Wild Caving

Great Basin National Park offers wild caving by permit to those with the necessary skills.

NPS Photo

Wild Caves

Lehman Caves is the most famous of Great Basin National Park's caves, but there are actually about 40 caves in the park.

Upon completion of a Wild Cave and Karst Management Plan, several caves are open to recreational use in the Park under a permit system.
Seven wild (undeveloped) caves at Great Basin National Park (GRBA) are open by permit for recreational use. All other wild caves are closed except to research and management uses. Recreational permits will be approved for those who can demonstrate cave conservation ethics and their experience with horizontal and (if pertinent) vertical caving techniques and equipment. Cave gear must be clean. If cave gear has ever been in a White-nose Syndrome (WNS) area, it is not allowed inside any GRBA cave, regardless of decontamination.

Permit applications must be returned at least two weeks prior to the cave trip. No more than one wild cave permit per week will be issued for each cave. Groups entering wild caves are limited to a minimum of three and a maximum of six persons. Groups may apply to enter multiple caves, as long as entry is during the open period for those caves. Cavers who qualify and are interested can contact the Cave Specialist for a permit application and more information.

Cave	Dates Open	Description (Length in feet/Vertical Relief in feet)	Notes
Little Muddy	Oct 1 – Apr 15	Fun, crawly cave (1015/25)	Elevated CO2 in summer
Catamount	Year round	Very short cave, requires stemming (33/31)
Ice Cave	April 1 – May 15 and September 15 – October 15	Good beginner cave, some crawling (677/41)	May have some water flowing into it; Cold cave
Crevasse-Halliday’s Deep	April 1 – May 15 and September 15 – October 15	Vertical cave and some tight crawls (>3,000/238)
Systems Key	April 1 – May 15 and September 15 – October 15	Vertical section and some tight crawls (1039/94)	Cold cave
Broken	June 15 - October 15	Small, high elevation cave (108/55)	Cold cave
Snake Creek	September 15 – May 15	Variety of passage types; handline recommended (1682/57)	Dust mask recommended for entrance area; H passage closed year round

 

A caver exploring one of the vertical permitted caves in Great Basin

NPS Photo