Cave Facts

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SIZES OF CAVES

Historic Wyandotte Cave is very long, in fact, it is
one of the longest caves in the United States.
It has about 25 miles of passageways with huge rooms.

Wyandotte is not the only large cave in the United States.
One of the largest caves in the world is Mammoth Cave.
It is in Kentucky and the whole Mammoth Cave system is
over 360 miles long! This system has many features like
waterfalls, beautiful rock formations, lakes, and even rivers.
Mammoth Cave is one of the most famous caves in
the whole world! Another famous caves is Voronya Cave
in Asia. It is famous for being the world's deepest cave.

SAFETY IN CAVES

It is important to be safe when you go into a cave.

There are some things you will want to make sure to bring.
The first thing to bring would be someone else with you!
You should never ever go into a cave by yourself!
You should never go in a cave without permission first.
Most caves have tours set up for people so that
you can experience the cave the best, safest way.

If you are going to be exploring a cave that is not well lit,
you need to bring with you some gear like a flashlight or
better yet bring a flashlight and wear a hard helmet with
a light attached to it and a chin strap underneath to hold
it on should you slip and fall. We wore them when we
went in Wyandotte Caves in September. (see below)

Here we are going into the entrance of
Siberts (Little) Wyandotte Cave.
(CES Media Club)

If you think you will be in the cave for a long time
you will want to bring some water and something to eat.
What you wear is important. You will want to make sure
to wear gloves if you have some. If you need to touch the side
of the cave for balance then the oils of your hands will not
hurt the cave. Your shoes should be good for climbing. They
should not be slippery on the bottom and they should be
waterproof since much of the cave floor might be wet or
muddy. The temperature in the cave will be cool, so a long-
sleepved jacket is a good idea. If you plan on doing much
climbing in the cave you will also want to wear knee pads
and elbow pads for protection.

CAVE CARE

It is important to treat the cave and its inhabitants with
respect. Remember, cave formations sometimes take
thousands of years to form. Caving with respect has
a name. It is called "Caving Softly". That means,
to explore the cave in such a way that the next
visitors cannot tell you were there. It means leaving
the cave exactly the way you found it. In this way
the cave will remain a natural wilderness forever.

Walk carefully and do not touch anything with your bare
hands. It is easy to break a delicate formation and
as we mentioned before, the oils on your hands will
stop a formation from growing. In other words, the
formation will die.



You can see several stalactites have been
broken off by vandals in Siberts Cave.
(CES Media Club)

Never ever leave anything in a cave. That includes trash!
It is important to not draw or paint on the cave walls.
This can ruin the natural beauty of the cave.

Be sure to stay on the path. Getting off of the path
can also damage formations such as stalagmites.

Never take anything from the cave. If you see a broken
piece of a formation just leave it where it is.

GO TO PAGE 4 FOR MORE CAVE FACTS

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Comments? Questions? You can e-mail us at: jgoble@cannelton.k12.in.us