Cheese Cave

Cheese Cave
Location	Trout Lake, WA
Length	2,060 feet (628 m)
Discovery	1894
Difficulty	easy
Access	Public

Cheese Cave is a lava tube located in Gifford Pinchot National Forest just southwest of Trout Lake, Washington. It is approximately 2,060 feet (628 m) in length, a mostly flat floor 25 feet (8 m) wide and is 45 feet (14 m) to 60 feet (18 m) high.

Official reports cite the cave as being discovered 1894 by Joseph Arnie^[1], a local resident. The cave was first used for storing potatoes and later cheese. Homer Spencer established the Guler Cheese Co., which used the cave's constant 42 °F (6 °C) to 44 °F (7 °C) passage to age its cheese. The cheese company is now gone but remnants of storage racks remain toward the north end of the cave.

Cheese Cave's natural, entrance is located 246 feet (75 m) from the north and end of the tube. The north cave entrance is in private property and has a building over the sinkhole. There is a steel staircase from the inside of the private building down to a small rock pile on the cave floor.

Toward the north end of the cave, remnants of wooden racks can be seen.

The south entrance has a dirt parking area, and a low pavilion structure over the opening. The opening is artificial, and has a permanently-placed ladder descending to a debris pile. The debris pile can be descended on foot, landing on a flat and clear cinder floor. The main length of the cave is mostly clear with occasional piles of fallen rock.

References

1. ^ Halliday, William R. (1963). Caves of Washington. Washington Department of Conservation. pp. 31–34. 

External links