Ichiban Cave or Ricks Spring

Locals used ricks spring to collect fresh water by the gallon which was later dye traced and found to be watershed from Logan river, Tony Grove Lake, and other unknown caves in the area. There are other springs in the area that also release large amounts of water including Wood Camp Hollow, which has been dye traced from Main Drain Cave, Benchmark Springs, Dewitt Spring, and the 1,400 ft. gated cave system properly named Logan Cave.  

Rick's Spring Resurgence, Utah

Ricks Spring is made up of Dolomite and has developed from cracks in the Limestone from weak points where the water has dissolved and worked it way through the system.  Some of the passage appear to be pheratic in nature but the dry portion of the cave appear to be solutional. 

Preparing for a dive in Rick's Spring, Utah

Ricks Spring has been a point of interest for locals, tourists and Cave Divers for some time now due to the interesting cavern like alcove and the boil of water that re surges from the ground.   Richard Lamb, Wendell Nope, and a team of Cave Divers have been mapping this system for over 7 years now and local certified cave divers come to the spring to enjoy a nice clear water dive.  

It is my understanding that the cave has been mapped for up to 2300 ft. of underwater and dry passage. The dry portion contains several side passages and cascading waterfalls.  The largest dry room in the cave has been mapped at around 260ft long, 40 to 50ft wide, and 50 to 70ft high!  With all of this water and large passage, I feel Rick's Spring has a lot more going on than what has been discovered so far. 

Richard Lamb, Adam Haydock, and Michael Thornton with a underwater camera, exiting Ricks Spring, Utah PHOTO BY: Michael Thornton

Richard Lamb, Michael Thornton, and Adam Haydock prepared for a dive in the ideal conditions Rick's Spring can offer, 50-60ft of viz, great sun light, "low" recharge, and a balmy 37 degree water temperature.  Richard set the primary line and we found that the permanent line was still in tact which was nice to see and gave us one less task to tackle. The deepest point in the cave is at around 65ft. in a meandering slopping hill like profile.  Surprisingly, I had a lot of gear issues from free flows to two leaky hoses which ended my dive early when I penetrated the cave upto around 500ft. I also had some challenges getting into the cave itself with the LP 108's as I no mounted them and pushed them through the entrance. The cave meandered up and down with some strikes in the strata and a break point where Logan river penetrated the cave and resurges back out the exit of the system. The water was a constant 38 degrees but really good viz with some silt percolation from the ceiling. There is so much more to survey and explore in this cave so I am looking forward to coming back very soon. The 2300 ft of both wet and dry passage has some water falls and continuing submerged passage that appears to keep going and my provide significant cave for this system.

Video of Ricks Springs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4dDyPVBd7c