Lehman Caves

The Grand Palace

On the way back from Idaho, I spent a couple of days at beautiful Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada. Its above-ground centerpiece is mighty Wheeler Peak, which towers above the sagebrush desert. But the park’s heart is Lehman Caves, a wonderland of speleothems, including stalactites, stalagmites, shields, and other formations, dissolved into Wheeler Peak’s side. I reserved a spot in a guided tour group which provided about a 90-minute loop through six rooms and a few other passages.

I took several dozen photos in the caves, all without flash or support (tripod), so most did not turn out. The photo above, taken in the Grand Palace, was a 0.6 second exposure at ISO 400 equivalent sensitivity. It’s not a crisp, sharp photo, but it provides a sense of the stunning beauty underground. The Grand Palace is the furthest room from the entrance that a tour visits. A further large room is believed to be geologically unstable.


The caves are fairly level, though there are short series of stairs and ladders to get around obstacles. Weakly acidic water filled the cracks in the limestone, slowly dissolving the rock into open spaces. The action is fiercest right at the water level, and the cave shows numerous water lines where the level sat still for eons. Eventually, the water table dropped, but water continues its work, slowly adding and enlarging cave features.

The Gothic Palace, shown above, is the first major room in the cave system. Dim light from the natural entrance is visible, briefly, as one enters the room (Entry to the cave is provided by a man-made tunnel.) and begins to take in all its wonders. A thick forest of stalactites hangs from the ceiling.

The Lodge Room has an interesting history. Ab Lehman, the cave’s discoverer (so most stories go) and chief promoter, held a variety of dances and parties in the largest and tallest underground passage. Not far beyond, visitors used to have to crawl on their stomachs to slither through a narrow crack in the wall into what became known as the Inscription Room. If you made it to the room, you got to leave your initials on the ceiling. Historical graffiti is concentrated there but visible throughout the cave. A nearby passageway leads to a small room known to be the site of several weddings.

The cave contains numerous unusual features, including cave popcorn (above), cave bacon, draperies and shields. In no other cave system are shields as numerous as here. More than 300 shields have been counted along the tour route alone.

One shield, known as The Parachute (below), has been the cave’s symbol since it was first designated as Lehman Caves National Monument in 1922. It was transferred to the National Park Service in 1933. The national park was not designated until 1986, when a significant chunk of surrounding Humboldt National Forest was combined with the monument.

The Parachute is on the left. The photo is taken from the tour’s end point at the entrance to the now closed-off Talus Room (The roof is collapsing.). No one is exactly sure how a shield — essentially a clam shell shape with a distinct gap between each half — forms or why so many are found here.

The cave is a constant 50 degrees. Most of its animal life remains hidden in the dark, but an occasional bat can be seen circling the stalactites. There are lots of low ceilings and tight passageways requiring a fair amount of contortions to navigate. The rewards are many, as Lehman Caves is considered one of the most richly decorated cave systems in the world. It was one of the trip’s highlights.

The Grand Palace, GB09-0825-6577R; Gothic Palace, GB09-0825-6563R; Cave Popcorn, GB09-0825-6574R; and The Parachute, GB09-0825-6574R, Great Basin National Park, Nevada | ©2009 Jeff Blaylock

Potentially related posts:

• Across the Great Basin
• Wheeler Peak and Ancient Pines
• Wheeler Peak Sunrise
• Coral Pink Sand Dunes
• Idaho Trip Campsites
• Fumarole Bay (7/20)
• Rainy Day in the Tetons