FAQ

The best way is to join a grotto and gain the trust of its members. Caves are kept secret from the general public because of the natural hazards, the delicate nature of caves, and for conservation. Any person caving must know how to cave properly to avoid damaging the environment or getting injured. It is possible with enough persistence, training, and trust that one can get access to databases with cave locations. 

A grotto is a local chapter of the National Speleological Society, or NSS. Grottos are a local community of cavers that generally hold monthly meetings and plan caving trips together. They also often manage and take care of local caves. Check out the NSS website to find the closest grotto to you. 

Caves in the Bear River Range are typically high alpine caves, which means they are often cold, wet, and physically demanding. Many of them require some form of rope work or vertical caving skills to access safely.

The gear you need depends on the type of cave and trip. Please visit our gear pages to learn more about basic caving equipment, vertical gear, and recommended clothing.

Caving clothes should be durable, warm, and appropriate for the type of cave being visited. Please check out our Gear pages for more detailed recommendations.

Reach out to your local grotto. Many grottos hold regular meetings, trips, and trainings. This is the best way to get involved. Let people know your goals and how you want to get involved. If you want to get involved in project caving, then learn everything you can about the type of project caving you want to get into, and find people who already have these skills that can help teach you and take you on trips. 

Caves are often grouped into two main types: horizontal and vertical. Horizontal usually requires no rope work, and vertical requires rope work. Caves can also start horizontal and turn vertical. There are many types of caves, which can be classified by how they have formed. Examples are solution, ice, lava, sea, talus, just to name a few. These caves are formed differently and present different caving conditions. 

Caves can be home to many animals, including bats, pack rats, spiders, cave crickets, beetles, and even frogs. Some animals stay close to the entrance, while others can be further back. Many caves are full of tiny bugs, but due to their size, it is hard to see or find them. It is possible to find larger animals in caves, such as bears or mountain lions, but it's uncommon. It is important to respect the wildlife found in caves and not disturb them, especially if the animal is in hibernation. Waking up a hibernating animal can lead to its death from restarting its metabolism, causing the animal to burn fat reserves too fast, leading to starvation. Bats are typically the most common animal hibernating in caves. Bats can get a bad rap, but they leave people alone and are extremely good at navigating in caves and tight spaces. If one flies toward you, crotch low, let it pass. 

The longest cave in Utah is Little Brush Creek Cave, which is over 7 miles long. It is still being explored and mapped, so its known length will continue to grow. The longest cave in the world is Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, and it's over 400 miles long. 

The deepest cave in Utah is Main Drain Cave, which is over 1,300 feet deep. The deepest cave in the world is Veryovkina Cave in the country of Georgia; it's over 7,000 feet deep. 

No. Cavers should pack out all waste, including urine. Bring a bottle or other appropriate container and follow Leave No Trace practices underground.

White-nose Syndrome is a disease caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd) that ultimately causes bats to wake up from hibernation prematurely as there body attempts to fight it off. This leads to a rapid burn in fat reserves, causing starvation. Cavers can help limit the spread of WNS by decontaminating gear and following WNS protocols. 

A lot of gear crosses over between sports, but cave-specific gear exists for good reasons. Caves are harsh environments and eat through equipment faster than almost any other setting. A climbing harness will work in a cave, but it can get shredded quickly. Cave harnesses are built from more durable materials and have a lower center of gravity, which makes ascending rope significantly more efficient. Cave descenders are designed with SRT in mind, where a caver ascends and descends on a single fixed rope rather than a belay system. The way everything clips together on a cave harness is also different from a climbing setup.

Cave bags are typically made from PVC or Cordura rather than nylon, because nylon bags fall apart fast underground.

If you are new to caving and already have a rope work setup from climbing or canyoneering, it can work as a starting point, as long as you can safely perform SRT techniques. But if you plan to get seriously into caving, cave-specific gear is worth the investment.