NEVADA CAVE SURVEY: A Guide to Responsible Caving in the Silver State First Edition 

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Nevada is home to an extraordinary variety of caves — ancient limestone caverns carved beneath desert mountain ranges, volcanic lava tubes threading through basalt fields, and isolated gypsite grottos tucked into remote basin-and-range terrain. These underground spaces are among the most pristine and least-visited wild places remaining in the American West.

Caving in Nevada can be deeply rewarding. With the right training, equipment, and mindset, exploring these underground environments is safe, adventurous, and scientifically meaningful. But responsible caving is about far more than personal skill: it requires genuine respect for the cave ecosystem, the wildlife within it, the landowners and agencies who steward access, and the fellow cavers who will venture underground after you.

The Nevada Cave Survey (NCS) was established to advance the documentation, study, and conservation of Nevada's cave and karst resources. This guide introduces the principles of responsible caving as they apply specifically to Nevada — its unique geology, its desert-adapted cave fauna, its critical bat populations, its water resources, and its cultural and archaeological heritage.

Whether you are new to caving or an experienced explorer venturing into the Silver State for the first time, we hope this guide serves as a useful companion. Read it, share it, and — most importantly — put it into practice every time you go underground.

Nevada's caves belong to all of us. Let us take care of them.

— The Nevada Cave Survey

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Going Caving in Nevada

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Why It Matters

Responsible caving is the foundation of everything the Nevada Cave Survey stands for. It protects the cave environment, preserves access for future generations, and ensures that every trip underground is a safe one. Nevada's caves are extraordinary resources — but they are also fragile and finite. The decisions you make on every trip have lasting consequences.

This guide covers how to care for the cave, yourself, and the people you cave with. It is not a substitute for hands-on training alongside experienced cavers, but it is the starting point for building good habits.

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​​​​​​ What to Expect

                             Nevada's caves are as diverse as its landscape. Some are dry, dusty passages carved into                                             limestone. Others are cool, moist grottos tucked beneath the 314 mountain ranges within the state.                                 What they share is a demanding environment: tight squeezes, uneven footing, cold temperatures,                                   and complete darkness the moment your light fails.  Caving in Nevada frequently means remote                                     locations with no cell service, long drives on unpaved roads, and significant elevation gain to reach                                 the entrance. Prepare accordingly. The rewards — extraordinary geology, rare wildlife, silence, and a profound sense of discovery — are well worth the effort for those who are properly prepared.

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Who Visits Caves?

Cavers explore caves for adventure, scientific research, survey and mapping, photography, conservation work, and the simple joy of discovering places few people have ever seen. The term "spelunker" is sometimes used by non-cavers, but most underground explorers prefer to be called cavers. Those who conduct scientific research on caves are speleologists.

In Nevada, cavers contribute to cave mapping, bat population monitoring, water quality research, biological surveys, and archaeological documentation — all of which support land management decisions across the state.

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Nevada's Underground

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How Nevada's Caves Form

Nevada's cave landscape reflects one of the most geologically complex cave-forming environments in North America. Understanding how these caves formed is essential to understanding why they deserve such careful protection.

 

Hypogenic Caves

The majority of Nevada's significant limestone cave systems — particularly across east-central Nevada — are hypogenic caves: formed not by surface water flowing downward, but by water rising from deep within the earth. This is a fundamental distinction from the cave-forming process most people are familiar with.

In hypogenic speleogenesis, groundwater charged with carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, or other dissolved gases rises through fractures in carbonate bedrock from below. As this water nears the water table and mixes with oxygen, it produces sulfuric acid — one of the most corrosive substances in nature — which aggressively dissolves the surrounding limestone from the inside out, independent of any surface drainage. The result is cave systems with distinctive morphologies: smooth ceiling domes called cupolas, rounded bubble trails etched into overhanging walls and ceilings, upward-draining ceiling tubes, and complex boneyard passages that reflect dissolution from multiple rising points simultaneously.

