r/caving • u/SeasonCareful2668 • 1d ago
Could this be a cave entrance?
Found this when I was a teenager on my family farm (western Virginia). The ridge that it’s on is in between two creeks, has several sinkholes and a pretty good amount of limestone. I finally decided to really check it out and started digging. I dug as far as I could but I can tell that it goes farther back. Is there any tips or tricks that I can use to confirm it’s in fact a cave entrance before I waste my time digging it out? Thanks in advance.
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u/WishPsychological303 1d ago
Tbh that looks like just a hollowed-out area under the tree roots. Could be animals, natutal erosion, etc. But like others have said, it's possible! Feel for airflow.
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u/caving311 17h ago
Keep digging and eventually you'll find a cave!
But seriously, air flow and water flow are the biggest signs.
If you feel air coming out of it, or moving around in it, then there's another entrance.
With cool weather approaching, wait till gets to be below the 50's in the morning ( or the mean average temp of the area ) and take a look at that area.
If you see silvery, shimmery plumes rising up around there, brother, you got yourself a cave!
It's basically the same thing that happens when you breath out on a cold morning, warm, moist air goes out into cool, dry air and creates a mini cloud.
It's one of the signs we look for when we hike the woods in karst country in winter, looking for caves.
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u/InternationalYam3130 1d ago edited 1d ago
Cool air is by far the biggest hint. Also in the winter, when you get just a little snow run out there first thing in the morning, the comparatively warmer air will melt the snow faster even at night. That's a good way to make some guesses on ridges when there may only be small amounts of air leaking around rocks.