Cavechat.org

Does anyone know of a list (online or in print) that indicates the number of known caves in each state?

I'm sure that it could be assembled by contacting each state survey, but thought maybe it had already been done?

Thanks-

AA

I've never seen such a list. We could make one right here. I'll start. The North Carolina Cave Survey lists about 1300 caves.

I believe TN has a little over 9000 now.
GA reports over 600.

I think the updatrd Flordia survey as maybe 1300. But some of these are completely underwater.

Alabama's current count is up to 4233, but with duplicates and such, the number is coser to 4100 caves.

Canadian Rockies are up to about 300; probably over a thousand on Vancouver Island.

This would make an interesting list for a caving newsletter...

So, if anyone has such a list, I would be interested in printing it.

I think VA and WV both have about 4200 or so. We always run with a three-way tie with AL.

Indiana has about 3200 caves.

Ontario was around 470 but we are probably pushing 520 est now with new going stuff.A large portion are in Park land so no easy access if any.

We can knock out a couple easy....

I know New Jersey has about 100...
Deleware has 1 (maybe 2)
Rhode Island has 1 (or zero)
Lousiana has less than 10 (and possibly as few as one).

For the smaller states, it starts depending on your definition of the word 'cave'. Jersey, for example, can go anywhere from about 75 to over 200, depending on the looseness of the definition.

One thing that makes this a little bit like comparing apples to oranges is that different State Surveys have different definitions of what constitutes a cave.

For example, here in Tennessee, a cave must be either 50 feet long, or longer, or 30 feet deep, or deeper, to make the list.

Let's face it. At 50 feet, in most caves you aren't even out of the Twilight Zone!!! I wish when that length was decided on 35-40 years ago they had picked a minimum of 100 feet long to qualify as a cave.

I'm not sure that many of those feature 50-100 feet long on the "List" are worth calling caves.

Larry E. Matthews
NSS #6792-F

If we use 50 feet as the standard, the NC list would drop to about 60. <sigh>

Okay, it looks like the list should include each State's definition(s) of a cave.

AA

I can state categorically that Delaware has only 1 cave and it is named Beaver Valley Cave in New Castle Co. The Delaware definition of a cave is: "anything that looks like Beaver Valley Cave."

The possible second one mentioned might be the model of Beaver Valley Cave in the Delaware Museum of Natural History (with an Indian maiden grinding maize in the entrance) since that meets the definition.

Pennsylvania has over 1500 caves listed in its database.