Great Basin's Caves: Facts for the International Year of Caves and Karst

By Gretchen Baker, ecologist. From The Midden (Great Basin National Park), Vol. 21, No. 1, Summer 2021.

Rimstone dams in the Cypress Swamp of Lehman Caves. NPS photo by Gretchen Baker.

2021 was the International Year of Caves and Karst, a celebration of the world's underground spaces, and Great Basin National Park joined in. The park was also preparing for the 100th anniversary, on January 24, 2022, of the designation of Lehman Caves National Monument, with a public ceremony planned for August 6, 2022.

Caves by the numbers

• Discovery: Absalom Lehman rediscovered Lehman Caves in 1885, and it became Nevada's first show cave.
• More caves: thirty-nine other caves in the park have been explored since.
• Longest in Nevada: Lehman Caves, a little over 2 miles long.
• Deepest in Nevada: Long Cold Cave, more than 400 feet deep.
• Highest in Nevada: High Pit, above 11,000 feet.
• Shields: Lehman Caves has 504 cave shields, perhaps more than any other cave in the world.
• Condensation corrosion: where carbon dioxide has dissolved away rock and formations, Lehman Caves has recently been recognized as one of the world's best examples.

Keeping caves and people safe

• Rescue practice: the park holds cave rescue drills every year.
• Safer tours: Lehman Caves has electric lighting, non-slip paths, handrails, and more headroom in passages that were once crawlways.
• Lint camps: yearly lint and restoration camps (when Covid allowed) reduce visitors' impact.
• Bat gates: several caves have gates that protect their bats.
• Management plans: other measures include keeping fire-retardant drops away from caves and a wild cave permit system.

The NPS chose a theme for each month of the year; see the International Year of Caves and Karst photo gallery.

Sources

Based on "International Year of Caves and Karst 2021," by Gretchen Baker, The Midden, Great Basin National Park, National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain.