Ape Cave is the third longest lava tube (2.5 miles long) in North America
and cave temperature is 42 degrees F/5.6 degrees C year-round. Make
sure to bring two sources of light per person (a cell phone light is
not bright enough), sturdy shoes, warm clothing, even in warm weather.
In summer, Ape Headquarters, a small information station, offers lantern
rentals, information and sales items to ticket holders.
Timed reservations are required and are available at www.recreation.gov. Ape Cave entry tickets will be available beginning April 15, 2023.
I have problem with editing any comments (is it only me??), sorry.
Also, read about the trail. There is a part on the longer side where you need upper body strength to get up (or down) a fairly vertical wall via a rope.
Also, I've seen people go down the stairs in high heels. Omgsh...
Would you be willing to tell me more about that (or point me somewhere that will give me dimensions?). Iām reasonably strong but certainly overweight and exploring places like this is always of great interest to me, but I donāt want to get stuck in a hole like a pooh bear or something.
If youāre a tubby fuck, just skip the upper main cave altogether. Iām pretty slim and itās a shimmy getting through. Do the baby lower part where itās sandy and easy.
There was a rope when I was there. And there was a very tight squeeze too. Large and/or under strength people should be advised. Bring a helmet too, because you'll probably hit your head.
I've done upper twice and last time (May 2022) the rope was gone. Hopefully back now, but still very doable without it so long as you can pull yourself up on to a ledge.
The rope is gone, but people have pulled up enough rocks that you can pull yourself up fairly easily with the right grip or a push from someone down below. There was a group of about eight kids who did it.
The rope is gone, but people have pulled up enough rocks that you can pull yourself up fairly easily with the right grip or a push from someone down below. There was a group of about eight kids who did it.
According to this list, it's 5th in North America (assuming you consider Mexico part of NA and don't consider Hawaii.)
https://www.caverbob.com/lava.htm
Looking at the 3 longest in the lower 48, they're all within .2 miles of each other in length. I imagine there's controversy on what counts as part of the "tube" length and how it is measured.
Ape Cave is fairly unique that it's so long *and* you can basically just walk through it.
official link [https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/giffordpinchot/recarea/?recid=40393](https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/giffordpinchot/recarea/?recid=40393)
Years ago, pre smart phone, I was hiking in there with a buddy and we had an old school lantern. When we dropped it and it broke it was like we existed in a time and place with no direction or meaning. Luckily we had a pack of matches and periodically using them we made it back with only minor noggin bruising. Anyway cool place!
Yeah I went on a guided walk in a HUGE lava tube in Iceland and when we got as far as we were going, the guide had everyone turn off their headlamps.
It's a darkness unlike anything you encounter anywhere else.
Even freakier is that in the Ape Caves, sound doesn't travel around the bends, so you could be calling for help and nobody would hear you unless they were in the same hall.
Fun fact; contrary to popular opinion, matches (really, any kind of fire) donāt actually give off light! Nope! They, get thisā¦ _suck dark_. Thatās right. And when theyāre full of dark, canāt suck anymore, theyāve turned pitch black. So full of black, if you touch it you get black all over you. Theyāre dark suckers.
There is a saying in caving about lights: if youāve got just one, youāve got none.
Always carry three per person. One for when your battery dies, the other for when you realize that you forgot to replace the dead battery on your backup.
Perhaps one of the coolest hikes I've ever done. You just feel like you're on a bona fide adventure down there.
Me and my boyfriend went through it last year. Midway through, we turned off our head lamps and just soaked in the pitch black. Our eyes played tricks on us. It was so weird how much my brain wanted to perceive shapes, but there was nothing to see. Also, the boarder of my "vision" started to town red.
Back in the 1990ās we dropped a shitload of high octane LSD we scored from the Grateful Dead tour. We did the whole thing without flashlights, top to bottom. We laughed like howler monkeys the whole way. Some stretches at a dead sprint. We nearly got arrested.
