List of caves in Canada
This is an incomplete list of caves in Canada. Most notable caves are in western Canada and in parts of southern Ontario where limestone predominates.
Name | Image | Province | Entrance elevation (m) | Depth (m) | Length (m) | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arctomys Cave | ![]() | 536 | 3,496 | Located in Mount Robson Provincial Park | ||
Artlish River Cave | ![]() | ![]() | 396 | Located in Artlish Caves Provincial Park | ||
Bisaro Anima | ![]() | 670 | 5,300 | Discovered in 2012 on a high plateau of Mount Bisaro near Fernie. Extreme depth reached in a sump in late 2017.[1] | ||
The Black Hole | ![]() | 740 | Located in Artlish Caves Provincial Park | |||
Bluefish Caves | ![]() | Located near Old Crow | ||||
Bocock Peak Caves[2] | ![]() | Located in Bocock Peak Provincial Park | ||||
Bonnechere Caves | ![]() | Located in Eganville | ||||
Booming Ice Chasm | ![]() | 140 | 704 | Located near Crowsnest Pass | ||
Cadomin Cave | ![]() | ![]() | 1,891 | 220 | 2,791 | Located near Cadomin. Closed in 2010 due to an outbreak of white nose syndrome. |
Canyon Creek Ice Cave | ![]() | 1,769 | +89.4 | 727.12 | Located near the town of Bragg Creek. Impassable beyond the first 150m since 1980, due to ice buildup.[3] | |
Castleguard Cave | ![]() | ![]() | 2,016[3] | 384 | 20,357 | Located in Banff National Park. It is longest cave in Canada. The cave entrance is gated and requires permission from Parks Canada to enter. |
Cave and Basin | ![]() | ![]() | 1,403[3] | Located in the town of Banff. The cave consists of a tunnel blasted through to a natural cavern containing hot springs. Has an entry fee. | ||
Cave Falls | ![]() | Located in Hamilton | ||||
Charlie Lake Cave | ![]() | ![]() | An archaeologically significant cave located near Charlie Lake | |||
Chipmunk Caves | ![]() | Located in the Chilliwack River valley near Ford Mountain Correctional Centre | ||||
Close To The Edge | ![]() | ![]() | 700 | 475 | 967 | Located in Close To The Edge Provincial Park |
Cody Caves | ![]() | ![]() | 800 | Located in Cody Caves Provincial Park. Access is by guided tour only. | ||
Devil's Bath | ![]() | 90 | 44 | Large cenote located 13.5 km southeast of Port Alice near Kathleen Lake | ||
Duncan Crevice Caves | ![]() | Located in Beaver Valley | ||||
Eramosa Karst | ![]() | ![]() | Located in Hamilton | |||
Eternal Fountain | ![]() | A waterfall emptying into a sinkhole near Port McNeill | ||||
Fairy Hole | ![]() | A sea cave reputedly linked to various legends of the Mi'kmaq Nation | ||||
Fang Cave[4] | ![]() | Located in Evanoff Provincial Park | ||||
Gargantua Cave | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 2,501[3] | 286 | 6,001 | Located near Crowsnest Pass. Contains the largest and highest elevation natural cavern in Canada. |
Hayes Cave | ![]() | 400[5] | Located near Maple Grove | |||
Hole in the Wall | ![]() | ![]() | 2,013[3] | 30[3] | A prominent feature on the side of Mount Cory. Visible from the Trans-Canada Highway about 14 km west of the town of Banff. | |
Homesite Creek Caves | ![]() | Located near Halfmoon Bay | ||||
Hoodoo Cave | ![]() | 220 | Located near Nordegg | |||
Horne Lake cave complex | ![]() | ![]() | Located in Horne Lake Caves Provincial Park | |||
Horseshoe Falls grotto | ![]() | ![]() | 46 | A large manmade grotto behind Horseshoe Falls of Niagara Falls | ||
Kitt's Cave | ![]() | 8 | 141 | Located near Hammondvale | ||
Limestone deposits | ![]() | Located near Lake Winnipeg | ||||
Little Huson Cave complex | ![]() | Located in Little Huson Cave Regional Park | ||||
Nakimu Caves | ![]() | Located in Glacier National Park | ||||
Plateau Mountain Ice Cave | ![]() | 2,226 | 90[3] | Located in Plateau Mountain Ecological Reserve. Closed to the public in the early 1970s.[6] | ||
Raspberry Rising | ![]() | 220 | 975 | Located beneath Mount Tupper in Glacier National Park. Still being explored, its full extents are yet to be determined.[7] | ||
