Caving
Lava River Cave
June 2011
We took a day off of climb at Smith Rock State Park to explore some caves. One such cave was Lava River Cave. Unlike other popular caves such as Ape Caves in WA, this cave was monitored by National Park Rangers. This cave is located inside of Newberry National Volcanic Monument and is one of the longest known caves in Oregon. In June Bend’s temperature was around 95 degrees. Entering a cave of 42 degrees felt so good.
The kids enjoyed this cave due to its temperatures and the lavacicles. At the end of the cave, at least what the Rangers called the end for visitors, the ground was filled with sand and the dripping water had formed sand castles. The kids were amazed.