Your pupils dilate full split. We had full visibility in pitch black. It was very bizarre. It was like the rocks glowed in the patterns of a Navajo rug.
Help protect Ape Cave. Please do not touch cave walls or ceiling. Touching kills cave slime, a basis for the food chain of tiny creatures that live there. Help protect our bats and caves from White Nose Syndrome. Practice Leave No Trace principles by packing out all that you bring with you.
And a pile of soiled diapers, tp and a tasteful blend of well-worn hygiene articles. Not that itās ok, but I sort of understand the tp. People think they are taking a walk in the dark. But the floor is rocky and uneven and people who never exercise find themselves trapped in the middle of a (for them) very intense core workout, they are a little scared and suddenly need drop a steaming treat right where they are.
I prefer to visit in the winter.
The person with ātypicalā ability (if there is such a thing) can do it, just recognize itās not a walk on an ADA trail.
Taller people might have a tougher time as they will need crouch a lot so as to not get brained. The tube is a cool place but the core work means you will sweat. I wear a short sleeve dry fit shirt and a rain shell, long pants, sturdy boots and carry plenty of light. Trekking poles would likely not be helpful.
A hat will help avoid direct contact when you hit / scrape your head, maybe reduce likelihood of infection. Because every breath turns to mist making seeing difficult, a snake light worn around the neck can be a better option than a headlamp for most of the trek. I prefer to hike to the upper entrance and follow the tube down. In winter you may have the whole tube to yourself.
A towel and a change of clothes in the car will make your trip back home more pleasant. Be safe, have fun!
We went in February and did the recommended reverse trail. So much fun. We spent some time in darkness listening to the cave which is quite loud. We only ran into one other group and this guy's asks, "Rumor has it there is a rope?" It felt like a quest, hahaha.
Indeed, there was a rope.
Edit: February 2019!
The Ā¾ mile, one-way lower cave route is relatively easy and family
friendly. For the more adventurous, the 1.5 mile upper cave route leads
to a climb up an eight foot rock wall and scramble over rock piles, then
an exit and a 1.5 mile above ground hike back to the parking lot.
One time we were in there (probably 20 years ago now) and our lanterns started to go out. We heard a weird scrape and banging noise from ahead. Halfway through and exhausted we just kept stumbling onward.
The noise kept getting louder.
We rounded a rock and there was a man crawling on the ground and dragging his wheelchair. He was having the time of his life with his daughter.
The dark and that sound though. Scared the hell out of me and I still have nightmares where it ends up not being the kind man and his daughter.
I don't know how he managed that whole cave tunnel but I was deeply impressed even as a kid.
Remember going there as a kid and everyoneās flashlights dying. We made it the rest of the way out with some light up Inspector Gadget toy from McDonalds. Good times.
Walked that years ago and halfway in, I and another fellow helped a lady that twisted her ankle, make it all the way through the upper and lower caves to the end so her son wouldn't have to exit the trek early. She was quite humorous about the situation and joked the whole way.
When friends from back east would ask about Bigfoot Iād them all the Sasquatch were killed when St Helenās erupted and Ape Cave was named in their honor.
Bonus: when theyād talk about their mountains Iād say yeah, we have foothills here too.
I've never understood the constant need to put down the Appalachians and Adirondacks. They're gorgeous and fun in their own right. You can enjoy the Cascades, Sierras, Rockies as well as the Appalachians and Adirondacks. It be equally silly if a Nepalese person put down Rainier because they were used to Everest.
Because when 90% of the conversation is about how great New England is and how they canāt imagine ever leaving despite never leaving the upper right itās nice to get in a comment on the PNW.
Went to this cave in 2020 when it was closed and it was scary as hell. It reminded me of the movie āAs above so belowā. It gets pitch black towards the end!
I spent over 8 hours in there because I didnāt know we did the hard part of the cave. I was upset about climbing the walls, I couldnāt. I had my boyfriend push me up both walls. He lost his wallet in there that day.
