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