ADDITIONALNO'l'ES ON THE SPELEOLOGYOF THE UINTA MOUNTAINS,UTAH

TECHNICAL N01,'E134
Salt. Lake .Gfo~ .
• aticmal. Speleolo8:tc;81·.Soc1~
,
.
}fq,19$7
 Jliring the late monthsof 1956 and'early 1957 several. caves in the Uinta Moun-
tains lrlere visited but lit:tJ,e, has been written concerning them. This paper s~eks to
cor~eq1t,~s det1-ciency.Xt is only 8. prel.im1nary'raport to serve until more'·time and
better Weatherano. a more tHorough,study. SomeinformatiOD i);'omT~hn1cal Note
#7 is included as this report is "not easily ,available to all membersof the Grotto.

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:U~-BRUSH CREEX CAVE
, 'Ibis cave is' located in the HWi of the NWt ofSae. 3O,nS~ R22E, Salt Lake
Merid. at 8080' elevation. A portion of the sink connected withi tis just barely
shoWnon theUsaS Burnt Cabin Gorge 71' Quadrangle. It is only,! mile from State
Rtghwq 44 and ,a jeep road exists almost 1;Qthe entrance to the cave,
'!he cave consists mainly of two fa1rsizedrooJnS1 both en.tered from the above
mentioned,'sink. A,smal, 1 craw.,lway,1
is,,asso,Cia,ted,,w1thth,ewe,,ste,rnmos,',t',room,',',
" Both roo,mB
are clogged in the rear withan1.mpassab1e log, jam. Or1ly200' of passage has been
found thus far. No connection has been found between the rooms. A ~ started in the
logjam at the end of the east roomon Mar. 31,19$7 mayreveal newpassages,

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LOWER
POLECREEK
CAVE
'Ihis cave was entered in the swmnerof 1956. Tbeentrance is in a rarlne about
¥ mile, in an easternly direction from the location shownoh tJ1.e,Gilbert Peak 30'Quad-
rlingle,' The spot..marked,cave on the ~is a spring.,', N01U8a81U"8mentsweretaken but
, the main,passage ,~ reported" to be "several',hundred teet long." , A few'small side
: paSsages ,exist. he main pf!Ssage1s large .,enoughtowalk upright all of its length.
, Progress was ended whena large pool of water that waS too deep to wade and too,cold
, to swimwas encountered. It is not definitelylmownifthepassage continues on
the
other side of this. pool. The entrance of the cavei~ an inverted syphon that would
prevent entry (or e:x::LtJJ)if the water level should rise.

-- ..--.
UPPER POLE CREEK 'CAVE
.•....•....••
..

1b1s cave is-located at the bottom of a large td.Dkabout a;'miletrom the above.
"'hen rlsi'J;ed in the summerof 1956, it was not penetr.le due to its small entrance
being occupied by a str~am. It mayb~ Possible. to c1ear the' entrance of someof the
debris aroUndit butth,eproblemhas notb~thorougbl;y itL,"stigated.

-- ----
'UPPER AND •.•..• ~
LOWER DRY FORKCA VE8

'Blese cayes "~iQcated.on

.

the bounc¥u7betweenS2l and S28.of'T2S, Rl9E, on

the south side of Dry Fork in a small cliff. The"UpperCave consists of .two near~
parallel passages, one of them h~avily modified by a vados~,streamandn~arly filled
with conglomerate. About300' or passage is present. lite Icwr Caveis about ,300
I yards below the UpperCave and is basically a single phreatic chambercontaining some-
nowston~ and stalacti tea in the upper portion •

."Tech. Note 1/7 lists this as in 531" T3N"m.W,USM, 6 miles north of E.1khorn
Ranger'Station at 8500' elevation and in limestone. 'S31,isat 10,000 feet and'not in
limestone. (1){2) S)2,has limestone and is. about 6 miles from theR.B. but is at
9500 feet elevation. The area in this vicinity, that is about 8500£eet, 6 miles north
of the Ranger Station and in limestone is very large.
HOtE-m-THE-ROCK
,.. ' - ,- -, - .....--
CAVE

