Out in the brush filled flatlands off Highway A12 on the way to Montague is a well hidden wonder called Pluto's Cave.
A 190,000 year old lava tube, the sheer size of this underground cavern is a surprise as you enter the system via a yawning entrance that appears out of a jumble of rocks.
With a roof soaring over 50 feet high and almost as wide, the cave provides about an hour long adventure from beginning to end. Skylights that open to the world above provide enough light to see most of the paths, but there are sections where a flashlight or headlamp is required. Although most of the cave has easy paths, some scrambling is required.
Amid the jumble of rocks and vaulted ceiling, look for bird nests and the leavings of various cave dwelling animals including reptiles, mammals and insects. Along the path to the cave, wildflowers are beginning to bloom.
The cave was named by Nelson Cash in 1863 when he found it looking for stray cattle. He named it after the Roman God of the underworld.
There is ample evidence the cave was used by indigenous people long before Europeans arrived. In 1888, John Muir wrote of his discoveries at the cave in the book “Steep Trails.”
“At the mouth of this cave where the light and shelter is good I found many of the heads and horns of the wild sheep, and the remains of campfires, no doubt those of Indian hunters who in stormy weather had camped there and feasted after the fatigues of the chase,” Muir wrote.
The cave, however, is no longer a pristine wilderness experience. Sections are heavily graffitied including what appears to be the names of a Boy Scout troop dated 1917.
The US Forest Service asks that visitors leave the cave as they found it.
“Caves are delicate and must be used wisely to avoid damage,” says a visitor's guide at the cave's parking area. “Unlike the surface environment, which in time can heal its wounds, a cave once damaged remains that way forever.”