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Lehman Caves in Great Basin National Park — Nevada's most famous and visited cave — is a world-class example of this process. Though long described simply as a "water table cave," recent geological study has reinterpreted it as a product of sulfide-rich hypogenic waters rising from deep within the Pole Canyon marble millions of years before the Snake Range fully developed into the mountains visible today. Its Gypsum Annex passage preserves some of the clearest evidence of sulfuric acid speleogenesis in the Great Basin, including gypsum crust, pseudoscallops, acid pool notches, and hollow coralloid stalagmites. Similar hypogenic features — mammillaries, folia, cupolas, and boneyard passages — appear throughout the caves of the Snake Range and adjacent ranges of eastern Nevada.

Many of these caves formed 8 to 17 million years ago, deep beneath the surface, long before the current topography existed. They are geologically ancient voids that were only later exposed by tectonic uplift, erosion, and the emergence of today's mountain ranges. The beautiful calcite speleothems that decorate many of these caves — stalactites, stalagmites, shields, and flowstone — were deposited in a later, separate phase, as wetter climatic conditions during the Pleistocene drove surface water into already-existing cave passages.

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Epigenic Caves

Some Nevada caves, particularly in the wetter mountain ranges of the northern and central parts of the state, formed through conventional epigenic (top-down) processes, where slightly acidic surface water percolates downward through joints and fractures in carbonate rock, slowly dissolving limestone over millions of years. Terrains shaped by this process — characterized by sinkholes, disappearing streams, and springs fed by underground drainage — are called karst. Nevada has significant karst regions. These areas are hydrologically sensitive: surface water enters the subsurface rapidly with little filtration, making cave protection directly linked to groundwater and water quality for downstream communities and wildlife.

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Gypsum and Tufa Caves

Nevada's arid basin-and-range terrain also hosts gypsum caves and tufa caves, each the product of entirely different geochemical processes. Gypsum Cave near Las Vegas, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, preserved remains of Shasta ground sloths, extinct horses, and evidence of human habitation dating back thousands of years — a reminder that Nevada's caves are as important archaeologically as they are geologically.

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Cave Characteristics in Nevada

Nevada's caves range from short, accessible rooms to multi-mile systems with complex vertical development. Many of the state's limestone caves — particularly the hypogenic systems of eastern Nevada — feature maze-like boneyard passages, large breakdown rooms created when ancient cave ceilings collapsed after the water drained away, and vertical pits ranging from a few feet to hundreds of feet deep. Some caves at higher elevations retain ice year-round. Desert caves at lower elevations may be very dry, with extraordinarily delicate gypsum and calcite formations.

Most Nevada caves maintain temperatures closely tied to the long-term average surface temperature above them — typically ranging from the mid-40s°F in higher mountain caves to the low 60s°F in lower-desert caves. Many feel cold relative to summer surface temperatures, and airflow near entrances can create significant wind chill. Always dress for cave temperature, not outside temperature.

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Speleothems: Nevada's Cave Formations

In Nevada's limestone caves, speleothems — mineral formations deposited by

water — include stalactites (hanging from the ceiling), stalagmites (rising from the

floor), flowstone, rimstone dams, columns, shields, cave pearls, and delicate

helictites growing in seemingly impossible directions.

Because many of Nevada's caves are hypogenic in origin, they also preserve a

distinct class of speleogenetic features — formations that record not the dripping

of surface water, but the rising of ancient acidic groundwater. Folia, mammillaries,

cupolas, bubble trails, and gypsum crusts are among the diagnostic features

found in Nevada's hypogenic systems. These formations are scientifically

irreplaceable: they record geochemical conditions that existed millions of

years ago and are actively used by researchers to reconstruct the tectonic

and hydrological history of the Great Basin.

Nevada's drier caves also host spectacular gypsum formations — massive

gypsum flowers, gypsum crusts, and selenite crystals that are unique to arid

cave environments and among the most fragile formations found anywhere underground.

