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Home PageDescriptions of Tour Destinations
Not sure which Wild Cave Tour to sign up for? The following describes some of what you’ll see on our cave tours and gives details on some of the destinations. Not all destinations are available each cave tour season.
I. CAVE SECTIONS AND TOUR ROUTES:
Devil’s Icebox Cave has one main entrance. All tours begin the same way. Further into the cave, however, the passages will split and different tours will go different ways. This section describes the possible routes that cave trips will take.
Water Passage
All tours begin by paddling the half-mile water passage, including laying flat in the boat to pass under the 15-foot long, low-ceiling area known as the Low Spot. Participants also must portage the boats short distances over mud and rocks in several locations until they reach the Boat Landing. Features include large stalactites known as the Twins and the Tooth and a narrow section unofficially dubbed the Torpedo Tube.
Main Passage to the Anvil and Side Passages
Starting at the Boat Landing, participants will leave the boats and continue on foot over mud, dirt, rocks and through the stream of the Main Passage, which is primarily an upright walking passage. In this portion of the Main Passage, participants will see fossils and various speleothems (cave formations) such as stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, draperies, columns, helectites, chert nodules, bacon rind and more. Some features and locations have names such as Mother Nature, Three-Step, the Shark, First and Second Breakdown Rooms, Corner Rapids, the Kodak Moment, the Hanging Bridge and the Anvil.
Many side passages branch off from the Main Passage. These side passages involve more crawling and climbing than the Main Passage and give the participant a chance to do some more challenging caving.
The Bypass and Wormhole
At the formation known as the Anvil, the cave splits into two wide walking passages: the wetter Main Passage (to the left) and the drier Bypass (to the right). These two passages eventually connect back together with a narrow crawling section called the Wormhole, forming about a 700m loop.
The Left Fork
Along the left side of this loop, before the Main Passage re-connects with the Bypass, another passage, the Left Fork, begins and heads northeast.
The Main Passage Continues
At the far end of the loop, where the Bypass and Main Passage meet, the Main Passage continues southwest. Most trips that visit destinations past this point usually take the drier, shorter Bypass route through the loop section, though some trips may enter or exit through the Main Passage and Wormhole instead.
Note: All destinations in the Main Passage past Chocolate-Vanilla Room must also pass through the Wade (several short sections of cave stream that are between waist- and chest-deep).
II. DESTINATION DESCRIPTIONS:
Below are descriptions of some of the destinations. Keep in mind that a trip longer in meters does not necessarily mean a harder tour. Our tour schedules often pair shorter-length major destinations with more difficult side passages so that the total trip time is approximately the same for all trips of the same level. The number given after the name is the distance from the entrance, taking the shortest way possible.
A. Major Destinations in the Main Passage:
Chocolate-Vanilla Room, 2150m (B level): One of the prettiest spots in the cave, this beautiful display of stalactites and stalagmites resembles chocolate and vanilla icing. Calcite draperies hang from the ceiling while pure white rimstone dams and cave pearls continue to form on the floor. Participants will also see Pierpont Dome, a 35’ dome named for a historic general store located nearby on the surface.
Waterfall, 2500m (B level): Located 350m past the Chocolate-Vanilla Room, the Waterfall is a beautiful 25’ high white calcite formation that resembles a frozen waterfall. Be sure to bring a camera for this one.
Monolith, 2550m (B level): This formation, located about 50m past the Waterfall, is perhaps the largest stalagmite in the cave. Requires hands-and-knees crawling.
Chert Bridges, 3000m (C-level): Chert Bridges is a large area of the cave about 500m past the Monolith. These 500m are mostly a walking passage but include significant areas of stooping and hands-and-knees crawling. Chert Bridges has many rock bridges and maze-like twists and turns which make this a fun but confusing area to explore. You’ll be glad you have a guide to keep you from getting lost. Features include a beautiful azure pool, several large domes and a formation resembling a piano keyboard.
B. Major Destinations in the Left Fork:
Belfry, 2275m (B-level): Participants must wade through the shallow stream of the Left Fork, then, as if ascending a ladder into a church belfry, participants must climb up a rocky path through a gap in the ceiling that leads to one of the cave’s highest domes.
Brachiopod Room, 2325m (B+ level): Participants must wade through the shallow stream of the Left Fork, but before reaching the Belfry, they will duck into a low passage that requires hands-and-knees crawling through the cave stream or belly crawling over an embankment, then sliding down a steep slope. The Brachiopod Room contains several fossils of the oceanic creature that gives the room its name. This is a B+ tour because of the amount of crawling and climbing required.
