Peppersauce Cave is a limestone cave found in the Santa Catalina Mountains approximately ten miles south of Oracle, Arizona. Peppersauce is frequented by about 23,000 visitors every year and contains approximately one mile of mapped passages. [1]
Peppersauce Cave is a limestone cave found in the Santa Catalina Mountains approximately ten miles south of Oracle, Arizona. Peppersauce is frequented by about 23,000 visitors every year and contains approximately one mile of mapped passages. [1]
Peppersauce was initially made known to the local public in February 1948 by way of an article published in Desert Magazine . An article about the cave was later featured in a 1951 issue of National Geographic Magazine which showed photos of a scientist breaking off and removing a large stalactite for purposes of further study. [2]
The cave has always been and continues to be completely open to the public. There is no guided tour, no parking lot (although enough room exists to park on the side of the road), and the only official sign is not visible from the road. The sign also displays a map of about half the accessible area of the cave, specifically, from the entrance to the Big Room.
Inside is reliably humid and 70 °F (21 °C), but rainfall and snowmelt can dramatically affect moisture in mud and lake height, sometimes even flooding up to the "three fissures" near the entrance. However, the lakes stay at a constant level most of the year.
The room with the main lake is made accessible from the Big Room by a 15 feet (4.6 m) metal ladder. Without this, spelunkers would otherwise need to bring ropes to rappel anywhere past the Big Room. A similar metal ladder at the other end of the Big Room leads into the second half of cave.
Immediately after the second ladder is "the rabbit hole" or "birthing canal" (named for its constant moisture and the necessity to go down head-first). The first major feature is the Slide, a very smooth, high wall that is angled just enough to slide down. The danger is that it does not smoothly slope into the floor, forcing riders to land on their feet at a run.
The Signing Room is a nexus of many connected tunnels beyond the Big Room, and is a common resting point. It has a dirt floor and low, angled rock ceiling, easily reachable and consequently covered in signatures, contributing to the room's name. The room also typically has one or more notebooks and pens, free to fill with writing and messages.
The cave has been subject to vandalism and heavy littering for over fifty years. In 2001, the Peppersauce Cave Conservation Project (PCCP) was established upon the discovery of E. coli and coliform within the cave's lakes. The initiative is funded by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) and is aided by volunteers who work to keep the cave clean. A sampling conducted in January 2003 indicated that no harmful bacteria were present in the water. The group was also highly successful in removing graffiti, though the cave continues to be heavily subjected to vandalism. [3]
The Longmen Grottoes or Longmen Caves are some of the finest examples of Chinese Buddhist art. Housing tens of thousands of statues of Shakyamuni Buddha and his disciples, they are located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of present-day Luoyang in Henan province, China. The images, many once painted, were carved as outside rock reliefs and inside artificial caves excavated from the limestone cliffs of the Xiangshan (香山) and Longmenshan, running east and west. The Yi River flows northward between them and the area used to be called Yique. The alternative name of "Dragon's Gate Grottoes" derives from the resemblance of the two hills that check the flow of the Yi River to the typical "Chinese gate towers" that once marked the entrance to Luoyang from the south. There are as many as 100,000 statues within the 2,345 caves, ranging from 1 inch (25 mm) to 57 feet (17 m) in height. The area also contains nearly 2,500 stelae and inscriptions, hence the name “Forest of Ancient Stelae", as well as over sixty Buddhist pagodas. Situated in a scenic natural environment, the caves were dug from a 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) stretch of cliff running along both banks of the river. 30% date from the Northern Wei and 60% from the Tang dynasty, caves from other periods accounting for less than 10% of the total. Starting with the Northern Wei Dynasty in 493 AD, patrons and donors included emperors, Wu Zetian, members of the royal family, other rich families, generals, and religious groups.
Cathedral Caverns State Park is a publicly owned recreation area and natural history preserve located in Kennamer Cove, Alabama, approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) northeast of Grant and 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Woodville in Marshall County. The park's main feature, first known as Bats Cave, was developed as a tourist attraction in the 1950s. Cathedral Caverns was declared a National Natural Landmark in 1972 and opened as a state park in 2000.
Cosmic Cavern is a limestone cave located in north Arkansas, near the town of Berryville, Arkansas. One brochure for the cave touts it as "Arkansas' Most Beautifully Decorated Cave." It is the "warmest" cave in the Ozarks, having a high humidity holding at a constant 64 °F year-round. Most caves in the area are between 55° and 60°.
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City Museum is a museum whose exhibits consist largely of repurposed architectural and industrial objects, housed in the former International Shoe building in the Washington Avenue Loft District of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Opened in 1997, the museum attracted more than 700,000 visitors in 2010.
Mine exploration is a hobby in which people visit abandoned mines, quarries, and sometimes operational mines. Enthusiasts usually engage in such activities for the purpose of exploration and documentation, sometimes through the use of surveying and photography. In this respect, mine exploration might be considered a type of amateur industrial archaeology. In many ways, however, it is closer to caving, with many participants actively interested in exploring both mines and caves. Mine exploration typically requires equipment such as helmets, head lamps, Wellington boots, and climbing gear.
Marvel Cave is a National Natural Landmark located just west of Branson, Missouri, on top of Roark Mountain in Stone County. The cave was known by the Osage Indians in the early 16th century, after a tribe member fell through the cave's main entrance, a sinkhole. There is evidence that in 1541 the Spanish explored the cave, but the first recorded expedition was in 1869, led by Henry T. Blow. The unofficial Stone County chapter of Bald Knobbers, a local group of vigilantes, were rumored to have taken people to the top of Roark Mountain, and thrown them in the sink hole.
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Neptune's Grotto is a stalactite cave near the town of Alghero on the island of Sardinia, Italy. The cave was discovered by local fishermen in the 18th century and has since developed into a popular tourist attraction. The grotto gets its name from the Roman god of the sea, Neptune.
The Blue Hole of Santa Rosa, or simply the Blue Hole, is a circular, bell-shaped pool or small lake located along Route 66 east of Santa Rosa, New Mexico that is a tourist attraction and swimming venue, and one of the most popular dive destinations in the US for scuba diving and training. The Blue Hole is an artesian well and cenóte that was once used as a fish hatchery.
Nutty Putty Cave is a hydrothermal cave located west of Utah Lake in Utah County, Utah, United States. Formerly popular with cavers and renowned for its narrow passageways, Nutty Putty has been closed to the public since 2009 following a fatal accident that year.
The Redmond Caves are a group of six lava tubes in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. The caves are located in the city of Redmond and are jointly managed by the city and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Five of the caves are in the Redmond Caves Park and have been known locally for many years. The caves are a part of the Horse Lava Tube System and are the farthest northern extent of the system. The lava flow that created both the Horse system and the Redmond Caves continued into the Redmond Dry Canyon and terminated near Crooked River Ranch. The caves have a geologic age of about 80,000 years.
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BoomingIceChasm is an ice cave, located in the Crowsnest Pass area of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada.
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Grotto Calgeron, also known as the GB Trener cave, is a natural cavity that is located near the village of Grigno in Valsugana in Trentino.
Coordinates: 32°31′28″N110°42′26″W / 32.52444°N 110.70722°W