Speleothems of all types grow slowly — often a single cubic inch over thousands of years. A single careless touch deposits skin oils and sediment that permanently stain formations and may halt growth. A broken formation is gone forever. Keep hands and boots away from all formations, even those that appear already damaged. Watch your helmet and pack when moving through low-ceiling areas.

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Cave Life in Nevada

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Despite the apparent harshness of cave environments, Nevada's caves support a remarkable array of life — from cave-obligate invertebrates found nowhere else on Earth to migratory bats that travel thousands of miles to winter in Nevada's underground. The cave ecosystem is far more fragile than most surface ecosystems: food webs are slow, populations are small, and recovery from disturbance can take decades or never occur at all.

Always wash your caving clothing and gear thoroughly between trips. Transferring mud, spores, organic matter, or pathogens between caves — even between Nevada caves — can introduce species and diseases into cave ecosystems that have no natural defenses against them.

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Cave-Obligate Species (Troglobites)

Animals that spend their entire lives underground and cannot survive outside a cave are called troglobites. Nevada harbors a number of troglobitic species, including cave-adapted amphipods, isopods, spiders, beetles, and other invertebrates — many of which are found only in a single cave or a small cluster of nearby caves. These species are often blind and depigmented, having evolved over thousands of generations without light.

Recent biological inventories in the caves of east-central Nevada have identified potential new species including a cave-adapted palpigrade — a micro whip scorpion representing the first of its kind identified in Nevada and a significant scientific discovery. Many cave biological specimens from Nevada await formal identification and description. This means the full biological significance of many Nevada caves is still unknown.

Troglobites are extremely sensitive to changes in their environment. Alterations in airflow, temperature, humidity, water chemistry, or food availability can devastate populations. Because many Nevada cave species have never been formally described by science, a single careless visit could eliminate a species before it is even known to exist. Treat every cave as if it harbors something irreplaceable — because it likely does.

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Cave Visitors (Trogloxenes)

Many animals use Nevada's caves regularly but return to the surface to feed. These cave visitors — called trogloxenes — include ringtail cats, packrats, snakes, owls, swallows, and various insects. Their presence is part of the cave ecosystem: packrat middens in caves have provided scientists with priceless records of past climates and vegetation, and owl pellets and guano accumulations support entire food webs of cave invertebrates.

Avoid disturbing trogloxene animals or their nests and deposits. Packrat middens, in particular, may have scientific and archaeological significance.

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Bats in Nevada

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Nevada is home to approximately 23 species of bats, and the majority of them use caves or cave-like structures — abandoned mines, rock shelters, culverts — at some point in their life cycles. Bats are among Nevada's most ecologically important mammals: a single little brown bat can consume thousands of insects per night, providing natural pest control that benefits agriculture and public health across the state.

Rose Guano Cave in east-central Nevada hosts one of the largest bat concentrations in the state — between one and three million bats, predominantly Mexican free-tailed bats, use it as a migratory stop from approximately July through September each year. Nevada Department of Wildlife has conducted multi-year tagging programs there to better understand bat migration routes across the region.

Nevada's bat populations face serious and ongoing threats. White-nose syndrome (WNS), a fungal disease caused by Pseudogymnoascus destructans, has killed millions of cave-hibernating bats across North America since it was first documented in 2006. The fungus has been documented moving steadily westward and has been confirmed in Nevada. Cavers play a direct role in slowing its spread.

Nevada has bat hibernacula (winter roosts) and maternity colonies (summer birthing roosts) in caves throughout the state, many of which are protected by agency-managed gates or seasonal closures. Disturbing hibernating bats forces them to burn critical fat reserves that they may not be able to replace before insects become available in spring — a single disturbance can be fatal. Disturbing a maternity colony can cause mothers to abandon pups.

 

Key rules for bats in Nevada:

• Never enter a cave that is posted as a bat hibernaculum or maternity colony without explicit written authorization from the managing agency.

