Ape Cave. Named after the scouts helping to explore the cave, back then called the "cave apes". One of my most amazing cave experiences. This cave is easily and safely accessible by anyone -- as long as you register yourself and your vehicle for the visit at the US Forestry Service. In the cave you can do just a small peek underground or walk 1 km to the nearest end of the cave on an easy path. Someone was even pushing strollers. And then you walk back the kilometer to exit. But you can also keep walking also to the other end of the cave, and then exit from the other exit. This is what I did, and that's a whopping 5.5 km walk underground. The cave is the third longest lava tube in North America. And with such amazing sights, e.g., the one in the picture above. Much recommended!
The cave itself is only 2.5 miles or 4.0 km, but since the main entrance is not at the end of the cave, you'll have walk an extra kilometer, as the entrance - end trip will be walked in both directions. Similarly, the other end is not at the end of the cave either, hence the 5.5 or so kilometers. The main entrance is near the parking lot and shop, but if you do the longer trip you'll be walking above ground on a nice trail back to the parking lot (around 3 kilometers). Along that trail there are some additional smaller lava caves, some of which you can enter.
There are only two entrances, but somewhere in the middle of the cave there's an additional hole with light shining through, shown above.
Lava tubes can be extremely beautiful, as the rock shapes are often smooth and interesting, and colors magnificent. The green mossy surfaces where light gets through, but the red, black, brown, yellow, orange, gold... everything! Some examples:
The shapes are generally tube-like and flowing. Like here, reminding me of a cathedral shapes:
Often there's also ripple and wave effects from the lava in surfaces. And sometimes you can see evidence of multiple levels of flows, like below:
The detailed on the surfaces is also super interesting:
The longer end-to-end route is not for strollers, though. Along the route there will be 27 breakdown piles (mountains of boulders from rock collapsed from the roof. These are not easy to cross, you'll have to be careful with your steps. I should say though that when I was there, I was followed by maybe five other groups of people going through the cave, and one of them had a maybe 3-4 year old kid with them. I can't imagine how he got through it, maybe by being lifted by his parents.
There's also a crux in the tunnel, a 3 meter lava "waterfall" that you have climb up. This is warned about in materials about the cave. 3 meters doesn't sound like a big problem but of course since it is vertical you have to get up or down it, and some information I had was that there wouldn't much hand or footholds, or any other assistance. Hence I was a bit apprehensive about this, particularly since I was alone, but of course I could turn back if crossing turned out to be impossible for me. It turned out that there was a rope, too, installed by someone. But you didn't even need the rope, because the lava surface had more than adequate handholds to pull yourself up. I'm usually a timid climber in these situations, but I had absolutely no problem.
One thing that should be observed though is that going up is easier than going down. Hence it is better to cross the cave from the main entrance onwards than the other way around. But of course if the rope is still there, then even coming down will be easy.
Here's the crux, pictured from above:
And from the bottom:
A famous part of the cave is on the easy 1-km hike, the "meatball", a rock hanging between two sides. Pictured here on the cover a brochure:
To register for the hike, go to the US Forestry Service site, that has instructions on what to do. They will redirect you also to recreation.gov for the actual payment, which is only 2 $. Note: it is not super clear in the websites, but you also need a Northwest Forest Pass, America the Beautiful Pass, Day Pass, or National Forest Recreation ePass. These you get from discovernw.org site. That ticket price varies on what you get, but the one day ePass is 5 $. Cheap by any standards, but you'll need to print these on paper before entering the site. Note that the Ape Cave tickets are timed on two hour slots. However, on site there's no checking so if you arrive a bit early or stay longer (as I did) it is no problem.
Visits to Ape Cave are only possible in the summer, May 18th to October 31.
The main entrance is with easy stairs, but the other entrance is is with a ladder:
The cave should of course be kept pristine. So don't touch anything you don't absolutely need to touch, don't break anything, don't bring anything that might become trash or bacteria in the ecosystem.
And remember to clean your shoes well before and after visits, to avoid spreading white-nose syndrome or other bat diseases. I actually always wash my hiking shoes in very hot water to avoid carrying anything from cave to cave:
More pictures of the light opening in the middle of the cave:
The high-resolution version of the map is available here.
More information about the Ape Cave can be found from the US Forestry Service site, Washington Geotourism website, Washington Trails Association's page, and Wikipedia.
Read more urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot or TGR. Photos and text (c) 2024 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.
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