Park Archives: Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve

Tall trees reach skyward, framing the curves as you climb a road built just to reach these high-elevation caverns. At the end of the climb, breathe in the medley of fragrances exhaled by the ancient forest that blankets the Siskiyou Mountains. Take a stroll. Listen. Follow the burbling sounds of a creek. Discover it tumbling out of the rock. Feel the wet, cold breath of the cave on a hot summer day—both foreboding and beckoning you.

Nearby, notice how the Chateau curls gracefully around the creek and cave entrance, embracing it. The rustic exterior of Port-Orford-cedar bark blends with the surrounding forest. Explore inside the Chateau. Discover the brook that babbles through the dining room. Relax in the lobby's pleasing mix of forest and cave ambience. Sit, relax, mull over all the nearby hiking opportunities. Discover Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve.

Groundwater carved and decorated the cave over the millennia. Water soaking through forest soils carries nutrients that feed life underground. Good watershed management preserves the natural processes that create the cave and sustain the life within. Downstream, the fresh clean water that tumbles out of the cave flows to the Illinois River, one of the last free-flowing, undammed rivers in the Pacific Northwest.

Explore and experience the land above and around the cave. Take a short hike. Run your hands along the smooth bark of a madrone tree. Or just relax. Maybe sip an old-fashioned milkshake in the Chateau.

Several short trails lead into the aromatic fir forests around the national historic district. Hike through mossy rock glens, down a stream, or up to grand overlooks. Go to the visitor center. Check out an exhibit about Ice Age fossils in the cave. Peruse a book. Take in a ranger program. Young folks can even earn a Junior Ranger Badge.

Explore the Chalet Visitor Center The original chalet was the first permanent structure here, built in 1924. It houses the visitor center exhibits and bookstore, where you buy cave tour tickets. Its third floor and breezeway were added in 1942. Cave guides now live in the upper two floors in summer.

Historic Landscape In the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps added walled gardens, curved trails, and wispy waterfalls to the scenery near the cave entrance. By intent, mossy rocks and emerald ferns colorfully contrast with the russet hue of cedar-bark buildings.

Hike a Trail Take the path at the back of the Chalet Visitor Center's archway. This Big Tree Trail leads 1.3 miles one-way to Oregon's widest-girth Douglas fir, over 41 feet in circumference. A loop trail option is 3.3 miles long. Allow two to three hours. Elevation gain: 1,100 feet. Also ask about the No Name and Cliff Nature trails and Bigelow Lakes.

Know how long your hike is and let someone know what trail you take. Be prepared. Take and drink plenty of water. Wear good walking shoes. Wear a hat or use sun block. Ask a ranger about trail conditions.

Teeming with Life The Siskiyou Mountains concentrate more species of fungi, plants, and animals than almost any other temperate region in North America. Spotted owls live here in mature, old-growth forest.

Going into the cave is going into the mountain and out of your day-to-day routine. Tune your senses to hear the cave's active stream—an unusual feature in West Coast caves—to see the cave formations, and to feel its air flowing. Beyond your senses, imagine a bat flying confidently in total darkness. Caves are known to elicit more varied responses and types of awareness than almost any other places on Earth.

The cave is home to many unique animals. Some live nowhere else in the world. Long slender antennae help the cave cricket find food in total darkness. Harvestmen are not spiders, have no venom, and do not make webs.

Most cave critters are small and not easily seen, like grylioblattids, or rock crawlers, whose body fluids act as antifreeze, and springtails, who can leap 20 times their own length. Life flourishes even in a seemingly harsh environment.

Bats The bats found here feed mainly on mosquitoes, moths, and other insects. Eight bat species shelter in the cave. In winter, hibernating Townsend big-eared bats are most common. All use echolocation to feed and fly in total darkness.

Horizontal rungs on the cave gates allow bats to fly in and out safely. To protect hibernating bats, the caves are closed in winter.

Long ago, bacterial reefs deposited calcite in layers, creating limestone. Later, buried miles deep and exposed to intense heat, this limestone baked into marble. Afterward, the marble rose up with other lightweight rocks to become the Siskiyou Mountains.

Water mixing with carbon dioxide in forest soils makes a weak acid. Trickling down into the bedrock, this acidic groundwater slowly dissolves openings through the marble layers below to create caverns. This process continues today.

Touring the Cave For over 100 years guides have led tours of Oregon Caves. Today tours explore over a half mile of twisting passages. Your guide recounts the cave's natural and cultural history on the tour. Wait times can be long in summer and a fee is charged. If you are adventurous, you may be interested in the guided off-trail cave tour offered in summer. Visit www.nps.gov/orca for up-to-date information.

Safe Cave Tour Checklist
• Warm clothing for 40s°F
• Sturdy, nonslip footgear
• Watch for uneven surfaces
• Narrow, twisting passages
• 500 stairs and steep grades
• Low rock ceilings

Children must be at least 42 inches tall. There are no childcare services available.

