Jacks Fork River - Exploring Caves - Cave One

Over the last couple of weeks I have had the opportunity to explore some caves along the Jacks Fork River. I don't know the names of these caves and can't really explain how to get to them so...they get to be mystery caves for you!


Above is the first cave I visited. It had previously been inaccessable due to over growth, but our record flooding this spring cleared the growth away and revealed the cave! It probably went back about 20 or 30 feet and although the walls were narrow the ceiling was nice and tall. It did not have any evidence of housing any bats.



Cave Ceiling



This was the only formation that hadn't been broken off.
We even thought we saw a juvenile Ozarks Hellbender!!! I don't have photos of it though as it is hard to use your phone as a flashlight and take photos with it at the same time. Haha!



Along the cave wall



As you can see, the floor of the cave was not dry. We sank into mud past our ankles in a few spots. Poor Willie Nelson had mud up to his little elbows!



This is the view outside of the cave. Just imagine, if the flood hadn't come, we would have never seen this cave and gotten to explore it! Thanks for coming with me. Stay tuned for caves two and three!