Georgia Natural Wonder #146 - More Caves of Crockford Pigeon Mountain. 2,368

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #146 - More Caves of Crockford Pigeon Mountain

I got to the end of the first post on the Caves of Pigeon Mountain and I found a link to other caves in the mountain. I was just going to list them, but then I found some fantastic images and blogs and chats about some of these other caves so by god, I am going to edit and add a whole new wonder about the rest of the caves in Pigeon Mountain. At least the caves I know about.


Exciting finding all these caves but Pigeon Mountain will always be about Rocktown to me GNW #11.

Let me link these super important things about spelunking in Georgia even though I went in to detail on GNW #145 - Caves of Crockford Pigeon Mountain (Part 1). I want these post to stand alone so as a disclaimer I again list .....

Safety Rules of Caving
Nine listed Grotto's in Georgia (Scroll Down)
The Southeastern Cave Conservancy, Inc.
White Nose Fungus
National Speleological Society.



Also, in this part two post on the more remote caves of Pigeon Mountain, I want to point out the fees associated with visiting a Wildlife management Area in Georgia. I sort of buried this in my last post, so I bring it to the front.

As of July 2017, all visitors to Pigeon Mountain and other Georgia WMAs must have a personal hunting or fishing license (yes, even if you are
just caving and not hunting or fishing).  All previous GORP passes and other licenses may not be renewed.  Each visitor must have his or her own license.  Single - day ($5) and Annual licenses ($30) are available.  Non - Georgia residents cost twice as much.  Permits may be online at: https://www.gooutdoorsgeorgia.com

This includes ALL caves on Pigeon Mountain



So with all that said, there is very little Internet information on these caves because cavers like to keep the locations secret, in order to preserve and protect the caves and the life they contain.The sport remains tight-lipped about cave entrances and maps. Still pretty exciting what I did find.       

Crockford Pigeon Mountain (Walker County)

Well we explored the biggest three biggest caves on Pigeon Mountain. We presented 90 images of Pettyjohn Cave, Ellison's Cave, and Anderson Spring Cave.  These caves contribute to the reputation of the area where Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia meet (known to the caving community as the "TAG" region) as one of the world's most exciting regions for caving. I have only explored the Pettyjohn Cave.

Recap:

Pettyjohn Cave is a well-known wild cave with a lot of traffic. It is what is called a sacrifice cave, a cave which is more or less officially open to spelunkers and thus protecting other caves around by drawing the whole traffic to this spot.


By God I was in that cave, found this picture from the archives.


Echo Room, Pettyjohn Cave

Ellison's Cave features a number of underground vertical pitches including the two deepest pits in the continental United States: Fantastic (586 feet) and Incredible (440 feet). These two pits lie on opposite sides of the cave. Nearby and parallel to Fantastic are Smokey I (500 feet), Smokey II (262 feet), and other extremely deep pitches. There are over 7 routes to reach the bottom level of the cave from the Fantastic side. Fantastic and Smokey I both extend to TAG Hall, a passage at the bottom of the cave. To reach Fantastic, or the large pits on the Fantastic side, cavers must also descend the Warm Up pit (125 feet).


Alas, most of us will never see this, even the Warm Up pit is deadly.

Anderson Spring Cave was the third cavern. Access is available from the top of the mountain only, stay on WMA land. If you are on the correct dirt road you'll see the gravely parking area. Its actually big enough to turn a trailer around in. Parking is 34.645215 -85.404241 


Better information these three caves GNW #145

Then we found the list for all  the open caves on Pigeon Mountain, including these popular destinations:

Pettyjohns Cave
Ellisons Cave
Anderson Spring Cave
Richards Cave
Mountain Cove Farm Caves
Ulla Cave
Drag Fold Cave
Nash Waterfall Cave
Flowing Stone Cave

Man have I found info and images some of these smaller visited caves.


Ulla Cave was the first image I found.

Ulla Cave (GA): On Crockford - Pigeon Mountain Wildlife Management area, see above for permit info. Park at Kiosk area on Dougherty Gap Road. The sometimes sump located near the entrance is 14 feet below the nearby creek bed level. Heavy rain will close passage for long periods of time. Use caution!



For those who may not have heard, ULLA Cave now has a gate. While I don't like it, I certainly understand why the state wanted to gate the cave... The state is going to have a management plan that allows for access. I'm sure they will release more details about it soon.



Don Hunter (Caving Legend) tells us on Cave Chat



On the kiosk, the term complex is used. It is probably referring to the fact that four or five of the caves are hydrologically/structurally related.



Two are one and the same cave. Ulla and Mountain Cove Farm #3 are the same cave.



Ulla is an alternate name that many use in place of MCF#3.



MCF#3 had been known for years but all who had visited it had visited at the wrong time of the year. It was thought to be a nasty little 300 ft. long crawl/stoop that terminated at a pool in breakdown.



Richard Schreiber and I visited on an August day during a dry time and found much more and came up with the name Ulla Cave.



At the time, since we saw so much cave, we didn't know that the cave we entered was little ole MCF#3.



Don Hunter saw the information sign and it is a little misleading.



