Hike walks above Lake Michigan sea caves

Sometimes the pool below the Cave Point County Park sea caves is calm.

Cave Point Trail map. Click for larger version.

Day hikers can hike above sea caves etched into the side of a 430-million-year-old limestone bluff at Wisconsin’s Cave Point County Park.

The trail runs just under a mile on the beautiful Door Peninsula, the thumb in the mitten that is Wisconsin. A small park, Cave Point is a 19-acre square surrounded by Whitefish Dunes State Park, both of which are free to enter (though you’ll need a state pass to park at the latter).

To reach the trail, from Sturgeon Bay take Wis. Hwy. 42 north. Turn right/east onto Wis. Hwy. 57. Before entering Jacksonport, turn right/south onto N. Cave Point Drive. Next, turn left/east onto Schauer Road. Once in the park, leave your vehicle at the second lot on the right.

Cave Point Trail heads southeast from the lot’s center. After crossing a green, the trail jogs northeast, enters the woods, and comes to the cedar-lined cliff.

Niagara Escarpment
You’re standing atop the Niagara Escarpment, a shelf of dense dolomite that stretches south to Milwaukee then north into Michigan, southward to Ontario and finally to Niagara, New York. The escarpment formed as shells from marine animals that died floated to the bottom of their ancient, tropical sea, piling up and hardening about 415 million years ago.

Locally, the shelf extends about a quarter of a mile offshore just beneath Lake Michigan’s surface. Because of this, the wind-driven waves break in the lake and then speed up as approaching Cave Point. Upon hitting the bluff, lake spray flies some 30 feet into the air, hitting the cedars and clifftop. The impacts are loud, and you’ll feel like you’re at the ocean.

Sea caves sit below your feet. The pounding waves have been carving cavities in the hard limestone since the end of the last ice age. The freezing and thawing cycle have further fractured the holes, speeding up the erosion.

Indeed, winter is a particularly beautiful time at the park as icicles hang from the many outcroppings.

As the caverns are in the cliffside and largely underwater, they can’t be entered from land. Kayakers and scuba divers can get close to them, however, and a number of private businesses offer excursions to the caves or rent gear so you can do your own adventure.

Beach and immense trees
The trail continues northeast down to a small beach. Several fascinating rock outcroppings and formations can be seen along the way. The trees here also are fantastic, with the larger of them more than a century old.

Retrace your steps back up the cliff but rather than take the trail to parking lot, follow it southwest to the top of the rocky headland rising 10 to 20 feet above Lake Michigan.

After taking in the great view from the headlands, follow the trail back into the woods. It quickly reaches the park road; once there, go right/northeast and walk along the road’s shoulder to the parking lot.

Be extremely careful when walking the cliffside – there are no railings, and with the wet surfaces, slipping is easy.

Day trail heads to Wisconsin sand caves

Big Sand Cave at Wisconsin's Wyalusing State Park.

Sand Cave Trail and Little Sand Cave Loop map.
Click for larger version.

Day hikers can explore a sand cave at Wisconsin’s Wyalusing State Park.

The 2.4-miles round trip Sand Cave Trail and Little Sand Cave Loop are a pair of new trails that take park visitors to a few previously unreachable sights. It partially replaces an older trail that went to one of two sand caves; the new trail follows the contour lines of comparably gentle slopes and use switchbacks so that the walk is never more than a 10 percent grade.

To reach the trailhead, from Prairie du Chien head south on U.S. Hwy. 18. After crossing the Wisconsin River, turn right/west onto County Hwy. C. Next, go right on County Hwy. CX to the park entrance. Once there, turn right/north onto State Park Lane. Park at the Paul Lawrence Interpretive Center. From the center, take the Walnut Springs Trail southeast.

At the first junction, turn left/east onto the Sand Cave Trail. The wide, single-track trail passes through a verdant hardwood forest alongside a steep hill. To the trail’s left/north is a deep ravine; beyond it is the Wisconsin River.

A fern grotto and a small waterfall appears at about 0.1 miles from the trailhead. Wildflowers blossom here in spring.

The trail next descends to a stream bed. Though usually dry, flat rocks have been placed in the stream bed to make crossing it easier when water does run.

Big Sand Cave
Once the trail turns south, you’re actually walking atop a sand cave. At points on this section of the trail, when the leaves are trees and shrubs are thin you can look down and see the cave.

In about 0.6 miles, the trail reaches a spur. Go left/west onto it. This brings you to Big Sand Cave, which has been carved out of sandstone and is the cave walked atop earlier on the trail.

The sand was set down about 500 million years ago in the Cambrian era when this part of the state was under a shallow tropical sea; the sand is sediment deposited on that sea floor. Rich in quartz, the sandstone is poorly cemented together and so easily erodes when exposed to wind, rain, spring water and the freezing-thawing cycle. Such erosion created this overhang cave by hollowing out the soft sandstone that sits below a harder limestone layer.

In the past, the cave used to be much larger. Erosion washed out enough supporting sandstone, however, that the ceiling collapsed. The large rocks in front of the cave used to be the roof.

Big Thunder Point
After taking in the cave, retrace your steps back to the junction. Once there, go left/northeast onto the main trail.

At the next junction, continue left-straight/northeast. You’re now on the Little Sand Cave Loop.

The trail soon arrives at Big Thunder Point, the hike’s northernmost point; it is about 0.8 miles from the trailhead. From the point, hikers can enjoy a grand view of the Wisconsin River Valley to the east and Prairie du Chien to the west. During summer, foliage can obscure the view.