• Observe and follow all seasonal cave closures, which are posted to protect bat populations.

• If you encounter bats while caving, quietly and slowly exit the cave and report the location and approximate numbers to the Nevada Cave Survey.

• Follow NCS and USGS decontamination protocols for all clothing and gear that contacts cave surfaces to minimize WNS spread.

• Report any unusual bat behavior — bats flying in daylight, clustering near entrances in cold weather, dead bats on cave floors — to Nevada Department of Wildlife or the NCS immediately.

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Extremophiles and Microbial Life

Nevada's caves — particularly those with unique chemistries rooted in their hypogenic origins — may harbor communities of microorganisms that derive energy from mineral reactions rather than sunlight. These chemosynthetic microbial communities are scientifically significant, with implications for understanding the origins of life and the possibility of life in other planetary environments. The secondary mineral deposits in caves like Lehman are actively studied for microbial associations that may reflect the cave's ancient sulfuric acid history. Avoid touching cave walls, floors, and pools unnecessarily — even clean hands can disrupt microbial communities that took thousands of years to establish.

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Protecting Nevada's Cave Resources

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Caves and Nevada's Water Supply

In Nevada's basin-and-range terrain, karst groundwater systems are a critical source of drinking water for rural communities, ranches, and wildlife. Water entering sinkholes and stream sinks in Nevada often travels rapidly through underground conduits to emerge at springs — sometimes miles away — with little or no filtration. Contaminants introduced into these systems can travel far and persist for long periods.

Never dump any waste — trash, human waste, motor fluids, agricultural chemicals, or animal carcasses — into sinkholes or cave entrances. Even seemingly innocuous items can introduce pathogens and chemicals into drinking water systems that serve people and livestock downstream. Report illegal dumping in or near cave entrances to the appropriate land management agency.

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Archaeology and Paleontology

                                       Nevada's caves have served as shelter, burial sites, and ceremonial locations for Indigenous                                           peoples for thousands of years. The dry, stable conditions of many Nevada caves preserve                                             organic materials — basketry, cordage, wooden tools, animal bone, human remains — that                                               would decompose rapidly on the surface. Many Nevada caves contain materials of                                                         extraordinary scientific and cultural significance, some of it still undocumented.

                                       Gypsum Cave near Las Vegas — one of Nevada's most archaeologically significant caves —                                             contained remains of Shasta ground sloths, an extinct species of stilt-legged horse, and                                                 evidence of human habitation dating to approximately 3000 BC. It stands as a reminder of                                             what Nevada's caves contain and what is at stake when they are not protected.

                                       Under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) and the Native American Graves                                           Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), disturbing, removing, or damaging archaeological                                           and cultural materials in caves on federal land is a serious federal crime. The same                                                         protections apply to paleontological resources — fossils of Pleistocene megafauna (ground sloths, mammoths, horses, and camels) have been recovered from Nevada caves and deserve equal protection.

If you encounter archaeological or paleontological materials in a Nevada cave — even fragmentary bone, charcoal, or worked stone — do not touch or move them. Document their location with GPS coordinates and photographs and report the find to the land management agency responsible for that cave. Photograph, do not collect.

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Vandalism and Nevada Law

Nevada law, along with the federal Cave Resources Protection Act (CRPA) applicable on federal lands, prohibits damaging, altering, or removing any natural, cultural, or biological resource from a cave. This includes breaking or collecting speleothems — even fragments already on the floor. Purchasing speleothems from any source encourages further destruction.

Graffiti in caves is both illegal and permanent. Paint, carbide residue, charcoal marks, and inscriptions damage irreplaceable surfaces and cannot be fully removed. The Nevada Cave Survey actively supports prosecution of cave vandals and participates in cave restoration projects — including graffiti abatement — across the state.

If you witness vandalism in a Nevada cave, document it with photographs, record the location, and report it to the responsible land management agency (BLM, USFS, NPS, or Nevada State Parks) and to the Nevada Cave Survey.

