Overview

Hype:

Hole on the West Cave is a large sandstone sinkhole. The rappel from the entrance is about 110 feet and involves rappelling down a waterfall. We got completely soaked on the way out.

Cave Type: Vertical

Time: 1 hour

Length: 40 ft

Depth: 110 ft

Gear: 120 ft of rope, 50 ft of webbing, ascenders, helmet, headlamp, backup flashlights, first aid kit, snacks, water, change of clothes, 4-wheeler (preferred) or 4x4 truck.

Fees: None

Recommended Ages:

	0-3
	4-11
	12-19
	20-49
	50-69
	70+

Recommended Months to Visit:

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Permits: Open

Getting There

Navigate to 38.818832, -112.271866.

Start at 300 N in Richfield, UT. Cross under I-70. This is the Civilian Conservation (CC) Road. Set your odometer. You'll know you're on the right road when you pass the Richfield water tank. Stay on the main road for 7.7 miles. Turn right at the fork in the road (38°46'31.83"N, 112°11'40.93"W). There is a sign for people going the other way.

Go 6.2 miles to 38°50'19.17"N, 112°14'46.36"W (picture below). Turn left toward Devil's Armchair.

At 38°49'30.91"N, 112°16'6.50"W, take the small 4-wheeler track that forks to the left. Continue for 0.5 miles and park at 38°49'12.31"N, 112°16'28.14"W. Hole on the West Cave is approximately 900 feet down the hill to the left.

In the picture below, Anthony and Zac are standing at the entrance to the cave. It is quite large and easy to find. And the best part is that the coordinates we got from Google Earth were within 40' of the cave.

A view of the entrance from above.

Location

Closest City or Region: Richfield, Utah

Coordinates: 38.818832, -112.271866

View larger map

Maps

Closest City or Region: Richfield, Utah

Coordinates: 38.818832, -112.271866

Printable Maps

May 19, 2012 Trip Report

By Jeremy Dye

Trip Members

Jeremy Dye, Anthony Dye, Zac Dye,

Story

A co-worker's brother-in-law found this cave while out hunting. They threw some rocks in and could tell it dropped a long ways, but they never explored it. When they heard I was into caving, they said I had to go check it out. So they looked on Google Earth and guessed where the cave was and gave us the coordinates.

To be honest, we didn't really expect to find the cave, and if we did find the cave, we didn't expect it to be very good, so we just took minimal gear (87' rope, rappelling gear, and ascending gear).

We used a 50' length of webbing around a tree as our anchor. If you use less webbing, you'll need more rope. Your choice.

The entrance has lots of loose dirt and rocks, so make sure to wear a helmet.

The first drop is approximately 30 feet to a ledge. When we were there in May 2012, water was seeping down all the walls and collecting into streams.

Since Anthony was the last one down, he kept going into the next pit. We don't have any pictures of the lower pit because the camera battery died, so you'll just have to go with a written description.

About 15-20 feet below the ledge where Zac and I were standing, all the water (and the rappeller) gets channeled into one spot. From that spot, it's a free rappel (meaning you're not touching any walls) to the bottom. That only problem was that our rope was about 10'-15' too short. So Anthony had to switch over to ascending and climb back up - and all the while water was pouring down on top of him.

We really wanted to get to the bottom so we could explore a side tunnel, so Anthony ascended all the way out and extended the anchor rigging another 30' so the rope started at the ledge where Zac and I were standing.

Zac and I then rappelled to the bottom and explored the side tunnel (lots of snow, ice, and rotten logs) then ascended back up the waterfall to the top ledge. We got off rope, then Anthony shortened the anchor so we could ascend the rest of the way out of the cave.

We then rode the 4-wheelers a half-hour back to Richfield in soaking wet clothes.

It was awesome.

Pictures