Leaving the point, the trail hairpins, going southwest. On the trail’s right side is a plunging ravine, Wild Ginger Hollow, while on the left are limestone outcroppings that overlay sandstone. White-tailed deer and wild turkeys sometimes can be spotted in the hollow.

Little Sand Cave
Little Sand Cave is about 0.6 miles from Big Thunder Point; the cave is new spot park visitors couldn’t see before the new trail. During spring or following wet weather, a small waterfall flows in front of the cave. Because of the steep drop-off and delicate nature of the sandstone, no trail heads to the cave and hikers, are discouraged from bushwhacking to it.

From the cave, continue left/northwest on the trail, following the hill’s contour. The hill’s crest marks the trail’s highest point.

The loop then comes back to Sand Cave Trail (this is the junction skipped earlier). Follow it back to the interpretive center.

Be sure to don insect repellent in summer when mosquitoes can be a moderate nuisance.

Ledge View offers ‘wild’ caving experience

The hike through Carolyn's Caverns at Wisconsin's Ledge View Nature
Center requires a lot of crawling.

Day hikers can explore the interior of an ancient rock formation that stretches nearly a thousand miles across the Great Lakes by going into caves at Wisconsin’s Ledge View Nature Center.

Ledge View’s pair of caves systems sit in the Niagara Escarpment, a long ridgeline running from southeast Wisconsin around the top of lower Michigan into Ontario and ending at Niagara Falls.

To reach the caves, from Chilton take County Hwy. G south. Turn left/east onto Short Road. In a quarter mile, go left/north into the nature center. Sign up for a guided two-hour cave tours at the center’s interpretive center.

Niagara Escarpment
The Niagara Escarpment formed some 420-440 million years ago when this part of the world was under a tropical sea. It consists of reefs and the shells of marine animals that over millions of years hardened into dolomitic limestone.

The Earth’s crust sagged in the what is now lower Michigan sometime since then, so part of the escarpment dropped to form a bowl shape. Edges of the escarpment remained higher and have been exposed above ground by erosion and, more recently, glaciers.

Meltwater from the glaciers, as seeping into the soil, combined with carbonic acid in the groundwater, carved out Ledge View’s caves. Sediment left by the glacial meltwater still can be found inside them.

Guided tours allow visitors to crawl through some of that muddy sediment. In fact, the tour prides itself on being on “wild” cave experience in which you traipse across dirt and puddles, climb ladders, slink through tunnels, and crouch in passages with low ceilings. Layered old clothes, shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty, and a knit cap, are recommended.

Mothers Cave
The underground formations are grouped into two systems – Carolyn’s Caverns and the Montgomery Cave. Tours head through Carolyn’s Caverns, which include such features as the Bat Room, Dave’s Sink, Keith’s Karst, Wayne’s World, the Wishing Well, Temptation Alley, Sliver Passage, and Thunder Dome. Seven crawl passages connect the various features, and drip formations abound.

The most adventuresome part of Carolyn’s Caverns is Mothers Cave, so named because it was discovered on Mother’s Day 1986. The only way through the cave is by crawling, most notably through the Squeeze, a roughly 12 x 18 inch passage. Visitors can try worming through a box at the visitors center to see if they can make it through the Squeeze.

Because of the nature of the caves, children must be at least 5 years old, and for an adventure tour involving Mothers Cave they must be 10 years old and with a parent. A flashlight is required for all tours, and reservations are recommended.

A variety of different cave tours are offered from April through November. Temperatures in the caves range from 42 degrees F to 60 degrees F.

After caving, there’s plenty more to do at Ledge View. A 60-foot observation tower, a 600-gallon Sturgeon exhibit, an ice fishing exhibit, butterfly garden, and a bat barn all are on site.

Hike heads into popular Wisconsin cave

A column at Wisconsin's Cave of the Mounds.

A one-hour tour takes visitors into the cave.

Hikers can explore caverns and passageways carved out of nearly half-billion -year-old limestone at Wisconsin’s Cave of the Mounds.

The one-hour walking tour covers about 0.66 miles. Cave of the Mounds is among Wisconsin’s best known caves with more than 100,000 annual visitors.

To reach the cave, from Mt. Horeb take Bus. U.S. 18 west of town. Turn right/west onto County Hwy. ID. Once near Blue Mounds, go right/northwest onto Cave of the Mounds Road. The parking lot is on the road’s left/southwest side. From the lot, walk to the visitor center for tour tickets.

Quarry workers discovered the cave in 1939 when their blasting operations revealed an underground cavern more than 20 feet high and linked to other rooms. Visitors flocked to see the caves, so lights and walkways were installed the following year.

Ancient tropical sea
The rock the cave sits in began to form about 488 million years ago when this part of the world was under a warm, shallow sea. As tiny marine organisms died, their shells fell to the sea floor and built up into massive, hardened limestone layers called Galena dolomite.

About 1-1.5 million years ago, the cave began to form. As rain fell, it filtered through dead plants on the ground, picking up carbon compounds. When combined with water, these compounds became a mild solution of carbonic acid. The acidic water went into the ground, dissolving the limestone by creating fissures. As the carbonic acid dissolved more and more limestone, those cracks grew into passages and whole rooms.

When the water table dropped, oxygen filled the openings. The air helped the dissolved limestone and water solidify, creating the strong walls that keep the passages and rooms from collapsing.

Speleothems – or various rock formations – also formed once air filled the cave. Among them are stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, flowstone, curtains, lily pads, helictites and oolites. Red and brown formations have a high content of iron oxide while those that are blue or gray contain manganese oxide.

