Utah Caves

8 foot pit

The name says it all. This is an 8' deep pit.

A log is stuck down in the hole to aid in the climb in and out if you feel up to it.

Hobbit Cave

This is a short cave with only a few helectities inside, but it is worth exploring if you are up by Step Up and Stone Plug caves.

Map courtesy of Rodney Horrocks.

Surprise Cave

This one goes back only about 35 feet then turns left into a tight dig. With some work this one could be lengthened some more. You never know when these tubes will open up to something big.

Map courtesy of Rodney Horrocks.

Herron's Hope is the largest of the Little Rock Canyon caves at just over 110 ft. It has a short downclimb, and some crawling back about 40 feet on the lower half, then another 50 ft. or so in the upper passage. Some small speleothems can be seen, and a cave cricket or two.

Map courtesy of Rodney Horrocks.

Step Up Cave

Step Up Cave goes back about 10 to 15 feet and then there is a small passage in the ceiling that goes another 10 to 15 feet.

Map courtesy of Rodney Horrocks.

This cave is one we discovered while hiking between two other caves above Provo. It is pretty tight but can be pushed after removing a rock that is wedged 10' in.

Slice in the rock

We spotted the entrance to this cave from another cave in the area. It didn't look like much, but we thought we better check it out.

Just inside the round entry, the cave changes to a vertical crack.

Towards the back there is quite a bit of flowstone.

On a more adventurous day I might try to squeeze through this hole in the floor. I dropped a few rocks down it and you could hear them falling for several seconds.

No Thanks Cave

No Thanks Cave is nearly 100' deep and can be done in one drop from this southern most entrance. There is some nice drapery, flowstone and popcorn mostly after the first entry pit.

Spee got the honors of dropping in first.

The southern most entrance.

Looking north in the entry pit.

Spencer ascending out.

Shane Coles descending the last 30' to the lowest point in the cave.

Some Graffiti.

Looking up at the two southern entrances.

No Name Cave

After snaking though some breakdown, a short 15'-20' rappel leads you into a fairly large room.

Shane at the bottom looking at signatures.

1914 and 1920 were the dates on these two.

Looking North toward the upper part of the room.

Professor Buss

Professor Buss is the largest of the caves in this area. There are a few interesting formations, but mainly just a lot of signatures and dates. The oldest one I could see was 1912, but there is supposes to be one dating back to 1850. Judging on the graffiti, this cave has lost popularity since the early 90's, or cavers are becoming more respectful of these places. Dan Burgner has just finished surveying the cave, and an official map should be coming soon.

The black is a layer of roots that have been grown over with calcite.

Spencer Coles and Dan Burgener.

Special thanks to Dan and his wife for showing us the way to Professor Buss. We have wasted many a day looking for caves so it was very nice to have a guide to take us straight there!

This room is covered with signatures on just about every wall, boulder and ceiling.

This is the signature of professor Buss for whom the cave is named.

South Madhouse

South Madhouse is a fairly small cave. It is a 10' vertical drop at the entrance and then slopes downward following a fissure. There are a few nice formations, but nothing too impressive.