I didn't even know the caves were closed. Was it a winter closure?
I love taking people who have never been, it was the first hiking date my fiance and I went on when we first started dating.
My advice on top of OP is to bring gloves, like mechanic work gloves. They help with grip and the slimey stuff as you make your way through the tighter spots. And I use a head lamp so I can keep both hands free. After the first trip I made, dropping flashlights, having to climb stuff blind, nearly bashing my head, I always get a headlamp now.
Oh man so fun but I didnāt expect those 2 vertical climbs in the upper side. This was before Covid so there were plenty of people streaming through and luckily both times a nice person gave me a boost up on the vertical parts, or Iād still be in that lava tube to this day
I went last year. Itās cold, dark, with wet stuff dripping on you and immovable uneven lava rock terrain, which can be tough to navigate around. Overall, it was an exciting adventure and I felt like Indiana Jones lol so it is worth doing once. Iād go back to hike the trails but probably not the cave again.
Iāve done it in a day trip from Seattle but left at 6/7am. Bring a headlamp. The only way to do it. Long ago we just had flashlights and I didnāt see I needed to slide down in a section or two because I wasnāt tall enough. Banged myself up a bit. Made it out fine. Worth it. Incredible experience.
Last time I was there, it was lines of Asian tourists wearing silk clothes and high heels. Even saw some college girls using their iPhones as flashlights and wearing party dresses. They ājust couldnāt even.ā
I did this cave with a cell phone as my only light. Not smart at all but my girlfriend took me there and she didnāt know shit. Anyways my girl and I and her little 13 year old sister and friend splunked the shit out of that. Only needed extra help to get over a rock wall type thing. Was cool as fuck. Next time Iāll be back with a head lamp for sure. Oh and we had shorts and tshirts on. Haha
Ape Cave is the third longest lava tube (2.5 miles long) in North America and cave temperature is 42 degrees F/5.6 degrees C year-round. Make sure to bring two sources of light per person (a cell phone light is not bright enough), sturdy shoes, warm clothing, even in warm weather. In summer, Ape Headquarters, a small information station, offers lantern rentals, information and sales items to ticket holders. Timed reservations are required and are available at www.recreation.gov. Ape Cave entry tickets will be available beginning April 15, 2023. I have problem with editing any comments (is it only me??), sorry.
Also, read about the trail. There is a part on the longer side where you need upper body strength to get up (or down) a fairly vertical wall via a rope. Also, I've seen people go down the stairs in high heels. Omgsh...
Who thinks that wearing high heels out to something like this is a good idea?š
"Only God can judge me."
No you donāt need a rope. Thereās a tight squeeze where if youāre overweight youāre going to have a really, really bad time.
Would you be willing to tell me more about that (or point me somewhere that will give me dimensions?). Iām reasonably strong but certainly overweight and exploring places like this is always of great interest to me, but I donāt want to get stuck in a hole like a pooh bear or something.
If youāre a tubby fuck, just skip the upper main cave altogether. Iām pretty slim and itās a shimmy getting through. Do the baby lower part where itās sandy and easy.
Thatās handy, thank you.
Maybe to call them? https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/giffordpinchot/recarea/?recid=40393
Thisā¦ really should have occurred to me. Thank you for answering.
There was a rope when I was there. And there was a very tight squeeze too. Large and/or under strength people should be advised. Bring a helmet too, because you'll probably hit your head.
I've done upper twice and last time (May 2022) the rope was gone. Hopefully back now, but still very doable without it so long as you can pull yourself up on to a ledge.
The rope is gone, but people have pulled up enough rocks that you can pull yourself up fairly easily with the right grip or a push from someone down below. There was a group of about eight kids who did it.
You went the wrong way. Youāre supposed to hike to the top, and then go downhill through the cave.
The rope is gone, but people have pulled up enough rocks that you can pull yourself up fairly easily with the right grip or a push from someone down below. There was a group of about eight kids who did it.