Cephalopod fossil
Fossils also have been found in the cave, most notably a six-foot giant cephalopod, a squid-like creature with a hard shell. That fossils have been found in the cave isn’t surprising; the quarry above the cave was well-known for its fine fossils.

Cephalopods were common in the ancient sea that the cave’s limestone formed in. At that time, Wisconsin sat near the equator, mostly beneath water that was no more a 100 feet deep.

The cave is named for two hills called the Blue Mounds and is in the southern slope of the east hill. In 1987, the cave was named a National Natural Landmark.

When hiking the cave, avoid touching the rock formations, as they are fragile. The cave’s temperature is a constant 50 F regardless of the season, so always wear a sweater or jacket.

An entrance fee is required. Tours run every day of the year except except Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve and Day.

Wisconsin includes several types of caves

Cave of the Mounds, Wisconsin.

Among the most mysterious geological features to hike in Wisconsin are caves. More than 400 caves can be found across the state, with the largest and interesting of them open to the public for tours.

Of the eight types of caves, as categorized by the National Caves Association, Wisconsin boasts three in addition to those of the man-made variety. The state has solutional, littoral and corrasional caves.

A solutional cave occurs when natural acid in water seeps through rock that is soluble, such as limestone, dolomite, chalk, salt and gypsum. Cracks in the rock gradually expand, creating huge openings and tunnels. These caves typically contain stalactites and stalagmites. This is the most common type of cave, and almost all of Wisconsin’s caves are solutional.

Primary caves form at the same time that the surrounding rock is created. These usually are lava tubes, such as those found in Hawaii and eastern Idaho. A lava tube forms when the surface of a lava flow cools and hardens, as the hot lava inside drains out, leaving a hollow tube.

Littoral caves are found along coastlines where wave action has eroded weak rock and formed cavities. In colder climates, the freezing and thawing of water in the caves increases the erosion and can result in beautiful ice caves. These sea caves can be found in Wisconsin’s Bayfield and Door peninsulas.

Caves also can form when blowing wind or streams carrying hard stones cut through soft rock, forming tunnels and caverns. These are called corrasional caves. Often solutional caves after widening enough undergo a corrasional process. Southeast Wisconsin has a number of corrasional caves created when wind, rain and the freezing-thawing cycle carved out openings in sandstone cliffs.

Glacier caves form when melting ice inside a glacier form streams that hollow out tunnels. If the tunnels reach a glacier’s end, they come out as waterfalls or rivers. During the last ice age, Wisconsin’s glaciers included several such caves, evidence of which can be seen today in tunnel channels that break up long moraines.

A fracture cave occurs when soluble rock between layers of harder rocks, dissolves out, causing the ceiling to collapse in large blocks.

Talus caves form when boulders and rocks fall off cliffsides into large piles. If the boulders are large enough and depending on how they land, “tunnels” can form in the open spaces between them.

An anchialine cave is a subterranean passage that connects a pond or lake on land to a sea or ocean. The cave floor usually is covered in water.

In addition to these recognized categories, we might include a ninth type of cave – man-made. In the past, cavities would be burrowed out of cliffsides as homes or so goods could be stored in a cooler environment. Tunnels also were dug deep underground for mining (for example, the iron mine that is now the Neda Mine Bat Sanctuary in Dodge County). Such caves exist all across Wisconsin.

Tour heads through Wis.’s largest onyx cave

Interesting rock formations fill Eagle Cave, Wisconsin.

Hikers can explore Wisconsin’s largest onyx cave – the popular Eagle Cave near Richland Center.

The tour at the commercially-operated cave heads through 3000 feet of passageways on four different levels.

To reach the cave, from Richland Center take County Hwy. Q west out of town. Go left/south on County Hwy. E then left/west onto Eagle Cave Road. At Cavern Lane, turn right/west and park in the lot at the road’s end. Walk to the gift shop for tour tickets.

Two hunters discovered the cave in 1849 when a bear chased them during winter. As the entrance was easy to find, once news about the cave spread, it became a popular destination. Almost a century later, in 1937, it became Wisconsin’s first commercially owned and operated cave.

Several large rooms and formations can be seen on the tour. Always be sure to look up, though, as you’re likely to see onyx.

Onyx forms when a liquid solution of limestone rehardens as it dries out. It looks a lot like milky glass and can be several inches thick as it clings to the ceilings and formations such as stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, and ribbons.

Like others in the region, the cave formed when hard shells were deposited at the bottom of a sea floor. As covered by more shells and sediment, the layers over millions of years hardened into limestone. Natural acids in the groundwater dissolved the limestone, creating passages and rooms. A testament to the power of acidic groundwater are the cave’s several large limestone blocks – some as massive as 50 x 10 x 12 feet – that have fallen from the ceiling. The acidic water created fractures that weakened the underlying blocks’ connection to the ceiling, gravity did the rest.

The cave is a constant 52 degrees, so a sweatshirt or jacket is needed

Tours are offered Memorial Day to Labor Day from Thursdays through Saturdays. An entrance fee is charged. The operator also offers an in-cave camping program that is popular among youth groups.

Hike heads through important bat cave

During winter, Kickapoo Indian Caverns is a major center of bat hibernation.

Day hikers can explore a cave that is a vital home for rare bats at Kickapoo Indian Caverns in southwest Wisconsin.

Closed for several years, the Mississippi Valley Conservancy recently purchased the 83-acre site, opening it to hiking and other outdoor activities. Cave tours run from May 16-Aug. 14.

