![]() Publicity of details and location information will only be available within the established caving community. WVCC will publicize the Lost Cave Preserve only to the extent necessary to accomplish WVCC’s mission goals. The surface resources will be maintained in as near natural state as possible, based upon the needs of WVCC. A stream exits a small tube in the Alderson Limestone, just above the entrance and then falls over a lip of Union Limestone straight into the entrance. The sinkhole that contains the entrance to Lost Cave is picturesque. Laurel Creek, which originates at the top of Muddy Creek Mountain hundreds of feet above the preserve, can vary considerably in flow volume, depending on the weather. The northeast property boundary is Laurel Creek, which occupies a rocky channel. SURFACE RESOURCESĪlthough Lost Cave Preserve is relatively small, there are some nice features on the surface. The cave is not a significant bat hibernaculum. Climbing down the entrance slope into the cave provides the only real vertical relief in the cave. The moderate length of this cave, and the lack of significant obstacles, such as vertical drops, make this cave a suitable one for recreational trips and people new to caving. Lost Cave has a total surveyed length of 3,735 feet, and a depth of 53.5 feet. WVCC plans to have flagging tape and signage at the cave rat nest area to warn visitors not to disturb their nests. In early 2020, when some of the original surveyors payed a return visit, cave rat nests were still in evidence, but no cave rats were observed. The only evidence that remains of the historical saltpeter mining operation is a number of obvious dirt mounds in the northern part of the cave.ĭuring 19, when Lost Cave was surveyed, surveyors observed a number of cave rats. Lost Cave is listed on the Significant Cave List for history, recreation, aesthetics, geology, biology, hydrology, paleontology and length. In 19, members of The West Virginia Association for Cave Studies mapped the cave.Ī caver in one of the many crawls that have remnants of the 1800s saltpeter mining. This cave has been an occasional popular cave with locals and cavers for recreational caving. During the Civil War, the cave could not be relocated, hence its name. He noted that the cave had been used for saltpeter mining during the War of 1812 and the Mexican War. Davies, in his 1949 Caverns of West Virginia, documented Lost Cave. ![]() A significant portion of the cave does extend under the seller’s remaining land. In addition to the fee simple parcel, the purchase also included the right to travel through any cave passage accessible from the cave entrance that extends under the seller’s remaining land. The parcel is basically a deep sinkhole on a hillside. The parcel is roughly rectangular, with the Lost Cave entrance located in the center of the northwest quarter of the parcel. WVCC purchased a three-quarters of an acre parcel, fee simple. Lost Cave is located immediately adjacent to State Route 63, approximately 2.6 miles east of the town of Alderson, W.Va. The West Virginia Cave Conservancy (WVCC), a non-profit, West Virginia Corporation, purchased Lost Cave, located in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, on May 29, 2020. A caver stands next to historic signatures on a large breakdown block in the entrance room of Lost Cave.
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