Falls Creek Cave
Falls Creek Cave Attraction Description
Falls Creek Cave is an isolated lava tube located in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest about 40 minutes outside the small Town of Carson, Washington. The cave is roughly 1.2 miles long and is not maintained or monitored by the Forest Service. If you are familiar with Ape Cave on Mt. St. Helens think of this as its much less popular and virtually crowd-less little brother.
The entrance to the cave can be tricky to find and is located in the second of a series of three cave in pits where the cave has collapsed on itself. Falls Creek Cave requires alot of scrambling and climbing of small boulders and is a bit more challenging than Ape Cave. This is a great adventure for anyone looking to truly feel like they are a character in the Goonies.
Falls Creek Cave Map
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Hole-in-the-Wall Falls No image for this location. 19.9 Miles Away
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We just did this cave again today. It’s a LONG ways if one goes to the end. Plan on 3-4 hours at about 45 degrees Fahrenheit, and lots of climbing over breakdown. The first side passage is much easier than staying in the main cave. Well worth the time and effort.
Hey Bill, thanks for sharing! Always a good idea to dress for long exposures to cold temps when exploring caves like this. I didn’t make it all the way to the end but would love to go back and give it another crack.
I would LOVE to get the location if possible!?
Thank you
Their is a book called caves of Washington by William Halliday it has info and some maps of all the hundreds of caves in Washington I bought it last year and it’s so detailed and informative. It’s an old book so might be hard to find but I remember seeing it in digital format on google
I did this lava tube last June and had the whole thing to myself for a few hours. It is not marked at all, but easy to find if you know where to look. Once you get on the Falls Creek Falls trailhead, it’s to your right a few hundred feet away. You have to pass through an ice cave to get to the main entrance. On the other side of the first depression looks like the entrance, but it’s a false cave, still fun to explore though. Once you go through the smaller ice cave you come out the other side and have access to the main entrance. Unless you have a rope and climbing harness you have to go through the ice cave first to get to the lava tube.
From the entrance you descend probably 30-40 feet down massive boulders until you get to the ground level. There are multiple parts where you have to climb over rocks. I recommend wearing gloves as the rocks are often very sharp and jagged.
I spent about 2+ hours and made it to the end of one of the shafts. Yes it is cold, but you’re exercising so it’s not too bad. It is an amazing experience that I plan on doing again with some friends. I took two of my kids with me the following week and they were able to make it down to the bottom and around the first bend before they wanted to go back out.
Once you go around the first bend it goes pitch black. I brought a headlamp and multiple flashlights with me just in case the batteries died.
One of the best parts of going alone was having the whole thing to myself, turning on my bluetooth speaker, turning off my lights and jamming out to Pink Floyd in the lava tube!