To reach the cave, from Prairie du Chien take U.S. Hwy 18 south. In Bridgeport, turn left/east onto Wis. Hwy 60. Next, go left/north onto Dutch Ridge Road. Turn right-straight/northwest onto Rhein Hollow Road. The entrance road to the caverns is on the right/north side of the road.

Kickapoo Indian Caverns is one of Wisconsin’s longest cave systems at 1400 feet. It boasts an underground river, stalactites and onyx. The opening part of the tour requires crouching for a few feet, but the low passageway opens up to a room with a 60-foot-high ceiling. The caves remains a constant 40 degrees year around.

Hibernaculum
The caverns also are a winter hibernating grounds – called a hibernaculum – for three threatened bat species: the northern long-eared bat; the little brown bat; and the eastern pipistrelle.

Bats migrate along river corridors, so the cave is an ideal location for them. Just outside the cave entrance is the Kickapoo River, which drains a few miles to the south into the Wisconsin River, which meets the Mississippi River less than 10 miles to the west. All of that water also makes for ideal feeding grounds; bats eat about 1200 mosquitoes an hour.

In Wisconsin, bats hibernate at 150 known locations. About 90 percent of the state’s bat population hibernates at just three of those sites, however, and Kickapoo Indian Caves is one of them.

Unfortunately, White Nose Syndrome, a deadly fungus, has struck some of the cave’s bat population. The fungus forces bats to use up their energy reserves while hibernating so that they wake up early. They then die from the cold or the lack of insects to eat. Humans can spread the fungus on the soles of their shoes when walking through caves.

Warblers and Indian relics
Aboveground are great habitats for other threatened species. Cerulean warblers nest in the giant, mature oaks, hickory and dogwood on the property. Blue-winged warblers, ovenbirds, scarlet tanagers, wood thrushes, and yellow-billed cuckoos all inhabit the property and surrounding woods. Meanwhile, the prairie ring-necked snake can be found in the property’s prairie and savanna.

The prairie is one of the few areas in Wisconsin that a grasslands looks like it did some 200 years ago before Europeans arrived in large numbers. Several colorful wildflowers bloom in it from spring through autumn.

Kickapoo Indian Caverns gets its name because Native Americans have long used it for shelter and other purposes. Relics as old as 500 years have been found there and are displayed at the the building where cave tour tickets are purchased.

European-Americans discovered the cave in the mid-1800s when soldiers from nearby Fort Crawford stumbled across it. For decades after, it was known as Goblin Cave. On the Fourth of July in 1947, the cave was opened to public tours.

Short trail passes several bluffside caves

Entries to the Tartarus Cave System at Cherney Maribel Caves County Park.

Cherney Maribel Caves County Park map.
Click for larger version.

Day hikers can explore several caves along a bluffside at the Cherney Maribel Caves County Park in east central Wisconsin.

The 0.75-mile Bluff Trail runs past a variety of natural caves in a limestone cliff. Many of the caves here were discovered during the 1800s.

To reach the caves, from Interstate 43 take Exit 164 at Maribel and go east on County Hwy. Z. At County Hwy. R (aka N. Packer Drive), turn left/north. The park road will be on the right/east; follow it to the parking lot.

From the parking lot, take the Bluff Trail northwest atop an escarpment ridge that rises about 60 feet over West Twin River. The limestone formed some 419-443 million years ago when this section of the world was beneath a tropical sea. Shells of dying marine animals fell to the bottom of the sea floor and, over the eons, hardened into rock. Then, about 14,000 years ago, water rushing out of Glacial Lake Oshkosh down the West Twin River cut away the cliffside.

Since then, springs, carbonic acid, the changing seasons, glacial ice melt, and temperature variations have broken down the limestone, resulting in small caves and openings.

When the trail reaches a junction as heading down the bluff, go right/southeast. This leads to caves’ entries.

The first among them is the Maribel New Hope Cave, which was discovered in 1984 when steam came out of it. Talus blocking the entryway was removed, and on October 31, 1990, explorers removing sediment from a two-foot-high, 20-foot long passageway broke through to a cave room; it is now known as the Halloween Room. The largest of the park’s caves with stalactites and soda straws, it is open to the public only during special tour hours.

Continuing along the bluff’s base, the trail passes Pancake Cave. There’s no natural trail to it, and you have to climb over talus to enter it. The small solutional cave – meaning it was created by carbonic acid from groundwater dissolving the limestone – is about eight feet long and shaped like a pancake, hence its name.

The trail next comes to Coopers Cave, which is open to the public during park hours. A footpath heads up to a large, rectangular entrance. A square solution cave, it goes 20 feet deep and has two rooms that you’ll have to crouch in.

Just below the cave entrance is the Seepage, a moss-covered talus pile through which a natural spring flows. It flows year round, trickling down to the river.

The trail then swings away from the bluff to the river, briefly joins the River Trail, then circles back to the escarpment, passing the Millpond Dam, the small Cave of Treasures, and Watercress Spring along the way.

Among the best caves to explore at the county park comes next – the Tartarus Cave System. Its dramatic stone entrance is easy to spot. The cave system actually has three entrances. The passageways are still being explored and may link to other caves or sinkholes. This cave is open to only during special tour hours.

Next, take the stairs back up the bluff. Once at the top, follow the trail back to the parking lot.

Another cave associated with the bluff is the Spring Cave, which sits north of the Maribel New Hope Cave. A spring flows from the cave, and that water was used for drinking, cooking, and bathing at a hotel that sat near the site many years ago. The cave is on private property so cannot be entered.

