CASCADE FALLS CAVE, UTAH
September 24, 2016
Cascade Cave, Utah |
Cascade Falls Cave is a horizontal cave in the Dixie National forest, Utah. The cave is around 2000ft in length and is comprised of mainly walking passage. The cave does not appear to be limestone in nature but does sit on a contact layer that has signs of scalloping due to swift water movement.
Cascade Cave, Utah |
Access to this cave is straightforward as there is a walking trail that leads to a balcony to view the entrance of the cave.
Cascade Cave, Utah |
When we were there the cave entrance did not have a waterfall and we only encountered pools of water in the cave. Usually there is a flowing stream of water coming out of the entrance, hence the name.
Cascade Cave, Utah |
We got into the cave and noticed a gauge meter where the water appears to be flowing from which is quite high in comparison to where we were standing. It would have swept us out of the cave if the water was raging.
The cave reminded us of a Midwest canyon like cave that was devoid of formations. It does have walking passage and meandering passage that appeared to keep going.
Cascade Cave, Utah |
The air quality changed a bit where we were in there so we did not go to the back of the cave but we stopped around half way in and started to head out. The cave is known to have high levels of C02 due to the decaying matter from Navajo Lake, above the cave. There are sinkholes that drain water from Navajo lake, into Cascade Falls Cave and when we went up to the lake itself, there was a large portion of the lake that was bone dry.
We do NOT recommend entering this cave unless you are a experienced caver and have the proper training and equipment to enter caves.
Cascade Cave, Utah |
This cave can and will flash flood so if you are in this cave when it
flood, you can find yourself in big trouble. Furthermore, there are high
C02 readings in this cave and that can cause injury or death if you are
not prepared for the high levels of C02. If you are interested in caving, please reach out to your local caving organization so they can prepare you for caving activities.
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