- IDeated at the south end of the Seetionline between Sections 31 and 32, 'ON,
(1) this cave is only 10 feet within the Wasa~ National Forest and only 50 feet
f1-Qltl the ~oa.d
•.. A sign, Ho1e-in-the...Ro'ck
Spring, points. to'the entrance.' The'loca-
tion of the spring is apparently misplaced on the old USGStopo map.'lhe entire
75-100'. ot presen;tlyknownpassages is oc.c;upiedby a stream that was lmee-deepin most
places on April 28, 1957. Somemuchdeeper pools are present b~t maybe avoided if
the right path is taken. The passage varies .:f'rOm2 to 4 feet in. width and is not
high enoughto :walkupright·in.lI'\&1Y places. Anextre:melydeep pool terminated the
only exploration this far. 'ASmall passage ab~ water level on the opposite side
of the pool maycontinue but a raft will be necessary to find. out. Other holes are
present in the limestone upstream from the cave. The.access road is strictly a dry
weather road for passenger cars. 'l'he cave.was called B:!aver.CreekCave:in TN24 but
will be called Hole-in-the-Rock Cavehearafter as this is the nameof the spring•

. . All side passages o£Sheep Cr$8kCave.fromthe e~trance to Cairn·II, with the

exception of the vertical chimneysand somepaths through the breakdown,have been
explored and mapped. Nodiscoveries of any great importance were made. The tops of
most-.of. the chimneyscan be reached'by ascending a relet! vely. easy passage near
Cairn II. The end has been dug out and the cave found to contime for 50 morefeet
until the stream is reached.. The roof of the 'upstreampassage a.l.m9stmeets the
water and it is not definitel)'.knolm if:i,.t can be passed. Thehole directly opposite
the cave on the east wall of the canyonhas been visited and was found only 10' deep.
'lhis maybe a continuation of the presently knownsystembut the entrance is entirely
filled with breakdownif it is. Thehole 50 feet lower and 50 feet upstream'is
penetrable about 15' and looks like it can be dug out. The tliOholes downstreamand
500' higher at the top of the pine covered slope are only; shelters.

-
:tOST CREEK SINK
-
IDst Creek sinks in its bed in the NE-1of ~9,Rl5E, 'eN, (1).';: It is not lmown
if the area is in limestone or if a cave is associated with·the sink.
\'.: ."'t:

_IDst Creek (not the sameone as above) nows into a. large sink in 812, R16E,
T2N,".(~). This sink appears to. be in limestone and the cave was reputedly penetrable
(3) before the Beaverl1eadowsResevoir dambroke.and clogged the entrance with logs.
'lhis is supposedly the source of the water in SheepCreek Cave. It may.be easy to
reopen this. '

':/hesink shownin 810, R4W,T2N,USM, (1) (4) is in limestone (lower memberof

the PennsylvanianMorganFormation) and maybe worth checking. Someof this lime-
stone has shale impurities but at least 100' of pure is present. A stream nows
into the sink~
 \

" . '-'Di1s'cave wasreport8d,in'l'51'tob.'1n S36~ T2S•• Rl8E, 8IM, at 7500'.

) elevation, in'limestone, and a. few htmdJ:.edfeet from the highway on the southside of
fJi~',:to.~.. Re,eent correspondence \~ Ashley National Forest Hqdrs. indicates that
·1It is in s26 :, T2S, RI8E, at about900(l'. An older letter is quoted in part: tt ••• He
desCri1)es-rt:aS being on a point on the south side otMosby Park•. He tells us that a
tin 'has' '1)eenconstructed near the road and the' cave is located just south of the east
·end of·tbj.s .fill."'lhe latest lettersays;u ••• le have never attempted to explore
any cave in this vicinity but imagine 1:hat.youarereterring to the sink at the'lot-rer
end ',0,(' this meadow ,or' park Mr. Gtorge Walkup, 'Whoresides between Wn~terocksand'
It .

El.khorn'~er stati!orl, or '!heron Robb, mo res1des a mile north of WaJ.ku.ps'sRanch,

could show.Where.these caves are 1f1ou·would. eontact either of them."
:' \.,. .
MOSBY MoUNTAIN .9M!
. ,
I ~··AsearGh for this cave Wasma.dein Sep~J".' •.
\ '19$6, .'4th little suceess. It is
. apparentlY located inave17c1ensepi)le*"or~st.· '!be geol0g1c maps of the area (6) (7),
·SholfI.i1nestonene8.rl>ybut none was encountered clutingthe ,seareh.A peak' near the
reported-location is called Ieeoa.~. Peakwhieh'JDaTbe ind1cativeof something or other.
GUicle'seIyvicemq be necess~ to find this one•. Mr. Walkupor Mr. Robb, mentioned
above, may knowof its location.
BLIND "STREAM SINKS

. several sinks are reported1.n limestone at the head of mind Stream in an area
roughly east and west of S3,TlN,R8W, US4. These sinks are due to "slumping". (5)
TN7 reports other sinks in the Soapstone Basin.