The guided tours last 20-30 minutes each and are given select Sundays May through October from late morning to early afternoon. They are free. Caves open to the public can be toured anytime during park hours.

10 Best Caves to Explore in Wisconsin

Cave of the Mounds contains a variety of speleothems.

Thanks to its unique geology, Wisconsin is home to more than 400 caves. Some head several stories underground through limestone while others are rock shelters; some feature Native American petroglyphs while others were excavated for modern commercial uses.

Ten must-see caves in Wisconsin include:

Big Sand Cave
Day hikers can explore a sand cave at Wyalusing State Park. The 2.4-miles round trip Sand Cave Trail and Little Sand Cave Loop are a pair of new trails that take park visitors to a few previously unreachable sights. The cave sits in sandstone set down about 500 million years ago in the Cambrian era when this part of the state was under a shallow tropical sea; the sand is sediment deposited on that sea floor. Rich in quartz, the sandstone is poorly cemented together and so easily erodes when exposed to wind, rain, spring water and the freezing-thawing cycle. Such erosion created this overhang cave by hollowing out the soft sandstone beneath a harder limestone layer. At one time, the cave was much larger. Erosion washed out enough supporting sandstone, however, that the ceiling collapsed. The large rocks in front of the cave used to be that roof.

Cave of the Mounds
You can walk through caverns and passageways carved out of nearly half-billion-year-old limestone at Cave of the Mounds near Blue Mound. Speleothems – among them are stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, flowstone, curtains, lily pads, helictites and oolites – all can be found in the cave. Red and brown formations have a high content of iron oxide while those that are blue or gray contain manganese oxide. Fossils also have been found in the cave, most notably a six-foot giant cephalopod, a squid-like creature with a hard shell. The one-hour walking tour covers about 0.66 miles. Cave of the Mounds is among Wisconsin’s best known caves with more than 100,000 annual visitors.

Cave Point Sea Caves
Hikers can stroll above sea caves etched into the side of a 430-million-year-old limestone bluff at Cave Point County Park. The trail runs just under a mile on the beautiful Door Peninsula and stands atop the Niagara Escarpment, a shelf of dense dolomite stretching south to Milwaukee then north into Michigan, southward to Ontario and finally to Niagara, New York. At Cave Point, the shelf extends about a quarter of a mile offshore just beneath Lake Michigan’s surface. Because of this, the wind-driven waves break in the lake and then speed up as approaching the shore. Upon hitting the bluff, lake spray flies some 30 feet into the air, splashing the cedars and clifftop. The impacts are loud, and you’ll feel like you’re at the ocean.

Cherney Maribel Caves
Day hikers can explore several caves along a bluffside at the Cherney Maribel Caves County Park south of Green Bay. The 0.75-mile Bluff Trail runs past a variety of natural caves in a limestone cliff. Many of the caves here were discovered during the 1800s. Among them is the Maribel New Hope Cave, which was discovered in 1984 when steam came out of it. Talus blocking the entryway was removed, and on October 31, 1990, explorers removing sediment from a two-foot-high, 20-foot long passageway broke through to a cave room; it is now known as the Halloween Room. The largest of the park’s caves with stalactites and soda straws, Maribel New Hope is open to the public only during special tour hours.

Crystal Cave
Wisconsin’s longest cave sits near the village of Spring Valley. Overall, Crystal Cave is seven stories deep and 4000 feet long. A guided tour runs about 0.5-miles round trip through 1,300 feet of passageways; the deeper passages are closed to the public. The cave sits in a chunk of dolomite, a type of limestone, that formed about 485 million years ago when this part of the world was covered by a shallow sea; two fossils of nickel-sized snail-like creatures can be seen in cave’s floor. The cave also is home to several bat species; both big and brown bats hibernate there in winter. Usually a bat or two can be spotted sleeping above you in a passageway.

Eagle Cave
Visitors can explore Wisconsin’s largest onyx cave – the popular Eagle Cave near Richland Center. The tour at the commercially-operated cave heads through 3000 feet of passageways on four different levels. Several large rooms and formations can be seen on the tour. Always be sure to look up, though, as you’re likely to see onyx. It’s a rock that forms when a liquid solution of limestone rehardens as it dries out. Looking a lot like milky glass, the onyx can be several inches thick as it clings to the ceilings and formations such as stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, and ribbons.

Irvine Park Cave
Day hikers can enjoy a pleasant walk alongside a creek, through a tiny zoo, and past a man-made cave at Irvine Park in Chippewa Falls. The park heralds back to the day when cities set aside large swaths of land for multiple recreational purposes. It feels a lot like a miniature version of New York City’s Central Park or Los Angeles’ Griffith Park. Along the way is a small man-made cave that can be entered. When more of the park was a zoo, a bear was caged there with a cave as its den. To the cave’s south are a set of 60-foot high tiered rocks that can be scrambled up.

Kickapoo Indian Caverns
Hikers can explore a cave that is a vital home for rare bats at Kickapoo Indian Caverns near Prairie du Chien. Closed for several years, the Mississippi Valley Conservancy recently purchased the site, which is one of Wisconsin’s longest cave systems at 1400 feet. It boasts an underground river, stalactites and onyx. The opening few feet of the tour requires crouching with the low passageway opening up to a room boasting a 60-foot-high ceiling. The caverns also are a major winter hibernating grounds – called a hibernaculum – for three threatened bat species: the northern long-eared bat; the little brown bat; and the eastern pipistrelle.

