Cherney Maribel Caves County Park

Last updated
Cherney Maribel Caves County Park
Cherney Maribel Caves.jpg
Cherney Maribel Caves County Park
USA Wisconsin relief location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Cherney Maribel Caves County Park in Wisconsin
Usa edcp relief location map.png
Red pog.svg
Cherney Maribel Caves County Park (the United States)
Location Manitowoc, Wisconsin, United States
Coordinates 44°17′12.0474″N87°46′30.3708″W / 44.286679833°N 87.775103000°W / 44.286679833; -87.775103000 Coordinates: 44°17′12.0474″N87°46′30.3708″W / 44.286679833°N 87.775103000°W / 44.286679833; -87.775103000
Area75 acres (30 ha)
Established1963
Governing bodyManitowoc County Park System
Website http://www.maribelcaves.com/

Cherney Maribel Caves County Park is a county park located near Maribel in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. The park occupies 75 acres along the West Twin River. Cherney Maribel Caves consists of eleven caves along a rugged cliff line that runs parallel with the West Twin River. Maribel New Hope Cave, Tartarus Cave, Sinkhole Cave and Split Rock Cave are all established gated caves that need guides to visit the entire caves, they are gated due to past vandalism to the Speleothems and protect the current Speleothems.

Contents

History

The Cherney Maribel Caves were formed primarily by solution prior to the last ice age. Glaciers wore down the surface of the land and exposed a layer of rock called Niagara Dolomite along the Niagara Escarpment, exposing crevices and sinkholes, allowing water to easily enter the caves. As the glaciers melted, the rushing water enlarged the existing caves, and later partially filled them with silt and gravel as the flow of water receded. The rushing melt water also carved the river valley. Since then, frost action has loosened rock from the cliff face, partially to fully closing the cave entrances.

About 1892, the first of the caves were discovered on the property of Henry A. Alrich, and was soon purchased by Charles Steinbrecher, who, in 1900, built the nearby Maribel Caves Hotel. Over the next several decades, tourists came to see the caves. In 1931, Adolph Cherney bought the property, including the nearby hotel. On November 5, 1963, Cherney sold the cave property to Manitowoc County for $16,200, leading to it becoming the first Manitowoc County park. [1]

Caves

Caves at Cherney Maribel Caves County Park listed North to South in the park along the bluff line

Spring Cave

Spring Cave is a small inaccessible cave located on adjacent private property. A natural spring that flows from the cave was previously used by the nearby Maribel Caves Hotel. This cave is on Private Property and can only be viewed by the viewing deck on Manitowoc County Property. [2]

Maribel New Hope Cave

Maribel New Hope Cave is the largest cave in Manitowoc County. It was discovered on Sunday, February 5, 1984. It is noted for its walking passageways, and is lighted by electric floodlights. It contains examples of stalactites, stalagmites, Helictites, and cave bacon. The cave is a public show cave. It is open the 3rd Sunday of every month from May through October from 10 am to 3 pm for public tours. The cave is still being excavated and explored further by members of the Wisconsin Speleological Society. College instructors use this cave as a living laboratory. [3]

Aguaduice Cave

Aquadulce Cave was discovered in 2003 by Wisconsin Speleological Society members, its a smaller crawling wild cave that currently has about 30ft passage that goes northwest and then curves to the left going west. Aguaduice is situated a ways off the banks of the West Twin River in the Wisconsin State Natural Area of Cherney Maribel Caves County Park. Aquaduice cave is located in the escarpment ridge that runs the length of the park measuring about sixty feet in height above the river bed. The entrance to the cave is almost at the top of the bluff line along the park bluff and is not easily reached, Aquaduice cave is probably the hardest to access being there is a 8ft pit to crawl into first before reaching the floor of the cave . Aguaduice Cave is Spanish for freshwater, literally meaning Sweetwater.

Pancake Cave

Pancake Cave is difficult to reach because no trails lead to it. The cave is about eight feet deep and is shaped like a pancake. [4]

Coopers Cave

Coopers Cave is located about midway along the park bluff. The cave has a large rectangular entrance and also has a small crevice entrance. It is a square tube solutional cave that is quiet and dry. About nine feet below the entrance is a natural spring that flows year round into the West Twin River. [5]

Staircase Cave

Staircase Cave is a small relatively inaccessible cave. [6]

Split Rock Cave

Split Rock Cave was discovered in the winter of 2008 by Wisconsin Speleological Society members on a -22deg below zero winter day noticing steam coming out and feather frost brimming at the entrance of the cave. Split Rock Cave today is part of the Tartarus Cave System, this cave is a all hands and knee crawling except for a few sit up areas with domes.

