Colorado Cave Survey

Managed-Access Caves

       The Colorado Cave Survey currently administrates access to four caves: Groaning and LaSunder Caves in Garfield County, and Fly and Marble Caves in Fremont County. The Survey has been requested to provide day-to-day access management for these caves by their respective land managers (by the United States Forest Service for Groaning Cave, by the BLM for LaSunder, and by the private landowners in the case of Fly and Marble Caves). The mandate accepted by the Cave Survey is to protect the caves and to ensure continued cooperation between the caving community and the land managers.

       Access to Groaning Cave has been managed by the Cave Survey since the late 1960's, shortly after the cave's discovery. Groaning is gated, and cavers desiring to visit the cave must request the a lock combination from the Cave Survey. More information regarding Groaning Cave is available on the Groaning Cave website.

       LaSunder Cave is a unique and beautiful cave in lower Deep Creek Canyon. Discovered in 1989, the cave suffered from excessive visitation, and was gated by the BLM in 1994 (with help from the Colorado Cave Survey). Following extensive negotiations between the CCS and the BLM, a management plan has been completed and the cave has been re-opened to limited visition. Details of the management plan and access requirements are available on the LaSunder Cave website.

       Fly and Marble Caves had been open to public access until a change in ownership in 1999 resulted in the caves being closed for several years. Recently, however, efforts by the Cave Survey (spearheaded by Rick Rhinehart) have resulted renewed access to these historic caves. For more information regarding visitation, please see the Fly and Marble Caves website.

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Recent Colorado Cave Survey Activity and Projects (as well as not so recent...)

Clear Creek Canyon Caves Study Project (2008)

Individuals from the Colorado Cave Survey are working with Jefferson County Open Space to explore, study and help JCOS manage the caves of Clear Creek Canyon. Well-known caves in the area include Fault, Bear, and Tower, as well as the remarkable CJ's Cavern. For more information please contact Andrea Croskrey (co-chair; quartzite13-at-hotmail-dot-com), Dan Castellari (co-chair; cavesr4all-at-yahoo-dot-com), or Dave Lambert (dlambert-at-ngs-dot-org).

Elephant Mountain Mines and Caves Survey (2006)

The Colorado Cave Survey has been working with the United States Forest Service, Pitkin County, the State of Colorado, and private landholders to survey the Maree Love Mine, and its associated natural cave passages, near Penny Hot Springs in Pitkin County. This work is intended to enhance our knowledge of the caves, karst and speleogenic processes in this area, to document bats and other cave-related fauna, and to assist the various stakeholders develop management plans for the mines and caves. This work is on-goings as of December 2006.

Red Mountain Ranch Park Gypsum Karst (2006)

Red Mountain Ranch Park is a new aquisition by the Larimer County Parks and Open Lands. Gypsum karst in the park had noted (going back to observations by Donald Davis in the 1950s). The Colorado Cave survey has been working with LCPOL to explore and map such caves as have been found in this unique area (including Whitewater Cave); a CCS proposal to coordinate a clean-up effort was greeted with interest by the county officials.

LaSunder Cave Management (2006)

The Cave Survey became involved with LaSunder Cave in the mid-1980s, working with the BLM to install a gate in the entrance. After significant effort (over many, many years), an official cave management plan was recently completed (Octoer 2006). The cave is once again open for limited visitation. For more information, please visit LaSunder Cave website.

Colorado Cave Survey Database (2005)

The Colorado Cave Survey has begun the process of establishing a database with which to document cave survey activity in Colorado. This project is primarily intended to provide a central repository of survey information, so that cavers can determine who is working in a given cave, thus reducing the probability of re-survey and potentially alleviating unnecessary impact. The CCS Survey Database not intended to be as broad is scope as some state cave surveys: no cave location data will be collected (beyond county or region), and no sensitive information is requested. Rather, cavers who have surveyed or are presently surveying in any Colorado cave are requested to submit the following:

• Name(s) of Surveyor(s)
• Name of Cave
• County Name
• Survey Dates
• Short Description of their work - is it ongoing, what is the quality of the survey, etc.

Cavers can offer more information as desired. Please send survey data to Stuart Marlatt at Stuart_Marlatt-at-comcast-dot-net

Colorado Cave Ownership Database (2005)

Although the majority of the caves in Colorado are on Federal lands, there has been considerable confusion over the years regarding who exactly owns which caves. (A good example is Cave of the Clouds, which has been assumed to reside on USFS, BLM, private, or City of Glenwood Springs lands). To help rectify this situation, a Colorado Cave Ownership database is being established. If you would like to contribute to this effort, please provide the following:

• Name of Cave
• County Name
• Ownership (USFS, private, etc.)
• Documentation or explanation

Please send information to Rick Rhinehart at rrhineh1-at-ix-dot-netcom-dot-com.