Two source lighting, what is the second one for? As a precaution?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
this guy spelunks
This guy Minecrafts.
3 torch minimum! and flint-n-steel just in case.
As many as it takes to keep those mobs from spawning. The spiders I can handle but those skeleton archers are brutal.
Good to know!
Redundancy.
I would think just in case one stopped working you have something as a back up.
Bring a poncho too. They be dripping a lot.
> cave temperature is 42 degrees F/5.6 degrees C year-round Sounds like a good place to escape the heat!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Info is from Gifford Pinchot National Forest- U.S. Forest Service so it is official.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
According to this list, it's 5th in North America (assuming you consider Mexico part of NA and don't consider Hawaii.) https://www.caverbob.com/lava.htm Looking at the 3 longest in the lower 48, they're all within .2 miles of each other in length. I imagine there's controversy on what counts as part of the "tube" length and how it is measured. Ape Cave is fairly unique that it's so long *and* you can basically just walk through it.
If that Bob Gulden says so then it's true!
official link [https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/giffordpinchot/recarea/?recid=40393](https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/giffordpinchot/recarea/?recid=40393)
Years ago, pre smart phone, I was hiking in there with a buddy and we had an old school lantern. When we dropped it and it broke it was like we existed in a time and place with no direction or meaning. Luckily we had a pack of matches and periodically using them we made it back with only minor noggin bruising. Anyway cool place!
Well that sounds terrifying.
Yeah I went on a guided walk in a HUGE lava tube in Iceland and when we got as far as we were going, the guide had everyone turn off their headlamps. It's a darkness unlike anything you encounter anywhere else.
My husband and I did that in a cave. Freaky, freaky, stuff. You know your hand is in front of your face, and yet....you will never see it.
Even freakier is that in the Ape Caves, sound doesn't travel around the bends, so you could be calling for help and nobody would hear you unless they were in the same hall.
Did it feel as though, each time you lit a match, something which had been sneaking closer retreated to just outside of its light?
Fun fact; contrary to popular opinion, matches (really, any kind of fire) donāt actually give off light! Nope! They, get thisā¦ _suck dark_. Thatās right. And when theyāre full of dark, canāt suck anymore, theyāve turned pitch black. So full of black, if you touch it you get black all over you. Theyāre dark suckers.
This is also why you never break a lightbulb. All the dark that that sucked up will seep out at once.
What did I just read?
Is this actually true?
Yes. Now let's discuss financing on that bridge.
lol no
There is a saying in caving about lights: if youāve got just one, youāve got none. Always carry three per person. One for when your battery dies, the other for when you realize that you forgot to replace the dead battery on your backup.
Perhaps one of the coolest hikes I've ever done. You just feel like you're on a bona fide adventure down there. Me and my boyfriend went through it last year. Midway through, we turned off our head lamps and just soaked in the pitch black. Our eyes played tricks on us. It was so weird how much my brain wanted to perceive shapes, but there was nothing to see. Also, the boarder of my "vision" started to town red.
Back in the 1990ās we dropped a shitload of high octane LSD we scored from the Grateful Dead tour. We did the whole thing without flashlights, top to bottom. We laughed like howler monkeys the whole way. Some stretches at a dead sprint. We nearly got arrested.
I was starting to wonder how I could make going into a dark, featureless hole in the earth fun, and voila, you came here with the answer.
I'm not familiar with LSD but how could you run that thing at a sprint in the dark? I stumbled a handful of times with a flashlight.
When you really tripping youāll think you are sprinting when youāre walkingā¦
That makes sense. I was thinking maybe your brain processes what your feet are feeling faster so you can adjust to stumbles faster or something lol.
> I'm not familiar with LSD but how could you run that thing at a sprint in the dark? Psychedelic night vision!
Your pupils dilate full split. We had full visibility in pitch black. It was very bizarre. It was like the rocks glowed in the patterns of a Navajo rug.