Tunnel Passage

Cave entrance at Cherney Maribel Caves County Park Cherney Maribel Caves cave entrance.jpg
Cave entrance at Cherney Maribel Caves County Park

Tunnel Passage, discovered in 2005, is about 20 feet long and approximately three feet in height. [7]

Tartarus Cave System

The Tartarus Cave System is a large system of caves in the park that is still being excavated. It has three entrances: Tunnel Passage Entrance, the Tartarus Cave Entrance, and the Split Rock Cave Entrance. [8]

Cave of Treasures

Cave of Treasures is located to the south just beyond the Tartarus Cave System in the same bluff. It is the most recently discovered cave by the Wisconsin Speleological Society. It consists of a three to four foot high horizontal entrance, that leads to over 70 feet of hands and knees crawlway passages. It is believed that further excavation, or digging, will open up passageway continuations so it will eventually connect it up to the Tartarus Cave System just to the north. [9]

Sinkhole Cave

Sinkhole Cave is located to the south of Cave of Treasures above the bluff line, it is the currently the only cave in the park one has to rappel into.

Features

The park offers a playground, a picnic area, and hiking and biking trails. A picnic shelter with bathrooms is located in the picnic area. Along the cliff line are several varieties of rare ferns, along with creeping plants and wild flowers. The beauty of the area made it a popular tourist destination even before Manitowoc County acquired the property in 1963. [10]

2013 Tornado

In August 2013, a tornado ripped through Cherney Maribel Cave County Park. It destroyed more than 75 percent of the trees, the picnic shelter, and the restrooms. [11] The restrooms and picnic shelters have since been rebuilt, one on south end of park called the Tartarus Pavilion with flush facilities and other on north end of the park called the New Hope Pavilion with pit facilities.

See also

Other caves on the Niagara Escarpment

Related Research Articles

Cave Natural underground space large enough for a human to enter

A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word cave can refer to smaller openings such as sea caves, rock shelters, and grottos, and they are called endogene caves. Caves which are deeper than its opening is wide are called exogene.

Mammoth Cave National Park National park and cave in Kentucky, USA

Mammoth Cave National Park is an American national park in west-central Kentucky, encompassing portions of Mammoth Cave, the longest cave system, which is known in the world.

Natural Bridge Caverns United States historic place

The Natural Bridge Caverns are the largest known commercial caverns in the U.S. state of Texas. The name is derived from the 60 ft natural limestone slab bridge that spans the amphitheater setting of the cavern's entrance. The span was left suspended when a sinkhole collapsed below it.

Door Peninsula Peninsula of Wisconsin in Lake Michigan

The Door Peninsula is a peninsula in eastern Wisconsin, separating the southern part of the Green Bay from Lake Michigan. The peninsula includes northern Kewaunee County, northeastern Brown County, and the mainland portion of Door County. It is on the western side of the Niagara Escarpment. Well known for its cherry and apple orchards, the Door Peninsula is a popular tourism destination. With the 1881 completion of the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal, the northern half of the peninsula became an island.

Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park is a 733-acre (297 ha) Florida State Park located on Peacock Springs Road, two miles (3 km) east of Luraville and on State Road 51, 16 miles (26 km) southwest of Live Oak, Florida. Activities include picnicking, swimming and diving, and wildlife viewing. Among the wildlife of the park are deer, bobcats, raccoon, squirrels, beaver and otters, as well as turkey, blue heron and barred owls. The park name commemorates the work of diver and explorer Wes Skiles. Prior to 2010 the park was known as Peacock Springs State Park. Amenities include a nature trail, six sinkholes, and Peacock and Bonnet Springs, with miles of underwater caves popular with cave divers. The two springs are tributaries of the Suwannee River. The park is open from 8:00 am till sundown year round.

Leon Sinks Geological Area

The Leon Sinks Geological Area is located on the Woodville Karst Plain in southern and southwestern Leon County, Florida, United States. It is a mature karstic area on the Upper Floridan Aquifer. It is one of the most extensive underwater cave systems in the world and connects to Wakulla Springs.

Sistema Dos Ojos Flooded cave system at the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Dos Ojos is part of a flooded cave system located north of Tulum, on the Caribbean coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. The exploration of Dos Ojos began in 1987 and still continues. The surveyed extent of the cave system is 82 kilometers (51 mi) and there are 28 known sinkhole entrances, which are locally called cenotes. In January 2018, a connection was found between Sistema Dos Ojos and Sistema Sac Actun. The smaller Dos Ojos became a part of Sac Actun, making the Sistema Sac Actun the longest known underwater cave system in the world.

