Howards Waterfall
From SAUwiki
About 40 minutes from SAU, this cave is popular for groups of all ages and sizes. It is easy to find and hard to get lost (for long) in. Most of the cave is horizontal and well marked. There are about three miles of passage and four entrances. Unlike the Potato Cave, the ceiling in Howard's Waterfall is fairly low much of the time. A helmet is a good idea here! Unfortunately, three of the four entrances are on private property. Use the one just off the road if you visit this cave as it is the one owned by the NSS and is also the easiest to find.
Disclaimer: For driving directions, please refer to someone who has been there before or send me a private message. You can also email the admin and he will get in touch with me. I am happy to disseminate information, but do not want to post it where everyone can see it. Caves are fun, but can be dangerous. I will not post explicit directions publicly because I do not want to be responsible for any old joe going there and getting in trouble. The same is true for the following "verbal map" of the cave. This is intended to supplement a trip that has at least one experienced person along who has been to the cave. I will not be responsible for any harm that comes from the misuse or abuse of this "map" by someone using it as a foolproof guide. Be aware that this is a public forum and these words can be changed. Always check any directions against an official map.
Entrance: Just off the road, go through the bushes and follow the crushed stone fill down into the hole. When it rains, there is a waterfall across the entrance and the stream flows into the first room of the cave before falling to a lower level. Expect to get your feet wet if it rains. Otherwise, the rest of the cave is fairly dry, even dusty at times.
Inside: The first room you come to, you should be able to stand in. There are a couple side passages that go down to a lower level. You can go down there and watch the water come down, but there is not much extended cave in this area.
The main part of the cave is around the "hole" and across the board, then left through the little hallway. From here the most common route is straight on, following the main passage. Look for the statue room on the right. If you come to the wide open "river bed", turn right. After this, keep left past two turnoffs. After a few minutes you will see the wall fall away to the right and empty into a birth canal. Go through this and follow it into the big room. From the big room you can go back out either of two passages (see next paragraph) or keep going. At the back side of this room is another low ceiling crawl area that opens into a long hall. This is very muddy! This "extension" is a dead end with some very cool stuff in it. To differentiate between this and the not-so-dead end in the next paragraph, note that this is a wet tunnel, and the one leading to the exit is dry. This one, as you face the two, is on the right and the one with the exit to the left.
If you miss the birth canal you will come to the end of the passage. At this point turn left and crawl up near the ceiling. There are several hundred feet of crawling through sand, but in the end you come out to the same large room that the birth canal empties into. There is a small room off the crawls just before the big room that is fun to explore if you brought a rope. (There is a drop into this small room).
Along this route to the Disaster Room as the big room is called, are a couple of other turns. After getting to the "wide open river bed" and turning right, the first passage to the right is a dead end. The second quickly turns into a crawl, but dumps you back into the main passage just before the birth canal.
On the way out: If you miss the turn off just before the main route exits the "river bed", don't worry. After duck-walking through a few stalagmite/stalactite fields (leave them be...) you will come to a low ceilinged but otherwise wide open room that appears to end. It doesn't--go all the way to the wall and you will see two small openings about 20 feet apart. The left one loops back to where you left the big river bed, but the right one (very small) joins back up to the main passage. After you come out of this turn right and follow the arrows back out to the exit.
This describes about half the cave, the other half is considered much more interesting by everyone I have ever taken to this cave. However, due to the fact that it has many more side passages and hazards, I will not expound on it here. While I want to share with people, I also want them to enjoy the experience. I will be happy to take anyone who desires to visit, but I can not in good conscience post a description here and discover later that someone was lost or seriously injured trying to follow them.
Please practice safe caving and take someone else along whenever you go. Not only is it great company, and a good idea, but it reduces the chances someone will have to call Hamilton County Search and Rescue for you. Bon Voyage!
