Cascade Caverns Sink (Kcs026)

CASCADE CAVERNS SINK (KCS026)

Alternate Names: Cascade Caverns sink hole, Cascade Caverns Sinkhole, Cascade Sink, Cascade Sinkhole Length: 331.8 m Depth: 28.8 m Quadrangle: Boerne 7.5’

Special Hazards: Thirty meter long ropes are needed for the entrance pit and for the drop into the mud room. DO NOT ENTER THE CAVE IF THERE IS ANY CHANCE OF RAIN! The first 12 m of the cave sumps easily, rapidly, and has stayed sumped for up to 4 months following a storm. The cave also floods completely during major storms -- including the entrance pit itself being 4 m under water.

Description: Three small stream courses end at a 22.2 m deep shaft which is the entrance to Cascade Caverns Sink. The shaft is 5 m long by 2 m wide but large rocks choked 5 m down the hole briefly decrease its diameter to about a meter. At the base of the shaft is waist to chest-deep water and the water stays prevalent throughout most of the cave. An east- bound passage extends from the south end of the shaft's base. The passage is 12 m long, about a meter wide, 2 m high and the amount of air space gradually decreases to 8 cm before it opens into a tall south-bound passage. This passage is 2 m wide and averages 3 - 4 m high. It is interrupted, after 20 m, by breakdown from a 15 m high dome but otherwise continues with little change for 111 m to a junction. To the south an infeeding stream goes 22 m to a "T"-intersection. Both branches of the "T" become impassable within 20 m. The main passage of the cave heads southwest from the junction, with a few turns in the passage, for 183 m before coming to the surveyed end of the cave. Beyond this point the cave goes about 300 m to a 15 m drop into a large room. Immediately prior to the drop are some very large travertine dams which contain unexplored pits. The large room is an estimated 30 m long by 10 m wide and up to 20 m high. The greatest ceiling height is at the base of the 15 m drop where there is a terminal sump pool for the cave's water. South of the pool, and to the south, the room has a huge mud slope which angles upward until it meets the ceiling and the cave's end.

History: Being located on the property of Cascade Caverns, Cascade Caverns Sink has been known of for many years. Its deep vertical entrance and the low air space just beyond, however, have not made the cave as popular as its commercial counterpart. A survey of the cave was begun in August 1969 by Ron Bridgemon, Bob Burney, Bob Henry and Robert Sorrels, and was completed in February 1971 by Burney and Henry. On Christmas, 1975, Randy Waters (et.al.) went to the back of the survey and pushed past a stalactite that was obstructing the passage. In doing so they nearly doubled the length of the cave, and discovered its terminal room and sump.

Biology: The cave has an interesting fauna which is probably much more diverse than indicated by the following collection: Eidmannella rostrata, Gertsch (troglobites) (spiders), Cleidogona bacillipus, (Chamberlin) (millipedes), Lepomis macrochirus, Rafinesque (bluegill sunfish), Eurycea neotenes, Eurycea tridentifera, Mitchell and Reddell (troglobites) (salamanders).

The record of the troglophile Cleidogonidae is the only one for the state of Texas, although this troglophile is abundant in caves of Mexico and the southeastern United States.

Geology: The cave is a swallet formed in the lower member of the Glen Rose Formation. The sump and mud room are at the local water table.

Reported by: unknown

Bibliography: [Barr], B. 1991. From the editors. Bexar Facts, 91(15):[2]. Byrd, Leon, Wylie Haydon, Jan Knox, Cader A. Shelby, and Robert R. White. 1973. Hydrology and geology of Cibolo Creek basin. Unpublished Open File Report, Texas Water Development Board. Elliott, William R., ed. 1985. A field guide to the caves of Kendall County. Texas Speleological Survey, 143 pp. Fieseler, Ronald G., James Jasek, and Mimi Jasek, (eds.). 1978. An introduction to the caves of Texas. Austin: Texas Speleological Survey. NSS Convention Guidebook, 19. 117 pp. Fieseler, Ronald G., James Jasek, and Mimi Jasek. 1978. Selected cave descriptions. Pp. 73-117 In: Ronald G. Fieseler, James Jasek, and Mimi Jasek, (eds.), An introduction to the caves of Texas. Austin: Texas Speleological Survey. NSS Convention Guidebook, 19. Hammond, Weldon W., Jr. 1984. Hydrogeology of the Lower Glen Rose Aquifer, south©central Texas. Ph.D dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin, 242 pp., 9 pls. (76©78, pl. 2) Veni, George. 1994. Geomorphology, hydrogeology, geochemistry, adn evolution of the karstic Lower Glen Rose Aquifer, south©central Texas. Ph.D. dissertation, The Pennsylvania State University, xxvI+ 721 pp.

Revision: 2009-11-10