Snake Canyon Cave, Nevada

After Goshute Cave we headed to Ely for some food and then out to the range where Snake Canyon Cave is located. Snake Canyon is more remote than Goshute and the roads were rough for the cars, so we camped along the way. The following day we met Doug from the Forest Service — fantastic and knowledgeable about this cave.

Snake Canyon Cave is at around 9,000ft elevation — over an hour hike to the entrance. A small crawl opens into a series of faulted passages that have moved over time. Rooms of wet and muddy breakdown piles led to a 15ft climb requiring a hand line. In the final room: beautiful formations and impressive flowstone drapery around 25–35ft high and 15–20ft in length, with interesting ribbon lines within the drapery.

Tim and Doug found bones in a side passage — interesting scientific note. Around 1,000ft in length, shorter than Goshute but very different in character. A fantastic caving weekend — I hope the momentum continues to inspire more people to get outside so they can get inside these beautiful caves.