Crystal Cave (Wisconsin) Cave

Crystal Cave is a cave located in Wisconsin’s Pierce County, near the Town of Spring Valley on Highway 29. The cave was discovered in 1881 by local brothers George and William Vanasse. Crystal Cave is a multi-level solutional cave formed in dolomite bedrock in the Prairie du Chien Group. The dolomite was formed 485 million years ago during the Lower Ordovician Period when a warm shallow ocean covered much of Minnesota and Wisconsin. It is Wisconsin’s longest known cave.

Caves of Nerja Cave and archaeological site in Spain

The Caves of Nerja are a series of caverns close to the town of Nerja in the Province of Málaga, Spain. Stretching for almost 5 kilometres (3.1 mi), the caverns are one of Spain's major tourist attractions. Concerts are regularly held in one of the chambers, which forms a natural amphitheatre.

Sinks of Gandy

The Sinks of Gandy — also called the Sinks of Gandy Creek, or simply "The Sinks" — are a modestly celebrated cave and underground stream at Osceola in eastern Randolph County, West Virginia, United States. The Sinks are on private property within the Monongahela National Forest.

Sistema Sac Actun Flooded cave system in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Sistema Sac Actun is an underwater cave system situated along the Caribbean coast of the Yucatán Peninsula with passages to the north and west of the city of Tulum. Discovery of a connection to the Sistema Dos Ojos in 2018 made it the longest known underwater cave system.

Scotts Gulf

Scott's Gulf is a canyon situated along the Caney Fork River in White County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The canyon stretches for approximately 18 miles (29 km) as the Caney Fork drops from the top of the Cumberland Plateau down to the eastern Highland Rim. This remote section of the river is home to a wilderness area consisting of a largely undisturbed deciduous forest, numerous waterfalls, caves and other geological formations, and Class IV and Class V whitewater rapids.

Ledge View Nature Center County park in Wisconsin (US)

Ledge View Nature Center is a 105-acre (0.42 km2) park and interpretive center. It is located two miles (3 km) south of Chilton, Wisconsin. The facility is part of the Calumet County Parks system operated by Calumet County.

Grassy Cove Geographical region in Cumberland County, Tennessee, United States

Grassy Cove is an enclosed valley in Cumberland County, Tennessee, United States. The valley is notable for its karst formations, which have been designated a National Natural Landmark. Grassy Cove is also home to a small unincorporated community.

The Devils River is a small 15.8-mile-long (25.4 km) river in the state of Wisconsin in the United States. The Devils River flows primarily through Brown and Manitowoc counties and joins with the Neshota River to form the West Twin River. It is part of the 176-square-mile (460 km2) West Twin River watershed.

Spider Cave United States historic place

Spider Cave, also known as Burnt Bluff Cave or 20DE3, is an archaeological site located on the Garden Peninsula near Fayette, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

Warren's Cave is a dry karst cave in Alachua County, Florida. It is the longest dry cave in Florida, with more than 4 miles (6.4 km) of mapped passages. The cave is located on the margin of the Cody Scarp near the San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park, northwest of the city of Gainesville. The property on which the entrance to Warren's Cave is located, the Warren Cave Nature Preserve, is owned by the National Speleological Society. Warren's cave was probably formed by a high water table when sea levels in the Quaternary Period were elevated close to 100 feet (30 m) above current sea level, corresponding to the Wicomico terrace.

The Fisher Ridge Cave System is a cave system located in Hart County, Kentucky, United States, near Mammoth Cave National Park. As of November 2019 it had been mapped to a length of 130.001 miles (209.216 km), making it the fifth-longest cave in the United States and the tenth-longest in the world.

The geology of Wisconsin includes Precambrian crystalline basement rock over three billion years old. A widespread marine environment during the Paleozoic flooded the region, depositing sedimentary rocks which cover most of the center and south of the state.

Patricia Kambesis is an American caver, cartographer and educator.

References

  1. "Wisconsin Speleological Society" . Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  2. "Spring Cave" . Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  3. "Maribel New Hope Cave" . Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  4. "Pancake Cave" . Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  5. "Coopers Cave" . Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  6. "Staircase Cave" . Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  7. "Tunnel Passage" . Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  8. "Tartarus Cave System" . Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  9. Wisconsin Speleological Society
  10. "Manitowoc County Recreation Department". Archived from the original on 2014-06-05. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  11. "NBC 26". Archived from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.