LaSunder Clean-Up (2005)

The Glenwood Springs BLM office asked for volunteers to hike in and remove bags of cement from LaSunder Cave. These are left-overs from the gating effort several years ago. Donald Davis has been coordinating the clean-up effort:

• June 9, 2005: Donald Davis, Matt Simpson, Jeff Welch, Steve Labowskie, Curtis Pattillo, Joel Tracy, Charles Zelenka.
• July 16, 2005:trip by Donald Davis, Ed LaRock, Eric Wilson, Matt Crass, Dennis Hoburg, John Creager.

Donald estimates that at least two more trips will be required to complete this project.

Fly and Marble Caves (2005)

Fly and Marble Caves had been open to public access until a change in ownership in 1999 resulted in the caves being closed for several years. Recently, however, efforts by the Cave Survey (spearheaded by Rick Rhinehart) have resulted renewed access to these historic caves. For more information regarding visitation, please see the Fly and Marble Caves website.

Cave Creek Cavern Management Plan (1998/2001)

Cave Creek Cavern, in Pike National Forest, was discovered by mining activity and is entered via the original mine adit. The entrance to this tunnel collapsed sometime during the late 1980's and was re-openned by cavers in the early 1990's. This tunnel, however, may be in danger of being premenantly sealed as a target of the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology, as part of their continuing program aimed at closing abandoned mines. In response to a request from the Fairplay Ranger Office, the Colorado Cave Survey submitted a proposal to stabilize the cave entrance by installation of a steel culvert and to negotiate a management plan. Since this proposal was submitted in early 1998, however, personnel changes in the Fairplay office have relegated this concern to a low-priority issue. The Cave Survey is continuing to work with the Fairplay office to ensure that the Cave will not be closed.

During a visit in early June, 2001, Fred Luizer found that the entrance had been filled with by a small collapse; a dig trip on 30 June 2001 cleared the entrance and stabilized it to some extent, but the descending passage below the entrance remains blocked at this time. (For a full report, see Rick's discussion ).

Lime Creek Timber Harvest (1995)

In 1995, the Sopris District Ranger Office of the United States Forest Service announced its intention to conduct a wide-ranging timber sale, encompassing a number of areas in the Eagle/Frying Pan watershed. Of particular concern were several targetted harvest areas on the eastern rim of Lime Creek. The Cave Survey worked with the Sopris Office to identify threatened caves and to establish harvest parameters which would safe-guard the cave and karst resources in this area. These safe-guards included modifications of the harvest plans (changes from local clear-cuts to selective timbering), the deliniation of buffer zones around caves and drainage regions, and rules regarding slash disposal. While the timber harvest was originally scheduled to begin in 1998, no harvest has begun to date.

Burnt-Mountain Quarry (1992)

In 1992, the Cave Survey worked with Sopris District Ranger Office after plans for a small gravel quarry showed the potential for adverse impacts to Corkscrew and Powerline Caves. Acting on advise from the Survey, the quarry location was moved to a point well removed from any karst features (actually completely off the limestone).

History of the Colorado Cave Survey

This section is under construction - I would would be grateful for any contributions which would help to document the rich history of the Colorado Cave Survey. (You can contact me here.

Access to Colorado Caves

This website is intended to provide pertinent information regarding the Colorado Cave Survey. It is not to be a clearinghouse of cave related data. Specifically, it is the policy of the Colorado Cave Survey not to provide cave location information over the internet. This policy is designed to protect the cave enviroment, the welfare of those visiting the caves, and the relationship between the caving community and cave owners and/or land managers.

Caves represent a fragile, irreplaceable environment, and the act of a single vandal may counteract the long-term efforts of the entire caving community to protect a cave. The cave environment may also pose many dangers to the unprepared visitor; cave rescues are notoriously difficult, and even a seemingly minor accident may prove fatal in the cold, high altitude caves of Colorado. In addition, relations with land owners or land managers are often sensitive, and a single careless visitor may cause a cave to be closed to everyone. Since it is impossible to assess an individual's background, skill, or motivations over the internet, no cave locations will be provided on this site.

If you would like more information regarding Colorado caves, or caving in general, please contact the National Speleological Society or one of the Colorado grottos (links).

Links

• National Speleological Society
• Colorado Grotto
• Colorado Western Slope Grotto
• Northern Colorado Grotto
• Red Canyon Grotto
• Southern Colorado Mountain Grotto
• Timberline Grotto

• Georgia Speleological Survey
• Indiana Cave Survey
• Tennessee Cave Survey
• Texas Speleological Survey
• Virginia Speleological Survey
• West Virginia Speleological Survey