Oregon caves loop hike

Overview

The Oregon Caves National Monument is one of the oldest in the system, established in 1909. The cave itself was discovered by Elijah Davidson in 1874. These underground passageways, really just one cave system, were formed in marble, rather than limestone or dolomite, making them unusual in North America. Groundwater percolated through cracks in the marble over the past half million years or so and gradually hollowed out the caverns by dissolving the native calcite. Unlike the numerous lava tube caves around Mount Saint Helens , Mount Adams and in central Oregon, these marble caves exhibit many spectacular cave features, such as stalagmites and stalactites, columns, “curtains”, pools, pearls, popcorn, helictites, flowstone, and cave “bacon”. Many animal fossils have been found in the caves, including the bones of a jaguar.

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