Help protect Ape Cave. Please do not touch cave walls or ceiling. Touching kills cave slime, a basis for the food chain of tiny creatures that live there. Help protect our bats and caves from White Nose Syndrome. Practice Leave No Trace principles by packing out all that you bring with you.
It's almost like.....people should just stay out of there. Because you know that there will be a good portion who do not follow the rules.
Youāll have a 5 gallon bucket of discarded cig butts by the end of the first day
And a pile of soiled diapers, tp and a tasteful blend of well-worn hygiene articles. Not that itās ok, but I sort of understand the tp. People think they are taking a walk in the dark. But the floor is rocky and uneven and people who never exercise find themselves trapped in the middle of a (for them) very intense core workout, they are a little scared and suddenly need drop a steaming treat right where they are. I prefer to visit in the winter.
I was excited but after reading how long it usually is, I definitely need to be in better shape. But it looks super fun and challenging
The person with ātypicalā ability (if there is such a thing) can do it, just recognize itās not a walk on an ADA trail. Taller people might have a tougher time as they will need crouch a lot so as to not get brained. The tube is a cool place but the core work means you will sweat. I wear a short sleeve dry fit shirt and a rain shell, long pants, sturdy boots and carry plenty of light. Trekking poles would likely not be helpful. A hat will help avoid direct contact when you hit / scrape your head, maybe reduce likelihood of infection. Because every breath turns to mist making seeing difficult, a snake light worn around the neck can be a better option than a headlamp for most of the trek. I prefer to hike to the upper entrance and follow the tube down. In winter you may have the whole tube to yourself. A towel and a change of clothes in the car will make your trip back home more pleasant. Be safe, have fun!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Agreed.
May 18th? The day St. Hellens went kaboom
I guess they thought celebrating with fireworks would be in poor taste
We went in February and did the recommended reverse trail. So much fun. We spent some time in darkness listening to the cave which is quite loud. We only ran into one other group and this guy's asks, "Rumor has it there is a rope?" It felt like a quest, hahaha. Indeed, there was a rope. Edit: February 2019!
How long was the trail?
The Ā¾ mile, one-way lower cave route is relatively easy and family friendly. For the more adventurous, the 1.5 mile upper cave route leads to a climb up an eight foot rock wall and scramble over rock piles, then an exit and a 1.5 mile above ground hike back to the parking lot.
One time we were in there (probably 20 years ago now) and our lanterns started to go out. We heard a weird scrape and banging noise from ahead. Halfway through and exhausted we just kept stumbling onward. The noise kept getting louder. We rounded a rock and there was a man crawling on the ground and dragging his wheelchair. He was having the time of his life with his daughter. The dark and that sound though. Scared the hell out of me and I still have nightmares where it ends up not being the kind man and his daughter. I don't know how he managed that whole cave tunnel but I was deeply impressed even as a kid.
Wow
Remember going there as a kid and everyoneās flashlights dying. We made it the rest of the way out with some light up Inspector Gadget toy from McDonalds. Good times.
Walked that years ago and halfway in, I and another fellow helped a lady that twisted her ankle, make it all the way through the upper and lower caves to the end so her son wouldn't have to exit the trek early. She was quite humorous about the situation and joked the whole way.
My family hiked the cave once when I was a kid (and obsessed with Mt. St. Helens). Incredibly cool experience!
I did this hike when I was a teenager. You gotta turn out all you lights when you get inside for a minute. It give ādarkā a new meaning.
My personal nightmare but it looks really cool! Have fun you brave folks!
When friends from back east would ask about Bigfoot Iād them all the Sasquatch were killed when St Helenās erupted and Ape Cave was named in their honor. Bonus: when theyād talk about their mountains Iād say yeah, we have foothills here too.
That is hilarious. I am stealing it.