Ledge View Caves
Visitors can enter the interior of an ancient rock formation that stretches nearly a thousand miles across the Great Lakes by going into caves at the Ledge View Nature Center near Chilton. Ledge View’s pair of caves systems sit in the Niagara Escarpment. Guided tours allow visitors to crawl through some of that muddy sediment. In fact, the tour prides itself on being on “wild” cave experience in which you traipse across dirt and puddles, climb ladders, slink through tunnels, and crouch in passages with low ceilings. Layered old clothes, shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty, and a knit cap, are recommended, and a flashlight is a must.

Mawikwe Bay Sea Caves
Perhaps Wisconsin’s most dramatic caverns are the Mawikwe Bay Sea Caves. Lake Superior’s crashing waves and millennia of winter’s freezing and thawing carved out honeycombed caves and a 50-foot deep chasm that runs more than 200 feet long. A natural bridge heads over the formation. The tinted sandstone and rainbows from the spray gives the formation a magical feel. The caves can’t be accessed from the trail except during winter when the lake freezes. During winter, icicles hanging from the sandstone roofs appear otherworldly. Kayakers at other times of the year can clamber about the caves. On land, the Lakeshore Trail skirts the chasm.

How to safely explore a cave with children

When exploring caves with children,
first find those with approved, marked
trails, such as at Carlsbad Caverns.
Photo couresy Carlsbad Caverns NPS.

Avoid encounters with wild animals,
mine shafts, collapsing cavern roofs

Ah, the allure of a dark cavern, full of secret passages and maybe even pirate treasure – what child wouldn’t want to explore a cave that you come across as day hiking?

For all their fun and excitement, though, caves can be dangerous places. Fortunately, some of them can be explored…but only with great caution.

If you have a little spelunker in your cave, quench their thirst for adventure by hiking approved, marked trails through caves. This always is your safest bet, as the trails have been designed for safety and park rangers familiar with the cave probably are close by.

Never enter a cave that is boarded or marked with warning signs to not enter. There’s good reason for the boards and signs. Often the caves have mining shafts in them or suffer frequent roof collapses.

Having said this, there are some shallow caves along hiking trails that are marked safe for entry. If going in them, however, follow these basic rules:
g An adult always comes with – A child never should be allowed to explore a cave alone. Buddy up and as the adult watch for potential dangers.
g Always carry a light – You must see where you are going so you don’t fall or stumble into a wild animal. A large flashlight with fresh batteries will do. Have each person in the party carry a flashlight.
g Avoid occupied caves – Bears, mountain lions, poisonous snakes, and bats all makes caves their home. If you hear or see signs of habitation, such as footprints, stay out.
g Never make turns that you won’t remember – With limited lighting, you easily can get lost in a cave if its passageways branch. Oftentimes you won’t see a passage the first time through and so will become disoriented.
g Don’t get into what you can’t get out of – Don’t squeeze down holes or through small openings into another section of the passage. You may not be able to climb out or get back through through the hole.
g Keep to clean cave floors – Don’t hang out in areas with feces or urine from small animals. These likely were left by rats, mice or squirrels and can carry diseases such as hantavirus.
g Watch for instability – Freshly fallen rocks or water flowing through a cave likely means the cave lacks structural stability. Leave immediately before a cave-in occurs.

Find out about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Teach day hiking children to stay on the trail

Taking children on a day hike offers a great opportunity to teach them some rules of the trail. This can help ensure they grow up to respect mother nature and others. Among the rules to teach is “stay on the trail.”

Hiking off trail means potentially damaging fragile growth. Following this rule not only ensures you minimize damage but is also a matter of safety. Off trail is where kids most likely will encounter dangerous animals and poisonous plants. Not being able to see where they’re stepping also increases the likelihood of falling and injuring themselves. Leaving the trail also raises the chances of getting lost.

Staying on the trail also means staying out of caves, mines or abandoned structures you may encounter. They are usually dangerous places and wild animals may be living there.

In addition, never let children take a shortcut on a switchback trail. Besides putting them on steep ground upon which they could slip, their impatient act will cause the switchback to erode.

Read more about day hiking with children in my Hikes with Tykes guidebooks.

What to do if a tornado occurs during hike

Photo courtesy NOAA.

Tornadoes form quickly, usually in areas about to experience severe thunderstorms. By leaving an area to avoid a thunderstorm - something you always should do when hiking with kids - you should be able to avoid a tornado.

If one is approaching you, seek shelter in a ravine or a cave. If on flat ground, find the lowest depression or ditch possible.

And never make this mistake, as Josh S., of San Antonio, Texas, advises: “Don’t seek shelter beneath concrete bridges of highway underpasses. The underpass can act as a wind tunnel during a tornado. Debris will fly right at you at super-high speeds”

Related articles:
g If lost, reassure kids by getting them involved in signaling for help
g Staying the night outdoors because you're lost? Set your priorities
g What to do when lost with children on a hike
g When you have no food but are lost overnight

Read more about day hiking with children in my guidebook Hikes with Tykes.

Explore lava tubes on Ape Caves Trail

Volcanic geological feature created during eruption 2,000 years ago

Apes Caves lava tube entrance

Who says a hike needs to be through the woods or to a mountain peak? It also can be through a cave – and for kids, that’s one cool adventure!

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument offers just such a hike, the Ape Caves Trail, which include a pair of 2000-year-old lava tubes. At 12,810 feet, the Apes Caves are among the longest known lava tubes in North America and the world.