For cave name, it list ALL of the caves in the area for which we now have access, which are somewhat strung out along the ridge and up and around the cove.



As I indicated in my earlier post, these caves aren't a system in the traditional sense but a few of them are hydrologically connected/related.



But basically the names on the sign just represent all the caves in the area and not some monster, multi-cave system.



Kelly Smallwood took most of these pictures of Ulla Cave, they are remarkable.



I kept finding these images of Ulla Cave.



Now this cave leads off a whole other Natural Wonder of Georgia.



Worth at least a mention and these wild images. Ulla Cave!



Flowing Stone Cave

Found some fine images of Flowing Stone Cave. You rig a rope on a tree for drop.



You get incredible views of the flowstone showering down water.



Deadly hole in ground leads to pit over 200 feet.



Leads to horizontal cave that wanders around passages.



There was a series of rimstone dams and carving out cave pearls where salamanders sauntered below.



Flowing Stone Cave.



I realize most of us will never go here, but it is special to see what we are missing.



Nash Waterfall Cave

A group went to Nash Waterfall Cave on Flickr.



Looks like you go under the falls.



Only image I can find in Nash Waterfall Cave.



Relaxing back at entrance.



I could not find any information or images of Richards or Drag Fold Pit. But they are connected to Four Kings Cave and I suspect they are all related but connections don't seem likely. They could be loosely considered a complex. Richard's and Drag Fold are fairly advanced wet caves requiring rope and a lot of experience. Drag Fold has a great pit and Richards has a Multidrop.

Four Kings Cave


This is the entrance to Four Kings Cave in Walker County, Georgia.


The cave is the small back hole at the top center of the cliff. Map and Snack before the dive.



This cave was not on the list of caves from yesterday or today, but Kelly Rowland took some exceptional images for us.



I wonder is she is Kelly Smallwood from our Ulla Cave. Married now guys, a true Georgia Natural Wonder Gal off the market.



Four Kings Cave is only one of its several names.



Very nice place to go wading and crawling as the entrance requires walking up the middle of a cold creek coming out the mouth of the cave.



A short way in, the creek is running out from an underground pond.



Four Kings is a good hike up the stream bed, probably as far up the cove as Ulla is down the Creek from MCF #1, and it has only one entrance.



Another hiker gives this report, Kelly provides continued images. Man does she have an eye.



I finally got back to 4 Kings.



4 Kings had a few pretty rooms and was tight.



It was worth doing.  Is that the best he can say, it was worth doing?



I am glad that the state was able to purchase this land and open up these caves.

Mountain Cove Farm - Spring And Caves

Oh man, I found a whole B & E Roberts Studio posting on this place. It was wonderful.


Years ago, water was piped from this spring to support the farm community. MCF -2


View inside from cave mouth. MCF -2. There was too much water to go inside without proper gear...


Exterior of Mountain Cove Farm Cave MCF - 1


Looking out from the "vestibule" of MCF-1


Entrance to MCF-1


Fossils Fossils


Fossils Not sure what type of bat this is...

Another visit to MCF-1


Looking back through entry passage from inside MCF-1


MCF-1 Interior


MCF-1 Interior


Cave ceiling formations AKA Stalactites.


Panorama covering approx. 180 degrees, composed from 4 images.  Entry passage is at far right.


I went a little way inside MCF-2; it was considerably drier than my earlier visit.

View out the entrance


The cave opening was lined with concrete at some point, probably when used as a water supply.


Checking out the entrance to MCF-1


Cave window. Nice to have a gorgeous wife to go along on hikes.


Alternate entry to cave's main chamber



In front of the MCF-1 vestibule

B & E Roberts Studio also explored some abandoned Railroad tunnels through Pigeon Mountain. Since we are underground on Pigeon Mountain, let me post a few of those images.

Estelle Iron Mines

In the early 1900s, 225 folks were employed here, and the community of Estelle had 150 homes, along with schools, a church, commercial buildings, etc.  Little remains now but foundations and ore loading bins from the mine works and 6 or 7 small gauge railroad tunnels through the mountain ridges, several of which are now collapsed.  The Mining Company ceased operations in 1924


Ore loading bin and ore bins.

There are a series of narrow-gauge railroad tunnels that were cut through the area's ridges. Northeast Tunnel 1 is the longest tunnel, and the closest to the Estelle village and processing facilities.


View back from the interior toward the south opening.


Tunnel 2 Interior


Western entrance Tunnel 3 from inside


Tunnel 3 - I think the red bands are layers of iron ore.


Tunnel 4 from the west end:


Tunnel 5 from the west end:

We visited Pocket Falls in some of our earlier post on Pigeon Mountain but we did not know about the small cave there.


Pocket Falls


Small cavern behind Pocket Branch Falls

Holy crap 100 images again. I didn't even know about these caves until I was doing this Forum. I went 3 post past and kept seeing images and I thought, what the heck, I will just edit and add a Wonder. So glad I did. Thank you Kelly for allowing us to live vicariously through you crawling around these caves with what must be some big old lamps.

Our Georgia Natural Wonder Gals are trying to keep up with Kelly. They are Cave Cutie GNW Gals.