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SHELTER ON ASHLEY CREEK
\ ../ - .. ,', -,", ... ".",-,.,--.",

Of tbe several shelter caves ~ng /l.sbl~Cr$elc~ Ordy'one of them appears dis-
,',- - " .. ", .

·tincfi-ve en~gh to warrant i~st:Lgation. 'l'hissand.8toneshelter has 2 and possibly

3 columns inside the cave, an unusual featur~.It is located 1 or 2 miles above the
mouth of Ashley Creek in the .clitts on the east side of .tb~ road. .It is a rather
prom1nent landmark and hard to miss. No nameis given here as itundoubtably has a
well usedloeal' name'. .

. Numerousopenings in the limestone are reported to be about 3 miles abOvethe

mouth of NorthFork in Dry- Fork Can;yon.(8) ~0JI1. the rapid movementof underground
water, the limestone is knOlm.to be .••
cav~ous.

· ...._.-.:Commun1cationfr9lll AsQ.}.eyN.;:. sqs: "••• 'lhere is another ca~_between Farm)

Cr~k andthe~iterocks River which would be wo%"~of exploring. Mr. Walkupcould
pOint out· the location of this cave to you. '!his mq be •the Farm Creek Cave mentioned
on page 1.
 :' '"
1. Gilbert Peak~ang1e ..30I.
2. K1miey,t..x.'·G;~ogyof the trlnta River and ~ Creek..D:I.am.ond
Mountain Area,
~chesne .and Uinta-Counties, Utah. U.S.G.S. Oil and Gas Inves. Map OM 123.
(see ref. 7 also .),
l:
Jim Edwards.. Personal comm. (Information h. obtained from·Utah Water Supply Board.)
Hadd1e, J. W., Me carm, F. T., and Mapa]" W. J. Geology of the MoonLake Area, .
Dlchesne County; Utah. U.S.G.S. Oil and Gas Inves. MaJj 'OM U5, 1.951
5. Huddle, J. VIIt' Me .Cann" F. T. Pre-Ter-t1&!'7Geology of the DtlchesneRiver Area,
Dachesne and Wasatch Counties, Utah. U,S.G.S. Oil and Gas Inves. Prelim. Map
75, 19h7.
6. Kinney., D. M. & RoJDinger, J.~. Geology of theVlliterocksRiver.AshleyCreek
Area" Uintah County, Utah. U.S.O.S.OU and G~ Inves., Prelim. Map 82, 1947••
{see ref. 7 ~so;.) . . .
7. Kinn~. D. M.Geologyofthe ,Uinta ~iver-BruSh Creek Area, Ducll-eaneand Uintab
Count:les, Utah. U.S.O.S. Ba.1ietin 1007, 1955. (rneludesthe areas in refs. 2
and .6.). ... .,' .
8. Mr. Milt Wilson, U.S.O.S.Personal cOllJ!ll\Ulications.
9. Hooper, W.G~ Geology-of the Smith and Morehouse.;.SouthFork Area, Utah. 1951.
,Unpublished M.S•. ·'1'hesis,.University ot U.h. ... . .
10. McIbuga1.d,W.D.Geology of Beaver Creek and Adjaeerit Ax"eas,Utah. 1953.
tJnpublishedM.S. 'l'hesis,Universityof ~tah.

ADDENDUM
BRUSH GREEK
,
Raference (7), page 161, says: In the summerof 1948, & road was bu:Llt••• toa
SnlaJ.lgale~.lead carbonate. prospect ~ short distance UP!Jtream.. b'om llrush .Creek Cave
near the quarter - section corner betweensec$. 20 and 32, ~ .IS.,R. 21 E. 'lhis
prospect, developed in fractured dark gray cherty limestone in the lower part ot
tlie'liJ!1estone un;i~ of M1s$issipp:1an:age, is an enlargement of a natural cave formed
along· ajc»int plane." .

