Adventurer's Guide to Leviathan Cave
This is a difficult and incredibly rewarding hiking adventure… if you actually make it to the cave as there is no obvious trail. The cave is actively forming stalactites and stalagmites, so prudent care is required.
While not a national landmark type cave (eg. Mammoth Cave National Park), this system is still impressive and magnificent.
The Spot
The Leviathan Cave is in the Worthington Mountains in Nevada and is primarily made of limestone. Apparently, there are multiple other caves in this area, but Leviathan is the biggest and most well known.
To reiterate, there is no trail. You are the trail. You are hiking alongside a cliff in several sections on loose rock.
We ran into a few cairns (rocks piled up to showcase a trail), but for the most part, you are on your own. And of course, we were using a topographic map of the area to find our way to it.
There is an AllTrails for Leviathan Cave.
However, the recording appeared in some sections to be on top of the giant mountain dome and was not fully reliable.
There are a number of good topo apps to use like Gaia, but I prefer US Topo Maps (Android download here). Make sure to download an offline version as well as Google maps of the area so you can easily get in and out (How to download Google Map areas and navigate offline).
Upon arriving at the sinkhole entrance to the Leviathan Cave system, we found ourselves looking down a cliffside with a very tiny metal ladder. We brought our climbing / abseiling gear, but did not use it as there is a double rope setup and the ropes were in generally good condition when we did a weight test (eg. redundant systems).
We found a treasure box / geocache inside the main section of the sinkhole / entrance to all the sub caves and it contained a nicely detailed map of the system (Kirk was pretty excited upon stumbling upon the treasure map).
Check out our video below to view our entire adventure of Leviathan Cave!
Watch our one minute version here!
One of the first sections of cave we entered had an incredibly high ceiling, upwards of over 100 ft / 30 m. Our lights could barely penetrate the ceiling!
A few other sections of the cave went nowhere, but seemed like they might have gone deeper.
Eventually, we consulted the treasure map again and realized that the paper was folded in half and we missed seeing the other half of the cave on the map! After unfolding the map fully, we found what we were looking for: The Pendant Room!
It is a super tight squeeze, but not bad at all. Other caves we have been in are tight like that first section the majority of the time.
Once you make it through the squeeze, you will be in awe. There are all sorts of limestone formations from soda straws, cave shields, stalactites, stalagmites, flow stone, and an incredible rimstone pool.
After reviewing this map later, we realized that some of these caves we entered had open lines at the edge of the map meaning they go deeper / have not been fully explored.
Always leave a reason to return and see something more!
Our return was mostly at night which made things a bit more tricky and slower. We stumbled upon a large old bomb. This thing was massive and we heard it was over 500 lbs!
Getting There
Remember the Storm Area 51 Facebook event that made national news? Well, Rachel, NV is one of the towns that was supposed to be stormed and is one of the closet towns to this cave system.
We approached from the East (left Zion NP in the morning) and ended up heading South towards Rachel, so took two separate long dirt roads. Both were decent and most SUVs would be fine.
However, the last 1.5 mile bit of road from the valley up to the trailhead starting point for the cave hike is much more challenging in several sections and you would need a high clearance 4x4, hopefully with solid tires.
Things We Wish We Knew Beforehand
Wear gloves at the beginning of the hike as you will be scrambling most of the time
The rocks are quite sharp
Camp at the trailhead / base and start your journey early the next morning so you can enjoy the whole day there
We would not advise backpacking your gear to the cave due to the general sketchy nature of the terrain
Bring extra lights for the Pendant Room, you will want to see it well!
We forget to bring out small LED lantern as it would have really helped paint the rooms more in light
Download offline maps for driving and topos of the area
Don’t forget your helmet and bring lots of water
ABOUT
Kirk + Martina have been adventure travelling essentially their whole lives. Martina has been to over 60 countries, speaks 3 languages, and is a badass. Kirk enjoys pushing limits to their extreme, hence the love for action sports and anything dangerous / adrenaline filled fun.
We realized the adventures we go on and the knowledge we learn could be useful for others.
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