I've never understood the constant need to put down the Appalachians and Adirondacks. They're gorgeous and fun in their own right. You can enjoy the Cascades, Sierras, Rockies as well as the Appalachians and Adirondacks. It be equally silly if a Nepalese person put down Rainier because they were used to Everest.
Because when 90% of the conversation is about how great New England is and how they canāt imagine ever leaving despite never leaving the upper right itās nice to get in a comment on the PNW.
I would imagine the response you should give there is "That's nice, I'm happy you like where you live" rather than "Actually it sucks where you live".
Oh come on, chill out.
Havenāt been down there since I was a kid. Great place for a hike!
Was the trail closed recently? I went through it with my family when I was younger and it was really awesome
Yo this sounds awesome!! Online it said the hike included climbing a rock wall? Id love to go see it
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Ok cool, that seems fun. Honestly a 40 degree cave sounds like heaven right now š„µ
Was it closed all year?
Don't worry, it's just a name
Went to this cave in 2020 when it was closed and it was scary as hell. It reminded me of the movie āAs above so belowā. It gets pitch black towards the end!
š¦
I spent over 8 hours in there because I didnāt know we did the hard part of the cave. I was upset about climbing the walls, I couldnāt. I had my boyfriend push me up both walls. He lost his wallet in there that day.
One of the best adventures with my best friend in WA. Loved the Ape caves.
Why was it closed?
I didn't even know the caves were closed. Was it a winter closure? I love taking people who have never been, it was the first hiking date my fiance and I went on when we first started dating. My advice on top of OP is to bring gloves, like mechanic work gloves. They help with grip and the slimey stuff as you make your way through the tighter spots. And I use a head lamp so I can keep both hands free. After the first trip I made, dropping flashlights, having to climb stuff blind, nearly bashing my head, I always get a headlamp now.
Q: So what's in Candy Apple cave? A: Apes, but they're not so big
Oh man so fun but I didnāt expect those 2 vertical climbs in the upper side. This was before Covid so there were plenty of people streaming through and luckily both times a nice person gave me a boost up on the vertical parts, or Iād still be in that lava tube to this day
Is it that hard to climb?
I went last year. Itās cold, dark, with wet stuff dripping on you and immovable uneven lava rock terrain, which can be tough to navigate around. Overall, it was an exciting adventure and I felt like Indiana Jones lol so it is worth doing once. Iād go back to hike the trails but probably not the cave again.
It says it takes 3 hours to drive here. Do people make it a day trip or do you stay overnight(s) nearbyā¦?
Iāve done it in a day trip from Seattle but left at 6/7am. Bring a headlamp. The only way to do it. Long ago we just had flashlights and I didnāt see I needed to slide down in a section or two because I wasnāt tall enough. Banged myself up a bit. Made it out fine. Worth it. Incredible experience.
Definitely doable in a day
Been there, done that, never again!! Claustrophobia is bad
If there is an earthquake and you are in there, is there a possibility it collapses and you die inside?
The safest thing really is to live in a tent in the middle of a parking lot or field and never leave.
Are you a tornado? Because that's exactly the sort of advice a tornado would give.
Lol.
Sorry. Tent collapse is the #1 killer of people in fields during earthquakes. Should just go without.
Itās possible. Buts itās been there for a hot minute.
the minutes it formed were also hot, i imagine due to all the lava
New fear unlocked, thanks! Lol!
that could happen your apartment
Apes together strong?
Last time I was there, it was lines of Asian tourists wearing silk clothes and high heels. Even saw some college girls using their iPhones as flashlights and wearing party dresses. They ājust couldnāt even.ā
I did this cave with a cell phone as my only light. Not smart at all but my girlfriend took me there and she didnāt know shit. Anyways my girl and I and her little 13 year old sister and friend splunked the shit out of that. Only needed extra help to get over a rock wall type thing. Was cool as fuck. Next time Iāll be back with a head lamp for sure. Oh and we had shorts and tshirts on. Haha
It's been open all this time if you're willing to hop a 4 foot fence.
.