Northwest Caves
Lava Beds

The Lava Bed National Monument has one of the largest concentrations of lava tube caves in the United States. Many caves are open to the public. Some of the caves have been improved to permit better access. The monument covers an area of about 72 square miles in the northern most region of the Medicine lake Volcano.

Entry fee to the monument is $4.00 per vehicle

PICTURES NAME  DESCRIPTION

Fern Cave
Entrance		 Fern cave gets its name from the profusion of ferns that grow at the entrance.
If you plan to visit fern cave, you must make arrangements in advance with the park. The park will limit your group size and a Park Ranger must accompany them.

Fern Cave
Pictographs		 Pictographs cover the walls just inside the large entrance room. The meaning of these drawings has become lost to the ages.

Mortar
and
Pestle		 A mortar and pestle can be found just inside the entrance to fern cave. Early souvenir hunters carried off many other artifacts prior to the cave's gating in the late- 30's.

Stick
Figures		 One of the few recognizable drawings found in the cave are of several stick figures. Their significance to its ancient artist is still unknown.

Lizard
at
Skull Cave		 A picture of a lizard perched on a rock out side the entrance to skull cave. Skull cave gets its name from the discovery of bones, including the remains of two humans , inside the cave in 1892.

Perennial
Ice		 The lower levels of Skull Cave stay cold enough that ice formations remain year around. Notice the red coloring of the ice in the photo. This is cause by red soil seeping in through cracks in the rocks and then becoming frozen in the ice.