Prohibited in the Cave
• Food, drinks, gum, tobacco
• Canes, tripods, flashlights

Help Protect the Cave
• Don't touch formations; skin oils discolor them
• Don't lean on cave walls or formations

Accessibility The cave's first room is accessible to those with canes or wheelchairs. Service animals are not allowed in the cave due to low ceilings and steep, open, or spiral staircases. Special arrangements can be made, subject to safety and resource protection. Ask at the visitor center or contact the park in advance. We strive to make our facilities, services, and programs accessible to all. For information go to a visitor center, ask a ranger, call, or check our website.

Visiting the Park Cave tours run from early spring through fall but can depend on the weather. Call the park or check our website for details. The cave is closed in winter to protect hibernating bats. Surface areas of the park are open year-round.

The park is 20 miles southeast of Cave Junction, OR, on OR 46. This is a narrow, winding mountain road—take your time and drive safely. Leave trailers at the Illinois Valley Visitor Center in Cave Junction. The park is 50 miles from Grants Pass and 76 miles from Crescent City, CA.

Illinois Valley Visitor Center in Cave Junction offers videos, exhibits, maps, and brochures on local attractions.

Camping is available late May to mid-September at the Grayback and Cave Creek campgrounds on OR 46. No hookups or showers. A fee is charged.

Lodging and food are available mid-May to late September in the park. For information and reservations contact:
The Chateau at the Oregon Caves
PO Box 1824, 20000 Caves Highway
Cave Junction, OR 97523
www.oregoncaveschateau.com

Regulations and Safety
Do not feed wildlife. Mammals can carry rabies or bubonic plague. Pets must be on a leash and stay on paved roads when not in a vehicle. Pets are prohibited on trails. They disturb wildlife and can attract cougars and bears. Check your body for ticks; ticks can carry Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain spotted fever. For firearms regulations check the park website or ask a ranger.

The contents of brochures, site bulletins and trading cards (denoted with a colored caption) can be viewed by clicking on the cover. Most modern-day brochures, however, are cover only (denoted by a white caption) due to photograph copyrights. These items are historical in scope and are intended for educational purposes only; they are not meant as an aid for travel planning. The dates under each brochure do not reflect the complete range of years that a particular brochure was issued.

c1926	cover only 1936	1947		1949
1950		cover only 1952		1959	1961
1963	1965	1970	1973	1976	1977
1979	1987	1988	1989	cover only 1991
1992-2004		cover only 2011-2019

Geology 101 Date Unknown		Geology 201 Date Unknown		Geology 301 Date Unknown
Oregon Caves Tour Route 1974		Oregon Caves Tour Route Date Unknown		Cave Tour & Ticket Policies Date Unknown	Cliff Nature Trail Date Unknown
Date Unknown	Off-Trail Adventure Date Unknown	Off-Trail Adventure 2013	2007 Season Date Unknown	Date Unknown	2013
Date Unknown	2015	2016	2017	Date Unknown, c2019	Date Unknown
Date Unknown	Hiking Guide Date Unknown	Hiking Trails Date Unknown
Amphibians Date Unknown	Owls Date Unknown	Reptiles Date Unknown	Birds Date Unknown	Common Butterflies Date Unknown	Plant Check List Date Unknown
Mammals Check List Date Unknown	Mammals Check List Date Unknown	Junior Ranger Program Cliff Nature Trail Date Unknown	Junior Ranger Program No Name Trail Date Unknown	Junior Ranger Program Old Growth Trail Date Unknown
June Date Unknown		June 2012		June 2011
Early July 2011		Late July 2011		Early August 2011
Late August 2011		Fall Edition 2011
Week of June 7-13 2015		Week of June 14-20 2015		Week of June 21-27 2015
Week of June 28 - July 4 2015		Early July 2012		Week of July 5-11 2015
Week of July 12-18 2015		Week of July 19-25 2015		Week of July 26 - August 1 2015
Week of August 2-8 2015		Week of August 9-15 2015		August 16 - Labor Day 2015
Oregon Caves Chateau 1948	Oregon Caves Chateau Date Unknown	Oregon Caves Chateau Date Unknown	Oregon Caves Chateau Date Unknown	Oregon Caves Chateau Date Unknown	Oregon Caves Chateau Date Unknown
Oregon Caves Chateau 2004	Oregon Caves Chateau Date Unknown	Oregon Caves Resort c1929		1999 Rates

Preserve Management Plan / Wild and Scenic River Study / Environmental Assessment

The following visual bibliography is just a sampling of the handbooks and books which have been published for this park. NPSHistory.com does not endorse these, but are merely presenting them for informational purposes only. As most are copyrighted, we are only able to provide the covers, and not contents, of these publications.

cover only Enchanted Corridors Wayland A. Dunham 1939	The Underworld of Oregon Caves Roger J. Contor 1963	The Underworld of Oregon Caves Roger J. Contor 1963	cover only Souvenir Book of the Oregon Caves National Monument 1969
cover only Discovery and Exploration of the Oregon Caves Frank K. Walsh and William R. Halliday 1971	cover only Oregon Caves Discovery & Exploration Frank K. Walsh and William R. Halliday 1982	cover only Awesome Caverns of Marble in the Oregon Caves National Monument—Documentary— Bert and Margie Webber 1998	cover only Oregon Caves: The Pioneer Exploration and the New Discoveries Steve Knutson 2006