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 North of St Anthony Sand Dunes
6000 feet round trip
40 feet under ground
3 hours hiking time
Easy to moderate
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Spelunking
Year round ice
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Open year round
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The Civil Defense caves are large tubes formed from lava that snake underground for thousands of feet. Because of the insulating qualities of Lava, the interior of caves are cold, even on the hottest days of the summer. There is usually ice at the entrance to the cave. So be sure to bring jackets, and good footwear along with flashlights.
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Directions.
From the north Rexburg interchange of Highway 20, travel 16.6 miles north on the Salem highway, past the sand dunes heading towards Kilgore. There will be a tall, but small sign indicating the Civil Defense Caves are five miles on the dirt road heading east. See two pictures below, one of the sign and the other of the dirt road. It is five miles to the caves over the dirt road. The road is traversable by passenger cars but drive carefully. After a rain storm the road can be muddy. It is easy to get lost because the road meanders up, down, and around and is not visible very far ahead or behind. After about three miles there is a fork in the road. See picture below. Take the left fork. The road continues in a north, north east direction for about a mile. The road terminates in a open area that serves as a parking area. There are usually several fire pits in the area. The cave entrance is just to the north of the of parking area. Click on the larger picture at the top of this page.
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The Cave
From entrance the cave goes in two directions. The easiest section of the cave heads to the south east underneath the parking area. After scrambling over the large rocks in the entrance and over the fields of ice, the floor of the cave is general flat, though not very smooth. Most of the way there is ample head room. If you continue to the end you will occasionally have to scramble over large rocks that have fallen from the ceiling. The more adventurous can explore the narrow parts of the cave such as "Fat Man's Misery."
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The Geology of the Cave
The Civil Defense caves are lava tubes. Lava tubes are formed when molten lava flows steadly in a confined channel for many hours or days. The flows develop a solid crust or roof as the lava on the surface starts to cool and harden. When the source of lava stops flowing, the lava in the channel eventually flows out, leaving a tube behind and a relatively flat floor. Lava tubes are common in Eastern Idaho.
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IMAGE GALLERY, (Click for Enlargement)
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