For Americans, Mount St. Helens marks the most famous volcanic eruption in modern history. The May 17, 1980, explosion sent ash falling across the continent. These tubes prove that eruption was only one of many that have occurred on the southern Washington mountain.

The Ape Caves sit south of and in the shadow of Mount St. Helens. To reach the trail from Interstate 5, take Exit 21, heading east on Hwy. 503 and Forest Service Road 90 for 35.7 miles. Turn left on FS Road 83 for 2 miles. Turn left on FS Road 8303 for 1.2 miles, parking near the Ape Caves main entrance.

The entry is a stairwell that divides the lava tube into two passages. The lower cave, to your southeast as you descend the stairwell, is quite easy for preschoolers to handle. The upper cave is more difficult but fine for older elementary school children.

Sphere of cooled lava
You’ll need very sturdy hiking boots, warm clothing (the temperature averages 42 degrees year round), and three sources of light (should you forget, during summer you can rent lanterns at the interpretive center). No pets or food allowed in the lava tube. Be forewarned that some young children may find the cave frightening.

The lower cave makes for a 1.5 mile round trip. Among the features are the Railroad Tracks, a shoulder or levee that formed along the lava flow’s side. Stalactites and stalagmites made of lava line the tube’s ceiling and floor. The Meatball, a sphere of cooled lava, sits wedged above the cave floor. It fell from the tube’s ceiling while lava still flowed through the cave, was carried downstream, and came to rest when the tube grew too narrow.

Returning to the main staircase, you either can ascend to the surface or continue through the upper cave. If choosing the latter, you’ll add 2.2 miles to the hike.

The upper cave is much steeper than the lower passage and will require clambering over piles of basalt, or lava rock that collapsed from the ceiling after cooling and cracking. In all, there are 27 piles and an eight-foot lava falls to scale. You’ll need at least two and probably upward to three hours to negotiate the upper passage.

A ladder at the lava tube’s upper end returns you to the surface. From there, the easy, above ground Ape Cave #239 trail passes a skylight – or hole in the lava tube – then heads down slope to the main entrance and then the parking lot.

Trail of Two Forests
Should you only hike the lower cave, consider stopping on your drive back at the Trail of Two Forests, right on FS Road 8303. A boardwalk trail only a quarter-mile long, you’ll walk through an evergreen forest and over black lava. Watch for impressions of the ancient forest engulfed by the same lava flow that created the tubes.

Late May through October is the best time to hike the caves. Avoid going during winter, however, as the parking lot is snowed in and you will need to snowshoe a mile from the Trail of Two Forests. In addition, a “sno-pass” also is required, raising the hike’s cost. You’ll need a forest pass to enter during the summer; a variety of pass options from one-day to year-round are available. One-day – aka a family pass – costs $8 per person with those younger than 16 free. The year-round pass is a good deal as it gives you free access to any Forest Service unit in Washington and Oregon for just $30.

By the way, the Ape Caves Trail wasn’t named for Bigfoot, sightings of which abound in the Mount St. Helens area. The name comes from an outdoors club nicknamed the Mount St. Helens Apes that discovered the lava tube in the 1950s.

Read more about day hiking with children in my guidebook Hikes with Tykes.

Take kids on hike 50 stories underground

Temple of the Sun formation.
Photo courtesy Carlsbad Caverns NPS.

Big Room Trail. Click for larger version.

Fascinating
formations
await in
ancient reef 

A hike through a cave will delight any child - especially when it's one as spectacular as Carlsbad Caverns. Massive stalagmites and stalactites, a bottomless pit, a reflective pool hundreds of feet beneath the surface, and more all await visitors.

Another bonus: Carlsbad Caverns can be enjoyed any time of the year - the cave's temperature varies little from its 56 F temperature, making it a nice respite from both the summer heat or a Northern winter cold. Regardless of the season, you'll need a light jacket or sweatshirt when underground. Comfortable shoes with good traction also are a must.

To reach Carlsbad Caverns, you'll have to cross what looks like a scene out of the Old West. Agave and paddle cactus line Hwys. U.S. 62/180 that links El Paso and Carlsbad, N.M. For miles, there's not much to see but beautiful open desert country, and then the cavern's visitor center with its expansive parking area suddenly rises out of the emptiness.

With younger children, you'll want to limit your hike to the Big Room tour. Elevators in the visitor center take you 754 feet underground, depositing you at a rest area and lunchroom. Look for the signs to a wide passage that leads you to the massive Big Room, which is 3,800 feet long and 600 feet wide. The relatively level and well-lit 1.25-mile self-guided trail heads counter-clockwise around the chamber.

Hall of Giants
Carlsbad Caverns are in the remnants of what once was a 400-mile long reef on an inland sea that covered North America 250 million years ago. As the sea evaporated, salts and gypsum buried the reef. Uplift and erosion began exposing the buried rock a few million years ago. Slightly acidic groundwater and rain seeped through the rocks, carving out the fantastic caverns and its incredible formations.

Among the first of those features on the Big Room trail is the Hall of Giants. The limestone Giant Dome soars 62 feet high and at 16 feet in diameter is wider than most trees. Many visitors say it resembles a miniature Leaning Tower of Pisa. Next to Giant Dome sit a pair of limestone structures aptly named Twin Dome. White lighting allows you to see their natural colors.

Further up the trail is the Temple of the Sun, an elegant limestone formation that almost appears to be handcrafted, surrounded by stalactites above and stalagmites below. There's a bench nearby for taking a rest.