"lb~bt
-..... .'_.--
UPPERDRY ..FORK CAVE
existed it the ca:va visited, in the ~ng of 1957 was the same cave as
~~s,¥din TN 7• Recent eom.'!lUiJication ;fromMr. ·011, Forest· Supervisor. of •.the Ashley
Nat'l Forest 8IP: "'!he Dry Fork Cave is the one that yOU ,located. Mr. Arthur Massey
Who -res1des~t .the ranch in Dry Fork C~n, is well acquainted with this cave and
from what I oan learn these two pa:raUelpas~ages are connected by a 8JII81.1 hole.
Mr. Massey could shoW'you this passag~. If

mum
-_
AND
•••••••
'MOREHOUSE,SOVTHFORK,
4.· . - '". ' ~
.AND BEAVER
•. -.--.. - - "
GREEK- CANYONS
,- "
'AREA
•••••••••••••

_- - Refer.ence '.(9) sqs: (1).46) .;.'~"InciPient kar.st topo.~aPh:r ·.ls pf,e$entin the ~pPer
m~mberof the l3razer l"orma'\ionand isespeciallT noted on MwfLake lat, wh.,re many
liIiDi-h.
Olf;S_m>e.~. ..in. the, ·.11me
.. stone.•.
,~ •.•A.straUg. raphic. s.ec.ti.on take.n at ..Pull.e.m.0.1'.. eek..
111 310 \?WU), nSI- R7E$, or the rtaaJ.son ~swne lists (p.19). .••~stone ••..•.
cavernous at ,base. " 'lhemap,aeeompanyi.ngreference (10) sh.owssinks in Sections 4
and 9, T3S, R7E, and S7, T2S,.Jt7E.
Morerecent investigations (JuDe, 1.9$7)haV$ l"e~al~ thefo:UoW1ngint'()rmati~:

MOSBY"~' ~CAVE"

1bis has been located in the NWt, S26,T2StR:l.8E,SIH.. 11i1sa.~stl'e81l1 •.$1k

at the base ot a 1$ .toot clitf. .Debris, lQa;1rily aUt, fill. . the .,entraneema.k1ng
the "cave"1mpenevable. 'lbe water sinks 1n,sOlIlerocks 'iJ1..thebottolll()fthe s11t.
Digging appears iDipractical. ,. , .,

------
MOSBY MOUNTAIN CAVE

Mr. Harold ·1'i1ll9thT

ofRooaeveltba.s.~en.o.~~QUta"to.f.ge¢a~ ~cave".
'lbere maybea better road. to1:t<upllb1:wrock$eree~~''bt w:a#oftqe MosbY'
Mountain Road. .' .' " .. .

---
KALER CAVE

:~~~o:~e':'·:l~S£h~;e·~'ui~~~/:t":~~;
..
center 'of its bed and nowingwater can be heard in the bottomot:t:heynexplored
pit. 'lbis looks. narrow enough to ch1mne7buta ladder<ia rec~i'lded..r :~40foot
section should do. . . .. .

----- -....-- .......- •....•..•.

MAIN DRY FORK CAVE

Upper DryFork Cave, lilentiOnedon:p"s~~lJ,i~.,.';t.\le~Fp~i~~~;.that,. .

the Grotto has been lookLng tor. .,1he.·ri.glJ.t.c:~.•• ,s;~~i~e!¥>rth:s"'~·()t"tJle .c~on,
in a clump of bushes attheba8eof.a,·c1.1f£-.d,'~s~<:41:l~e·wtth:tJ1~;f."ence1t
mile above the mouth.pf the .North. Fork.·of.•.~'C~~.)<\,~e!c'~$~~,llasl!lri.sen '
due to. the .tact that a short descr:lptien,p.f,t,he'~t~q.f'the:cayes~$;s;ijJd.lSX"
but the generally .spacious passages·ot.···tl1~<~;~:~$~ge:~es~~e.;,.f.be.~~raole.
dung filled Sq1leez~. 'ofthE! eaveD4s~Em·~i;" •..;?:~t.'1OOO;',feet·ot~s$ge·····
is present with only"a fewlllinor le~unezp1Q~."1tle<¢ti;je ¢~,t,.he most
massive speleothems yet knownin tAe1J~tas. ·,~<1l7"<fQrk,cave~·'~~ ··.~·one
horizon of limestone a,nda closersearchot.~~_,.. ~···.··.~ ..,~-tt'ulr