Rat's Nest Cave | ![]() | 1,450[3] | 245 | 4,003 | Located beneath Grotto Mountain near Exshaw. Access is by guided tour only. | |
Saint-Alban caves | ![]() | Located in Saint-Alban | ||||
Saint-Leonard Cavern | ![]() | 250 | Located in Saint-Léonard. Original cave is 35 metres long with a depth of 8 metres;[8] a second 250-metre cave was discovered in 2017.[9] | |||
Sarlacc's Pit cave | ![]() | ![]() | +130 | +2,000 | Discovered in 2018 within Wells Gray Provincial Park. Not yet accurately measured. The largest known cave of its type. Given the informal name of "Sarlacc's Pit".[10] | |
Scenic Caves | ![]() | Located near Collingwood | ||||
Skaha North Cave | ![]() | 40 | 300 | Located approximately 5 km south of north end of Skaha and 3 km up from Skaha lake | ||
Skaha South Cave | ![]() | 30 | 150 | Located approximately 2 km south of Skaha North Cave | ||
Slesse Creek caves | ![]() | Located near Slesse Creek | ||||
Small River Caves complex[11] | ![]() | Located in Small River Caves Provincial Park. | ||||
Stone Corral Caves[12] | ![]() | Located in Monkman Provincial Park | ||||
Thanksgiving Cave | ![]() | 479[13] | 8,386[13] | Located near Tahsis. A through passage was discovered in September 2017. | ||
Trou de la Fée | ![]() | Located in Desbiens | ||||
Trou du Diable | ![]() | ![]() | 980 | Located in Saint-Casimir. Second longest cave in Quebec. | ||
Trou du Perdus | ![]() | Located in Saint-Michel-du-Squatec | ||||
Underground Lake | ![]() | 13.1 | 141 | A gypsum cave located in the community of Demoiselle Creek | ||
Valdes Island cave | ![]() | ![]() | Located on Valdes Island | |||
Vanishing River/Reappearing River | ![]() | Located southeast of Port Alice near Kathleen Lake | ||||
Wapiabi Cave | ![]() | 152 | 540 | Located near Nordegg | ||
Warsaw Caves | ![]() | Located in Douro-Dummer Township near Warsaw | ||||
Weymer Creek caves complex | ![]() | Located in Weymer Creek Provincial Park. Caving is strongly discouraged until a park management plan is completed.[14] | ||||
Hell Holes Caves | ![]() | Located in Lennox and Addington County near Centreville[15] |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Heide Pearson, Calgarian explorers among team that discovered Canada's deepest cave near Fernie, BC, Global News, January 15, 2018
- ^ Environment, Ministry of. "Bocock Peak Provincial Park - BC Parks". bcparks.ca. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Rollins, Jon (2004). Caves of the Canadian Rockies & Columbia Mountains. Surrey, BC: Rocky Mountain Books. ISBN 0921102941.
- ^ Environment, Ministry of. "Evanoff Provincial Park - BC Parks". bcparks.ca. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
- ^ Derek Davis, et al., (1996 Revised Edition), Natural History of Nova Scotia, Volume II: Theme Regions, Nova Scotia Museum, p. 96
- ^ Plateau Mountain Ecological Reserve Management Plan
- ^ Joshua Rapp Learn, "Cave Mappers", Canadian Geographic Magazine, April 2014, pp. 36-37.
- ^ The Saint-Leonard Cavern Archived 2017-12-04 at the Wayback Machine, Alive 375: Society for the Celebrations of Montréal's 375th Anniversary, 2015
- ^ Michelle Lalonde, Spelunkers discover 15,000-year-old cavern in St-Léonard park, Montreal Gazette, December 1, 2017
- ^ The Canadian Press (3 December 2018). "Newly discovered cave in B.C. might be largest ever found in Canada". CBC News. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ^ Environment, Ministry of. "Small River Caves Provincial Park - BC Parks". bcparks.ca. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
- ^ Environment, Ministry of. "Monkman Provincial Park - BC Parks". bcparks.ca. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
- ^ a b "Canada's 100 Longest and Deepest surveyed caves". CanCaver. Caving Canada. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ Environment, Ministry of. "Weymer Creek Provincial Park - BC Parks". bcparks.ca. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
- ^ "Spelunking The Hell Holes Caves". Retrieved 2021-06-30.