Next is Caveman Junction, featuring a rock formation that vaguely looks like a Neanderthal (though they never lived in North America). If young children are frightened of the cave or should some other problem arise, turn left here for a shortcut to the other side of the looping trail.

If continuing on the trail, next is the Totem Pole, a long skinny rock formation that stretches far above your heads. Then comes a view of Lower Cave, which is lit with green lights. After that is the Top of the Cross, named because of its position given the room's shape.

Mirror Pool and Bottomless Pit
Among the two most intriguing sights on the trail follow. Mirror Lake is an illuminated pool, and the Bottomless Pit stretches 370 feet deep. Warning: Along the main trail are many closed gates guarding small paths leading to unseen passages; children shouldn't wander off the trail into these gated areas.

Next is Crystal Spring Dome, a wet cone-shaped stalagmite that still is growing. Note the dark brown spot - it is caused by people touching it, even though they shouldn't as it damages the structure.

Closing on the trail's end is the Rock of Ages, an impressive formation that looks like the hand of God had placed it there. Then comes the Painted Grotto, an array of calcite speleotherms and soda straws with iron oxide staining.

Take the Jim White Tunnel (the parking lot is some 50 stories directly above you) back to the rest area.

Then comes the after the hike bonus: About 1 million Mexican Freetail bats live in the cavern. During the day they rest on the ceiling of Bat Cave, a passageway closed to the public. At sunrise, the bats dramatically swarm out of the cave, their silhouettes stretching into the distant horizon as they begin their nightly hunt. An open-air amphitheater allows visitors to safely watch the bats' departure in an event called "The Night Flight."

Learn about other great national park day hiking trails in my Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks guidebook.

Caves, sand hills await in Boquillas Canyon

Boquillas Canyon Trail

Caves the size of auto show rooms and grand views overlooking the Rio Grande await intrepid travelers who hike the Boquillas Canyon Trail in Big Bend National Park.

The park preserves more than 1,200 square miles of the Chihuahuan Desert along the international border with Mexico, marked by the Rio Grande. The trail takes you right up to the river border through Boquillas Canyon, one of park’s three largest canyons.

There’s a narrow window for visiting the park. During late spring, summer, and early fall, midday temperatures often climb above 100 degrees F, though even then walks can be comfortably taken during early morning hours. March typically is the driest month, and the days just before April typically are the best to visit.

Descending to Rio Grande
The trail sits in the park’s eastern side. From U.S. Hwy. 385, take Park Route 12 to Rio Grande Village (where there’s a visitor center, though it’s closed during the summer), then turn onto Boquillas Canyon Road. There’s a viewing point on the way to the trail that is worth a stop. The parking area is at the road’s end. You’ll find the trailhead at the parking lot.

The easy 1.4-mile long trail largely is a fine sand surface and takes you back into Boquillas Canyon. The beginning of the trail consists of wooden planks and heads through flat desert scrub. Look for yucca and prickly pear cacti with its fruits.

The trail then heads over a low limestone hill, descending to the Rio Grande’s banks. Watch for the Indian mortar holes. There is also archeological evidence of pre-historic human inhabitation in the canyon.

This riverside section of the trail is lush and green, a respite from the stark desert that you drove through to reach Rio Grande Village and the trail. A variety of birds call the river shore home, and with the area’s remoteness, you’re certain to hear any number of songs, including those of the ash-throated flycatcher, black phoebe, black-throated sparrow, blue-winged teal, canyon towhee, cactus wren, chipping sparrow, common raven, house finch, Inca dove, ladderback woodpecker, loggerhead shrike, meadowlark, mockingbird, rock wren, rough winged swallow, turkey vulture, vermillion flycatcher, verper sparrow, white-wing dove, and the yellow rumped warbler. And yes, you’ll likely spot a roadrunner.

Boca
The trail from here largely skirts the river. The clear water offers inspiring reflections of canyon walls. Don’t be surprised if you also catch sight of a river rafting group navigating its way into the canyon or a rider stopping to let his horse drink from the river.

At the trail’s end is series of wind-driven sand hills and a shallow cave. Your feet will sink in the sand hills, which can make for some fun sliding. The cave is a boca, or a weathered cliff, and stretches several stories high in sediment laid down over tens of millions years when this area was under a shallow sea.

Be forewarned: You are in a very remote area. There is no cell phone coverage. In addition, you’re walking through the desert. For half-day hikes, you should carry at least 2 quarts of water per person. Springs and tinajas – the depressions in rock where water collects – typically are unsafe to drink from.

The good news is that if you should be injured, someone likely will be along soon. Locals from Mexico often cross the shallow river to sell trinkets and handiwork. Technically, it is illegal to purchase their goods. It’s also illegal to cross the border into Mexico by fording the river (and in any case, fording a river with children is unsafe).

Learn about other great national park day hiking trails in my Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks guidebook.

Stay on the trail when day hiking with kids

Hiking off trail means potentially damaging fragile growth.

Following this rule not only ensures you minimize damage but is also a matter of safety. Off trail is where kids most likely will encounter dangerous animals and poisonous plants. Not being able to see where they’re stepping also increases the likelihood of falling and injuring themselves. Leaving the trail also raises the chances of getting lost.

Staying on the trail also means staying out of caves, mines or abandoned structures you may encounter. They are usually dangerous places and wild animals may be living there.

In addition, never let children take a shortcut on a switchback trail. Besides putting them on steep ground upon which they could slip, their impatient act will cause the switchback to erode.

Read more about day hiking with children in my guidebook Hikes with Tykes.