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Do Not Share Cave Locations

The Nevada Cave Survey has a strict policy prohibiting the sharing of cave locations, GPS coordinates, access directions, or any other information that could enable someone to find a specific cave. This is not a preference — it is a firm rule, and it exists for serious reasons.  Nevada's caves are fragile beyond what most people appreciate. A single influx of unprepared visitors can break formations that took tens of thousands of years to grow, disturb bat colonies that may not survive the disruption, contaminate water sources used by downstream communities, and introduce pathogens or invasive organisms into ecosystems with no natural defenses. Some cave-obligate species in Nevada exist in only one cave on Earth. The damage from a single poorly planned visit is often permanent and irreversible.

Beyond ecological harm, broadcasting cave locations creates legal and access problems that affect everyone. When land managers see evidence of misuse — trampled formations, waste, vandalism, rescue callouts — they close caves. Closures are difficult to reverse and remove access for responsible cavers and scientists for years or decades. Landowners who discover that their property coordinates have been posted online routinely revoke access permanently.

Social media, geocaching platforms, hiking apps, and casual conversation are all vectors through which well-intentioned people have caused serious harm to Nevada's caves. A post that seems harmless — a photo with a recognizable entrance, a vague mention of a canyon or range — can be enough for determined searchers to locate a cave. Once that information is public, it cannot be recalled.

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Do not post cave photos that reveal locations or identifying landmarks. Do not share GPS coordinates, waypoints, or driving directions to caves with anyone outside of organized, vetted caving groups. Do not place caves on maps, geocaching listings, or any publicly accessible platform. If someone asks you for directions to a specific cave, the answer is no — regardless of how experienced or trustworthy they seem. Direct them to the Nevada Cave Survey to pursue proper channels.  The caves that are best protected are the caves that most people do not know how to find.

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Caving Courtesy in Nevada

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​​Public Land Access

The Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, and Nevada State Parks manage the vast majority of Nevada's public lands, including many significant cave systems. Some public land caves are open for visitation without a permit, but many require advance coordination, a special recreation permit, or a cave-specific key or combination.

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Before visiting any cave on public land in Nevada:

• Contact the managing field office or ranger district in advance.

• Confirm whether a permit, reservation, or gate key is required.

• Ask about seasonal closures - bat hibernacula and maternity colonies are often closed for months at a time.

• Ask about decontamination requirements for white-nose syndrome prevention.

• Allow adequate time for a response - federal and state agencies are often understaffed and may need days or weeks to respond.

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Leave No Trace in Nevada's Caves

Nevada's desert cave environments are particularly slow to recover from disturbance. Footprints in muddy cave floors can persist for decades or centuries. Trash decomposes extremely slowly in low-humidity caves. Human waste left underground can persist indefinitely and disrupts cave invertebrate communities.

Carry out everything you bring in, including food wrappers, used batteries, spent carbide, and any trash you find left by previous visitors. Use a sealed human waste container if you will need to relieve yourself underground. Leave the cave and its surroundings cleaner than you found them.

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What to Bring

Lighting

Each caver must carry a minimum of three independent light sources. Your primary light should be a high-quality LED headlamp mounted on your helmet, leaving both hands free for climbing and crawling. Secondary and tertiary lights should also be helmet-mountable and capable of serving as a primary if needed. Carry more batteries than you expect to use.

Plan your underground time around your battery supply: turn back when your primary source has consumed no more than one-third of its capacity. The return route often involves more uphill travel and may take longer than the trip in. Never enter a Nevada cave - even a short one - relying on a phone screen or a single light source.

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Helmet

A properly fitted helmet is non-negotiable. Choose a helmet rated for rock climbing or caving by the UIAA or CE (European Committee for Standardization). Standard bicycle helmets, hard hats, and bump caps do not provide adequate protection from falling rocks or impact during a fall. Keep the chin strap buckled at all times underground.

