A current of fresh air rising through the smoke gave away the entrance.(After this article numerous caves have been discovered with lots of lavacicles and other formations). Click for photo.

Lava Tongues Cave, Deschutes.

Found early 1990’s I think, by Kim Luper. Following a tongue of lave into little pit. The cave has a feature which looks like a face with a tongue.

Lava River cave, DESCHUTES.

Article in the Oregonian, 12-9-1925 and USGS bulletin 252. Also book by Charlie Larson “Lava River cave.”

Little Peoples cave, Mount Saint Helens.

First reported in 1964 by Harry Reese, the cave was named by the Reeses because of low ceilings, not after lava stalagmites commonly called “little people.”

Map length 868 ft, traverse length 1344 ft. Map (below) is the first map of Little Peoples Cave, by Grebstad and Dow who did not know that the cave had already been found and named.

Lost and Found cave, Deschutes

(611-78). Found at same time as Triple Pit. I found this cave then lost and it and had hard time finding it again. Some how the name got stuck. Has a nice mossy entrance into a mostly crawly cave.

Lost Boy Cave, Oregon coast.

This a very nice large sea cave with 3 entrances. Click here for old photo.
http://www.virtual-oceanside.com/history.asp

Ole’s cave. Mount Saint Helens. Description: Ole’s Cave was found in 1895 by Ole Peterson, a hermit-type man who homesteaded near where the Swift Power Canal is now located. Ole was a great story teller, and like all story tellers he exaggerated and added extra things to make his stories exciting. For this reason, it is uncertain whether Ole found the cave on his own or if Indians led him to it.

After finding the cave, Ole blazed a trail to the lower entrance and began giving tours, making Ole’s Cave Washington’s first tourist cave. Today, however, Ole’s Cave could be considered a ‘wild cave’ and is only visited by those people who know of the cave and can locate its unmarked entrances.

The first of many caves to be found in the area, Ole’s Cave is still one of Mt. St. Helen’s longest lava tubes at over 6,500 feet in length. Most of the cave is one continuous tube, but there are numerous small upper- and lower-levels to explore. Ole’s cave has much variety and is well suited for both novice and experienced cavers. Most of the cave is walking passage with original floor, but a couple of places require hands-and-knees crawling and there are significant sections of breakdown (broken rock) that must be climbed over. For the more adventurous, the upper- and lower-levels may be explored.

Cave formations in Ole’s Cave include lava stalactites and stalagmites, splash rings, flow marks, a pillar, and even a rock outcropping resembling the profile of George Washington’s face. In the entrance sinks (there are five entrances), different mosses and ferns may be observed.

Ole’s Cave is located south of Mt. St. Helens and requires a 3/4 mile walk from the parking area. The walk is fairly flat, and mostly through forest. There are many interesting plants, birds, and animals to enjoy while hiking to the cave.

See photos for more info. http://www.oregongrotto.com/gallery/v/Historic/

Oregon Caves.

Pillars of Hercules, Mount Saint Helens.

This cave found around 1987. Cavers, Dennis Glasby, Bill Holmes, Kim Luper and others found the cave of a day of crawling in small holes. The first person went in and we expected him to come right back. The next person crawl in and he didn’t come back. So one at a time we all went into this amazing cave full of pillars and more.

Sand Cave, Mount Saint Helens.

Discovered in 1966 by an Oregon Grotto member named “Doug”, the main entrance is at the south end of a large sinkhole at the base of a steep basalt slope. In 1972, the known cave was about 220 feet long. In 1984 it was noted that the entrance sink had filled with colluvium (chiefly pyroclastics from the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens), reducing the cave to a total length of approximately 65 feet, eliminating the skylight. Update 2009. Cave is now 100% buried by sand.

Skeleton cave, DESCHUTES.

This cave was named for its fossils and modern bones found in cave entrance sink. Article can be found in the Oregonian 1-1-1956.

String Cave, Mt. St. Helens.

This cave found by Halliday on 11-5-1960. A rotten string was found in the cave. Entrance is about 8 feet wide and 4 feet high. About 60 feet of stoop way and crawlway. 25 feet into cave is a chimney to the surface 10 feet overhead.

Trillium cave, (Ice cave, Meat cave) Trout Lake.

This cave was used for storing meat in pioneer days. The cave is not far from Cheese cave.

Triple Pit Cave, Deschutes.

Found in the late 1980’s by Kim Luper. The cave has a two vertical pits requiring rope then a easy third pit.

Under The Lake cave. Sheridan Mt.

(611-79) This lava cave found in the late 1980’s by Kim Luper, Dennis Glasby and others. The cave has four parallel passages going down hill. One leads to a Lake. Another passages seems to go under the Lake back to entrance. After mapping the cave it was found to be parallel passage.