Mountain Room, 2525m (C-level): Located about 200m past the Brachiopod Room, the Mountain Room is a large room consisting of several steep slopes and side areas to explore. The path to the Mountain Room consists of belly crawling through a second long, narrow, muddy passage with a steep six foot drop-off at one end, or crawling through another low-ceiling stream passage.
Dripstone Cascade, 2800m (C-level): The Dripstone Cascade formation, located about 275m past the Mountain Room, is a large drapery of calcite flowstone. The path to Dripstone consists of belly crawling through a third long, narrow, muddy passage with a six foot drop-off at one end, or crawling through still another low-ceiling stream passage.
C. The Side Passages:
Devil’s Graveyard (B-level; available in September and October only): On the way to the Bat Room, participants will climb up a rocky slope from the Boat Landing to Devil’s Graveyard, a room with stalagmites that resemble miniature gravestones. This is the main roosting area of the cave’s endangered gray bats and contains a big pile of guano.
Bat Room (B-level; available in September and October only): Entry to the Bat Room requires belly crawling through a narrow, rocky, sloping passage that opens into a large room that is close to the surface as evidenced by tree roots hanging through the stalactites. Typically, several hundred little brown bats hibernate in this room during the winter.
Polly’s Pot Siphon (B-level): This wet, muddy, narrow passage starts just beyond the boat landing and follows a branch of the cave stream that flows in from Polly’s Pot Cave. This passage also contains some side areas to crawl up into and large domes to explore.
Cloaca (B-level): This optional tough passage is not for everyone. It requires navigating a steep, slippery slope to the entrance, chimneying up/down a narrow crevice, climbing up/down a steep 10-15 foot wall and fitting sideways through a narrow, muddy passage about 1.5 feet wide and about 3 feet high. One end of this passage is a 6-10 foot drop. This loop passage requires a team effort, and those electing not to go through the passage can still provide valuable assistance from the lower level to those who choose to try it.
The Rollercoaster (B- or C-level): This well-named side passage consists of a series of climbing up steep, slippery slopes and sliding down the other side. B-level trips can go as far as Hollow Dome. This optional challenge involves a steep climb up to a dome that looks down into a deep pit. C-level trips can go to the end of the Rollercoaster passage and require belly crawling over both mud and rocks and through water.
The Snowbank (B-level): This fun side passage is narrower, and less hilly than the Rollercoaster but has a few places with low ceilings that require crawling. The Snowbank itself is a white calcite formation that resembles a bank of snow. This passage also contains some large rocks to climb over and domes to explore.
Boxwork Heights (B-level): This part of the cave contains a ceiling formation rare for this cave known as boxwork. Boxwork consists of thin lines of calcite that formed in the cracks of limestone and remained after the limestone dissolved away. There is a steep muddy climb to a landing area.
Wormhole (B-level): This narrow, sloping passage averages about 3 feet high and 3 feet wide and requires hands-and-knees crawling or slithering over mud. At one end of the Wormhole is the First Water Crawl. While the water is not deep, the ceiling is low, requiring participants to get wet to waist- or chest-level as they crawl through the cave stream.
Devil’s Roost (C-level): Participants must chimney up a steep opening in the ceiling, traverse a narrow, deep canyon into a water-filled pit, over another opening into a second water-filled pit and return the way they came in.
Nooks & Crannies (B- or C-level): This trip consists of leader’s choice of the side passages listed above. Only C-level trips may include Devil’s Roost as an option.
Warshauser’s Dome (C-level only): Located between the Monolith and Chert Bridges, this dome is hidden away at the end of narrow, rocky crawl. A second entrance involves a steep climb.
Jeanette’s Folly, 3650m (D-level only): This long, narrow, belly-crawling passage leaves the Main Passage about 650m past Chert Bridges and re-joins the Main Passage at a previous point. Upon reaching the end of this passage where it re-connects to the Main Passage, one explorer thought she had emerged into a completely new section of cave, hence the name Jeanette’s Folly.
Black Crinoid Passage (D-level only): This side passage, which begins between the two entrances of Jeanette’s Folly, contains Hausmannite or manganese oxide-covered crinoid fossils, and is also possibly the only place in the cave containing popcorn-shaped deposits.
