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Bat River Cave |
| Bat River Cave, located in S.E. Minnesota, was home to the largest concentration of roosting bats (in any natural cave) in the Upper Midwest before White Nose Syndrome disease desecrated the population. The original portion of this cave has been known to exist since pre settlement times. However, in 2007 John Preston, outfitted with SCUBA gear, dove through a water filled sump at the end of the cave and discovered a huge room with a tremendous waterfall crashing down into it. He reported that the cave continued ahead, and shortly thereafter John Ackerman and Phil Gemuenden followed Preston through the sump and explored over one mile of spacious decorated passages lined with bats. A safe man made entrance has now been created to further exploration and scientific studies. To date, 2.84 miles of cave passages have been explored. Read the STORY View the MAP Read the HISTORY |
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The natural spring entrance. |
| Tim
Stenerson, John Preston and John Ackerman prepare to enter the cave to dive the sump. |
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This
is where we surfaced into the new cave after groping our way through a
50’ long passage that was icy cold, pitch black and constrictive. |
| Tami
Thomsen, John Ackerman, Dave Wysocki, Dan Pertzborn prepare to enter the
original cave entrance. When Tami and John arrived at the sump they transported specialized radio gear through the water filled passage so they could pinpoint a suitable man made entrance in the newly discovered spacious cave. . |
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Once through the sump Tami and John remove their diving gear and make their way through almost one mile of spacious newly discovered cave passages. Here Tami sends low frequency radio pulses to the surface, where they are successfully received by Clay Kraus and Charles Graling. |
| A stake is placed at the precise location above the in-cave transmitter. This exact spot marks the future man made entrance. |
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Ready
to drill a test hole to verify the accuracy of the cave radio readings. |
| A
camera is
lowered into the cave to verify the exact proposed entrance location. Success! The main cave passage is clearly visible 65 feet below the surface. |
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A
specialty rig prepares to remove dirt and loose rock until solid bedrock
is reached. |
| Steel
casing was then installed on top of the bedrock. |
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A
customized drilling machine is positioned over the casing and bores the
main 30” diameter shaft down to the cave ceiling, which is 57’ below the
surface. |
| John
returns from his first trip down the newly created entrance. |
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After
the ladder sections were installed a secure steel lid was attached. Final
grading and planting of native grasses have completed the project. |
--- Underground --- |
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New entrance site. |
| Looking
up from the cave. |
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We
are not the only visitors to the cave. |
|
We found over two miles of breathtaking passages with a mixture of textures
and colors. |
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On
the way to the waterfalls. |
| Some
of the passages are 25ft tall. |
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The
water temperature is 48 degrees. Without special wetsuits to keep cavers
warm they would soon succumb to hypothermia. |
| Jim
Edberg and Clay Kraus amongst draperies and other unique formations. |
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This
is an incredible cave system. |
| Ttraveling
along the main passage. |
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Ancient
rare formations . |
| The
water that flows through this cave system creates many natural pools,
dams and waterfalls. |
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This
cave system contains the largest hibernating bat colony in any natural
cave in the Tri-State area. Over 4000 bats return to Bat River Cave each
fall to seek shelter and safety. Read the STORY |
| Erin
Meyer (adjacent neighbor) descends a waterfall which cascades into a large
room. |
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In
2007 and 2011 we performed a bat count and found that the numbers were
basically consistent at about 4,000. In 2017, because of the White Nose
Syndrome disease, the count was 2,836. In 2019 the count was only 82,
and most of those bats were also infected with the disease. By next year
almost every bat in the cave will have died. |
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| 3:43
p.m. Jim enters the cave. Note that the water level has risen. |
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4:03
p.m. We encounter a fantastic waterfall where only a dry ceiling existed before. |
| 4:17
p.m. The water begins to rise and becomes turbulent. Even though the main passage is spacious we decide to abort the tour. |
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4:22
p.m. We round a bend and struggle against the current to retreat. |
| 4:40
p.m. Panic sets in as we loose our footing against the incredible force of the water surge. |
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4:59
p.m. Seconds after this photo was taken it was almost impossible to stand in the passage without getting swept away. |
--- Bone Discoveries --- |
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In 2008-9 over 175 rare bones dating back to the ice age were discovered along some of the stream banks in Bat River Cave and nearby Tyson Spring Cave. Read the account |
| The artifacts are now being analyzed by the Illinois State Museum and are being compared to the incredible finds in nearby Tyson Spring Cave. |
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Some of the bones are from the Pleistocene era and are rare specimens. |
| Thought to be the upper right jaw of an extinct bison. Tests are ongoing. |
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Over 175 bones have now been collected in Bat River Cave and nearby Tyson
Spring Cave, resulting in the most significant scientific discovery in
any Upper Midwest cave. |
--- Continued Exploration --- |
|
| Multiple exploration trips were conducted upstream from the new entrance. After sliding on our stomachs for 1,800 feet (through 48 degree water in low air spaces) the ceiling abruptly rose to 30' and we found ourselves exploring a huge cave segment. Eventually the ceiling height diminished, and John Ackerman moved ahead for several hours with only inches of air space. Amazingly, the ceiling once again rose suddenly to over 60 feet, and another large cave segment was discovered! The cave length is now 2.84 miles as exploration continues.. |
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If these huge breakdown rocks would have fallen completely to the floor they would have blocked the passage and we never would have discovered the rest of the cave. |
| New
discovery section. Very strange wall patterns visible on the right wall. |
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Joe Myre inspects a free hanging formation. At one time this formation was formed on top of a mud bank. Later the mud bank was washed away, leaving the formation suspended. |
| Another
example of a suspended formation. |
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We were amazed at this bizarre looking floor. |
| As
time progresses water is eroding the meandering passages deeper and deeper. |
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| Bat River Cave History Home |
