Cave Valley Cave

We have heard of, and believe to be true, the story of a cave in a hanging valley high above Provo called Cave Valley Cave. We have even seen a rough map of the cave drawn around 30 years ago. So this weekend we hiked to this valley and attempted to locate the cave. It was about 1600 vertical feet to the valley from our parking spot.

The valley was awesome!

After about 2 hours of four of us scouring this valley it was apparent that no one had been there for a long time. We did not find the cave but we did find a few interesting things like an old shelter, an aluminum pot with plastic plates inside, rubber boots and a two old fire rings.

The forest was very dense and had an eerie feeling to it.

On our way out of the valley we did find a few holes that looked promising but that were clogged with dirt and leaves. Could this be Cave Valley Cave after 30 years of debris?

An unexpected find on the edge of this valley was this bunch of Barrel Cactus.

The valley deserves another look. We will be back again to try and find this long lost cave.

Woody's Hole

Woody's Hole is a very small Rock Canyon cave. It is only 20' deep or so and has tons of cave crickets and a really big ugly spider living inside. I believe it is named after Woody Carrol who first explored it in the mid 1970's. Rodney Horrocks did a paleontological excavation with Chris Laycock there several years ago, and the bones from that dig are in the BYU Earth Science Museum collections.

The entry is very tight and uncomfortable.

There is a thick layer of Flowstone around the entry.

Shane climbing out.

The tight spot.

Looking down the steep chute to the dirt floor bottom.

Some serrated bacon.

We found this old glass cup at the bottom. It looks to be filled with wax, and could have been used to light the cave during the dig.

These are some of the collection of bones that were extracted during the paleontological dig. They are held at the BYU Earth Science Muesum.

The sunset was catching the tops of the trees on the hike down the canyon. Beautiful time of year to be out!

Jolly Roger

Jolly Roger is a small Rock Canyon cave that is about 40' deep. There are two chutes that are both filled with dirt and would require a lot of digging to continue downward. It appears that rainwater continually brings debris in. This cave has good potential of continuing if you are ready to work. Apparently there was a skull and crossbones drawn on the wall when it was discoverd, thus the name Jolly Roger.

A very cool entrance.

Looking down into the entrance pit.

There are three separate entrances but I would just call the other two "skylights".

Looking down the East tube.





Looking down the South tube.

The is a room at the bottom of the South tube that has some good growth in it. The column to the right of center is about 3 ft. long.

Not a very big cave but it has some great photo ops.

Oak City Cave

The cave is located at the top of a small hill in the bottom of a small sink.


The entrance is tight and there is a short downclimb just beyond. It is estimated that there are about 600' in passages. It is in the process of being surveyed and mapped.


I didn't get a chance to go in this trip as I was by myself and running very late in the day.

Apparently there are very few formations, mostly gypsum crystals that have received a coat of florescent green spray paint by local taggers. Lovley! Also, watch out for rattlesnakes.

Excavation Cave

Excavation Cave is another little cave up Little Rock Canyon. There is a cave register nearby one can sign if they're in the area caving.

Turret Cave

Turret Cave is a little cave in Little Rock Canyon. You can crawl through a lower entrance, and come out another hole above.

Dance Hall Cave

Dance Hall Cave is really just a large grotto that is visible from the main road along American Fork Canyon. In the 1880s, Alva A. Green, Sr., established a dance hall inside of it as a place to gather out of the hot valley sun. A platform was constructed for the dance floor and an orchestra sat on one of the cave's ledges. The cave was not used as a dance hall for very long due to difficulty in access and poor lighting.

Rock Creek Crack

While searching for an old mine along Rock Creek we stumbled upon this small hole. Upon squeezing throught the opening it dropped into a nice crack about 25' long and 15' high. Not really a true cave, but still fun to explore.

Stone Plug Cave

Stone Plug Cave is one of the biggest in Little Rock Canyon (north of Rock Canyon) at only 50' long. After a fairly large entrance there is a tight 10' crawl to a dome with a 8" stalactite. Then another 30' crawl to a where flowstone plugs the passageway. This cave is also home to a mountain lion, so approach with caution.

This room is just inside the entrance with the opening to the crawl in the back. Rod Horrocks dug the tight crawl open to expose the rest of the cave back in the 70's.

This is the flowstone plug at the back of the cave.  

Map courtesy of Rodney Horrocks.

Sagebrush Flat Cave

This is all that is left of Sagebrush Flat Cave. A backhoe operator tore into it in the 70's trying to open it up larger, but only managed to cave it in. From what I have heard is was a fairly large cave.

You can still feel some cold air coming out of the rocks here, indicating that the cave cannot be too far beneath. I you would like to start digging on this one let me know and I will send you the coordinates. Just let me know when you open it. ;)