John Ackerman established
the Minnesota Cave Preserve in 1989 to preserve, study, protect and to
promote conscientious exploration and conservation of our unique underground
wilderness.
From the beginning, John recognized the need to protect the fragile and
timeless environment, both above and underground. Conservation has always
been a prime tenet of the Minnesota Cave Preserve.
Feel free to contribute
to the Minnesota Caving Club. Your donation is tax deductible, and every
penny will be used for conservation projects!
The Minnesota Cave
Preserve owns eight preserves in S.E. Minnesota and Northern Iowa, which
provides access to 36 miles of cave passages. The properties encompass
45 caves, 724.4 surface acres and 1,300.33 acres of additional subterranean
cave rights.
Watch
the OMNIMAX preview of Ancient Caves.
Watch the CBS video
CAVE
FARM / SPRING VALLEY CAVERNS
Located in southeastern Minnesota, the Cave Farm consists of 702.9 scenic
surface acres, combined with 192 additional acres of subsurface cave rights.
To date, 38
caves have been discovered on the property, including the largest,
Spring Valley Caverns.
Approaching almost 6 miles in length, Spring Valley Caverns is the largest
privately owned cave in the state, and is the most extensive cave system
on the Cave Farm.
After completely excavating all rocks and soil over the three sinkhole
entrances to the cave, a sizeable building, mimicking natural limestone,
was constructed. It serves as a gathering place for cavers, researchers
and nature groups before embarking on their underground journeys.
A number of ground breaking studies have taken place in Spring Valley
Caverns, the results of which have been published in notable resources
such as the Smithsonian Magazine.
View the MAP
COLD WATER CAVE
Located in Iowa, just across the Minnesota border, The Minnesota Cave
Preserve owns 5 surface acres and 200 acres of subsurface rights to 17.5
mile long Cold Water Cave. One hundred eighty-eight feet below the secure
man made entrance lies one of the most prominent and most highly decorated
cave systems in the Upper Midwest. This cave system, the 32nd longest
in the United States, has been dedicated as a National Natural Landmark.
View the MAP
GOLIATH'S
CAVE
Goliath's
Cave is an extensive Fillmore County Minnesota cave system which was discovered,
documented and surveyed by Minnesota cavers. Access to the cave had been
banned after the government purchased it in 1988. In 2004 the Minnesota
Cave Preserve acquired several surface acres above the cave, including
358 subsurface cave rights, and created a second entrance. The upper level
of the cave has large dry passages, in contrast to the occasionally turbulent
lower stream levels. Numerous underground stream tributaries conjoin within
the lower level, and over thousands of years have sculpted a series of
expansive winding passages. After numerous discoveries were made by the
Minnesota Caving Club, the final surveyed length of the cave system stands
at 2.39 miles.
View the MAP
TYSON
SPRING CAVE
Located in southeastern Minnesota, the Minnesota Cave Preserve owns one
surface acre above Tyson Spring Cave where a man made entrance was created.
In addition, the Minnesota Cave Preserve owns 144.5 acres of subsurface
rights to the cave system, it's picturesque natural spring resurgence
and 4 outlying caves. The network of spacious pristine passages are currently
being explored and mapped. It is estimated that this cave system is 4
to 5 miles in length. In 2008 cave explorers unearthed rare extinct ice-age
bones, resulting in the most significant scientific finding in any Upper
Midwest cave. Tyson Spring Cave is one of the most important Pleistocene
sites in the Northern United States.
Read the ARTICLE
BAT
RIVER CAVE
Located in southeastern Minnesota, the Minnesota Cave Preserve owns one
surface acre and 231 acres of subsurface rights to this amazingly diverse
cave system. A wide stream meanders along the main cave passage, which
is lined with unique formations, before it finally drops over a deep chasm
and forms a fantastic roaring waterfall. This 2.84 mile long cave system
was discovered by John Ackerman, Phil Gemenden and John Preston in 2006,
and contained the largest bat sanctuary in any natural cave in the Tri-State
area before White Nose Syndrome disease desecrated the population. The
three species of bats that had relied on Bat River Cave for their roost
sites were being studied and monitored by cavers and scientists as White
Nose Syndrome disease spread through the population.
View the MAP
HOLY
GRAIL CAVE
Located in southeastern Minnesota, the Minnesota Cave Preserve owns 11
surface acres and 148 acres of subsurface rights to this complicated cave
system. This cave was discovered in 2008, after a rare catastrophic supercell
rain storm collapsed the roof of a tall dome. Explorers rappelled 50’
down into the cave and went on to discover possibly the largest rooms,
passages, pits and domes in the Tri-State region. It is thought that this
cave is part of the huge York/Odessa underground drainage system that
explorers have been attempting to enter since the 1800’s. To date over
4 miles of passages have been explored, and cavers are searching for the
connecting passage that may lead them into this drainage system. It is
estimated that this system may contain 30-50 miles of cave passages.
View the MAP
FOUNTAIN
SPRING CAVE
Located in southeastern Minnesota, the Minnesota Cave Preserve owns an
amazing sinkhole, which had been excavated by hand in the 1930's in hopes
of discovering a cave worthy enough to commercialize. The deep sinkhole
on this 0.4 acre forested property had been abandoned a long time ago,
and although it had been reported that a cave was indeed discovered here,
all details were lost. The sinkhole had since collapsed, and it became
John Ackerman's obsession to find out exactly what, or if, anything had
been discovered at the base of this sinkhole.
Download the STORY
HIAWATHA
CAVERNS
Located in Winona County, this southeastern Minnesota cave was commercialized
and open for tours for a brief period during the mid 1960's. The Minnesota
Cave Preserve owns 1.1 surface acres over the cave, along with 26.4 subsurface
rights to this well decorated cave system. Work is in progress in an attempt
to locate hidden passageways.
Download the STORY
|