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Clothing for Nevada Caves

Nevada's caves vary significantly in temperature and moisture. Desert limestone caves at lower elevations may be relatively warm and dry - but even these require more clothing than the surface temperature suggests, since you will be moving slowly through cool air. Higher-elevation caves in the Snake, Spring, or Ruby mountain ranges can be quite cold, sometimes near or below freezing near cave ice deposits.

General guidance:

• Avoid cotton in all but the warmest, driest caves. Cotton retains moisture and accelerates heat loss.

• Wear synthetic base layers (polypropylene, polyester) that wick moisture and retain warmth when damp.

• A durable outer layer - coveralls or heavy synthetic pants and jacket - protects against abrasion from Nevada's often-sharp limestone and dolomite.

• Wear lug-sole boots with ankle support. Athletic shoes do not provide sufficient grip or ankle protection on irregular cave surfaces.

• Bring gloves - even thin synthetic gloves protect hands from cuts and scrapes and help preserve formations by keeping skin oils off cave surfaces.

• Consider kneepads and elbow pads for caves with significant crawlways.

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Essential Gear List

• Helmet with three mounted or easily helmet-mounted light sources

• Extra batteries for all lights

• Gloves (synthetic or rubber)

• Sturdy lug-sole boots with ankle support

• Durable outer clothing layer (coveralls preferred)

• Synthetic base layer

• Kneepads and elbow pads (for crawling caves)

• Food and water for the expected trip duration, plus extra

• Emergency mylar blanket or large heavy-duty plastic bag (hypothermia prevention)

• Small lightweight pack of durable synthetic material

• Sealed container for human waste

• Pencil and waterproof paper

• First aid supplies appropriate for the group size

• Emergency whistle

• GPS device or compass and printed map (no cell service in Nevada backcountry)

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Before the Trip

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Research the Cave

Nevada's caves vary enormously in difficulty, hazard type, and access requirements. Before visiting any cave, gather as much information as possible from the Nevada Cave Survey, the managing land agency, and experienced cavers who have been there. Understand the cave's layout, known hazards, typical conditions, and any access restrictions. Confirm that the cave and the type of trip you are planning are within your group's collective skill and experience level.

 

Check Weather and Conditions

Nevada's desert climate can produce conditions that create sudden hazards underground. Flash flooding is a serious risk in karst caves during and after thunderstorms - Nevada's summer monsoon season (July through September) can produce intense, localized rainfall that sends water pouring into cave entrances with little warning. Check weather forecasts carefully before any cave trip, and if there is any chance of significant rainfall in the watershed above or near the cave, postpone the visit.

In winter and early spring, snowmelt can also feed rapid water rise in cave passages. Some Nevada caves that are dry in summer are flooded or inaccessible in spring.

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Call Outs

Before every cave trip, designate a reliable contact person on the surface - your "top cover" - and give them detailed written information:

• The name of the cave and a general description of the area

• The names, contact numbers, and vehicle descriptions of everyone in your group

• Your planned entry time and expected return time

• The name and phone number of the local cave rescue resource

• Clear instructions on what to do, and when, if they do not hear from you

If you exit the cave later than your agreed check-in time, contact your top cover immediately to prevent an unnecessary rescue callout. Cell service is often absent near Nevada's remote caves - plan your communication strategy around this reality.

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Cave Rescue in Nevada

Cave rescue is a highly technical operation requiring specialized equipment and trained personnel. The National Cave Rescue Commission (NCRC) trains rescue teams throughout the country, and Nevada has cavers with NCRC training. Contact the Nevada Cave Survey for current information on the appropriate rescue contact for the region.

When calling for cave rescue in Nevada, dial 911 and clearly state that you need a cave rescue-trained team. Provide a description of the cave location and the access route. Dispatchers in rural Nevada counties may not be familiar with cave rescue protocols; be prepared to be specific about what is needed.

All cavers are encouraged to complete NCRC cave rescue orientation training and a wilderness first aid course before caving in Nevada's remote terrain.