Caves are cool, in more ways than one

By Andrea Cranfield

If summer heat and humidity start to get under your sweaty skin, go down to escape. Way down. Underground in fact, into one of the many caves located within an easy drive from Ottawa.

Climbing into a dark crevice maybe shared by bats might not sound like a barrel of laughs but it’s exciting and fun.

Touching rocks shaped by millions of years of seeping water, walking with the earth’s surface many metres overhead, seeing fossils tracking the cave’s history makes delving into caves a memorable summer activity.

So Ottawa Outdoor Magazine asked several cave managers about what’s going on down there, and here’s what they had to say:

Wear non-slip walking or hiking footwear and bring a sweater or jacket because it gets cool underground. Wearing clothes you don’t mind getting dirty is also a good idea. A head lamp lets you use your hands, and in some cases a safety helmet is recommended. And don’t forget your camera.

Contact each cave to find out when they’re open, and whether tours are available.

BONNECHERE CAVES, 1247 Fourth Chute Road, Eaganville, Ont.

These caves appeared on the first map of the Bonnechere River in 1853, made by Alexander Murray, a geographer for the government of what was then Canada West, today’s Ontario.

The caves are a postglacial formation in limestone that dates back to the Ordovician Period about 450 to 500 million years ago. Visitors can expect to see fossils and finely formed passageways, experience absolute dark, and learn the area’s history and geology from friendly, knowledgeable staff.

The Bonnechere Caves are an extensive and accessible cave system, which at their deepest point go about 25 metres down. There is no place where you have to crawl or squeeze, and bats hibernate in winter when the caves are closed to the public. The lights go out for a few minutes every tour to show visitors what “absolute dark” looks like. The temperature hovers around 10 to 12 degrees.

LUSK CAVE in Gatineau Park.

From the Lac Philippe campground, it’s a two-hour hike to Lusk Cave, formed about 11,000 years ago, when glaciers from the last Ice Age melted. Even today, water from a stream through the cave continues to erode the marble from its walls.

Even beginners can enjoy exploring this geological gem, with a minimum of equipment and preparation. The galleries, which follow the underground stream, are about 100 metres long and the water level can be as high as a metre or more.

This is a more or less horizontal cave, with a few open spots to get in or get out.

Taking a break at Lusk Cave.

Think of it as a sort of tunnel a few metres under the surface. Some tunnel sections are only one or two metres across, others wider. There are no boardwalks, stairs, lad- ders or electrical lighting. And the stream flows constantly, even in dry weather, even in winter under the ice, though it’s off limits to winter visitors when the bats are hibernating.

WARSAW CAVES, northeast of Peterborough by about 20 minutes, near the village of Warsaw.

This is not a single cave, but a series of seven along a trail of less than a kilometre, carved out of limestone bedrock by meltwaters of a glacier that covered Ontario 10,000 years ago. They’ve been known locally probably since the mid-to-late 1800s.

Each of the seven caves is different, some easy to navigate, others more challenging, some open to the sky in places. Cave number 4 is the ice cave, much colder than the others, often with ice into June or early July.

It’s like a jungle gym down there, with stairs and handrails. You can walk through some parts, but in other places you have to squeeze, wiggle or crawl. Expect to get dirty and enjoy an adventure that’s a little bit off the beaten track. The surrounding park has 15 kilometres of hiking trails, a picnic area, beach for swimming, a campground and canoe rentals. And plenty of wildlife. Check out the background material at warsawcaves.com.

TYENDINAGA CAVERN AND CAVES, about 20 minutes northeast of Belleville on Harmony Road.

This cave has been visited by people for over 200 years and the current owners started operation 21 years ago to offer guided tours through this large cavern. Although the cave has been preserved in a natural state “as much as possible,” stone stairs, terraces and handrails have been added to make it more accessible.

Tyendinaga Cavern is estimated to be 100,000 years old, and its fossil exhibit has specimens dating back 300 to 450 million years. You descend 10 metres below the surface into the main cavern, which is about seven metres high at the highest point. The cavern is well lit, but during the tour there’s a moment of complete darkness. Several species of bats hibernate here.

ARBRASKA LAFLÈCHE CAVES, 255 Rte. Principale, Val-des-monts, Que., 30 minutes from downtown Ottawa.

The cave was discovered in 1865 by a bear hunter. Zephyre Laflèche commer

cialized the site in 1937 and opened it to cave explorers and the public. Visitors will learn about the history of the cave and its geology. For example, a black layer a few centimetres thick was found in 2010 during an exploration of a crawlway by local cave explorers. It was identified by the University of Ottawa Geology lab to be about 13,000 years old. It’s called a black mat, and this is the only cave in Canada to have this kind of layer preserved from a catastrophic event.

The best time to visit these caves is during January, February and March because ice stalagmites almost three metres high and a metre and a half wide form in the big room. And plenty of bats are hooked onto the cave roof, asleep. 

Dress warmly when enjoying the one hour tour of Laflèche Caves.

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