Boyden Cave

Boyden Cave
Map showing the location of Boyden Cave
Location Giant Sequoia National Monument, Fresno County, California
Coordinates 36°48′54″N 118°49′05″W / 36.8149438°N 118.8181594°W / 36.8149438; -118.8181594Coordinates: 36°48′54″N 118°49′05″W / 36.8149438°N 118.8181594°W / 36.8149438; -118.8181594[1]
Length 0.63 miles (1.01 km) surveyed
Geology Mesozoic marble
Access Public tours available

Boyden Cavern is a solutional cave system in the located in Giant Sequoia National Monument, along the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway in Fresno County, California.[2] It is just west of Kings Canyon National Park.

Cavern

The cave is formed in Mesozoic marble (metamorphosed limestone).[3] It is a cave with many varieties of natural speleothems, including rare "shield" formations. Boyden Cave or Boyden Cavern is located in the deepest river cut canyon of the United States, the 8,200-foot (2,500 m) deep Kings Canyon. The cave entrance lies beneath the 2,000-foot (610 m) high marble walls of the famous Portals of the Kings,[4] near the Kings River.

Tours

Regular tours of the cave are given by a licensed guide company from the last Friday in April to mid November.[5] The tour includes the Pancake Room, a stalactite group called the Upside Down City, and a flowstone formation called Mother Nature's Wedding Cake. In the Bat Grotto bats spend summer days sleeping. The Drapery Room contains curtains, soda straws and helictites. The tour ends at a small subterranean stream. 0.63 miles (1.01 km) of the cave have been mapped.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Boyden Cave". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  2. ↑ "Kings Canyon Scenic Byway". National Scenic Byways Program.
  3. 1 2 "Specialist Report" (PDF). Giant Sequoia National Monument, Sequoia National Forest.
  4. ↑ "Kings Canyon Scenic Byway". Sequoia National Forest.
  5. ↑ "Boyden Cavern". Sierra Nevada Recreation Corporation. Retrieved 2012-08-29.

External links

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