List of caves in Canada
Appearance
This is an incomplete list of caves in Canada. Most notable caves are in western Canada and in parts of southern Ontario where limestone predominates.
Name | Image | Province | Entrance elevation (m) |
Depth (m) | Length (m) | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arctomys Cave | British Columbia | 536 | 3,496 | Located in Mount Robson Provincial Park | ||
Artlish River Cave | British Columbia | 396 | Located in Artlish Caves Provincial Park | |||
Bisaro Anima | British Columbia | 670 | 5,300 | Discovered in 2012 on a high plateau of Mount Bisaro near Fernie. Extreme depth reached in a sump in late 2017.[1] | ||
The Black Hole | British Columbia | 740 | Located in Artlish Caves Provincial Park | |||
Bluefish Caves | Yukon | Located near Old Crow | ||||
Bocock Peak Caves[2] | British Columbia | Located in Bocock Peak Provincial Park | ||||
Bonnechere Caves | Ontario | Located in Eganville | ||||
Booming Ice Chasm | Alberta | 140 | 704 | Located near Crowsnest Pass | ||
Cadomin Cave | Alberta | 1,891 | 220 | 2,791 | Located near Cadomin. Closed in 2012 due to an outbreak of white nose syndrome. | |
Canyon Creek Ice Cave | Alberta | 1,769 | +89.4 | 727.12 | Located near the town of Bragg Creek. Impassable beyond the first 150m since 1980, due to ice buildup.[3] | |
Castleguard Cave | Alberta | 2,016[3] | 384 | 20,357 | Located in Banff National Park. It is longest cave in Canada. The cave entrance is gated and requires permission from Parks Canada to enter. | |
Cave and Basin | Alberta | 1,403[3] | Located in the town of Banff. The cave consists of a tunnel blasted through to a natural cavern containing hot springs. Has an entry fee. | |||
Cave Falls | Ontario | Located in Hamilton | ||||
Charlie Lake Cave | British Columbia | An archaeologically significant cave located near Charlie Lake | ||||
Chipmunk Caves | British Columbia | Located in the Chilliwack River valley near Ford Mountain Correctional Centre | ||||
Close To The Edge | British Columbia | 700 | 475 | 967 | Located in Close To The Edge Provincial Park | |
Cody Caves | British Columbia | 800 | Located in Cody Caves Provincial Park. Access is by guided tour only. | |||
Devil's Bath | British Columbia | 90 | 44 | Large cenote located 13.5 km southeast of Port Alice near Kathleen Lake | ||
Duncan Crevice Caves | Ontario | Located in Beaver Valley | ||||
Eramosa Karst | Ontario | Located in Hamilton | ||||
Eternal Fountain | British Columbia | A waterfall emptying into a sinkhole near Port McNeill | ||||
Fairy Hole | Nova Scotia | A sea cave reputedly linked to various legends of the Mi'kmaq Nation | ||||
Fang Cave[4] | British Columbia | Located in Evanoff Provincial Park | ||||
Gargantua Cave | Alberta British Columbia |
2,501[3] | 286 | 6,001 | Located near Crowsnest Pass. Contains the largest and highest elevation natural cavern in Canada. | |
Hayes Cave | Nova Scotia | 400[5] | Located near Maple Grove | |||
Hole in the Wall | Alberta | 2,013[3] | 30[3] | A prominent feature on the side of Mount Cory. Visible from the Trans-Canada Highway about 14 km west of the town of Banff. | ||
Homesite Creek Caves | British Columbia | Located near Halfmoon Bay | ||||
Hoodoo Cave | Alberta | 220 | Located near Nordegg | |||
Horne Lake cave complex | British Columbia | Located in Horne Lake Caves Provincial Park | ||||
Horseshoe Falls grotto | Ontario | 46 | A large manmade grotto behind Horseshoe Falls of Niagara Falls | |||
Kitt's Cave | New Brunswick | 8 | 141 | Located near Hammondvale | ||
Limestone deposits | Manitoba | Located near Lake Winnipeg | ||||
Little Huson Cave complex | British Columbia | Located in Little Huson Cave Regional Park | ||||
Nakimu Caves | British Columbia | Located in Glacier National Park | ||||
Plateau Mountain Ice Cave | Alberta | 2,226 | 90[3] | Located in Plateau Mountain Ecological Reserve. Closed to the public in the early 1970s.[6] | ||
Raspberry Rising | British Columbia | 220 | 975 | Located beneath Mount Tupper in Glacier National Park. Still being explored, its full extents are yet to be determined.[7] | ||
Rat's Nest Cave | Alberta | 1,450[3] | 245 | 4,003 | Located beneath Grotto Mountain near Exshaw. Access is by guided tour only. | |
Saint-Alban caves | Quebec | Located in Saint-Alban | ||||
Saint-Leonard Cavern | Quebec | 250 | Located in Saint-Léonard. Original cave is 35 metres long with a depth of 8 metres;[8] a second 250-metre cave was discovered in 2017.[9] | |||
Sarlacc's Pit cave | British Columbia | +130 | +2,000 | Discovered in 2018 within Wells Gray Provincial Park. Not yet accurately measured. The largest known cave of its type. Given the informal name of "Sarlacc's Pit".[10] | ||
Scenic Caves | Ontario | Located near Collingwood | ||||
Skaha North Cave | British Columbia | 40 | 300 | Located approximately 5km south of north end of Skaha and 3km up from Skaha lake | ||
Skaha South Cave | British Columbia | 30 | 150 | Located approximately 2km south of Skaha North Cave | ||
Slesse Creek caves | British Columbia | Located near Slesse Creek | ||||
Small River Caves complex[11] | British Columbia | Located in Small River Caves Provincial Park. | ||||
Stone Corral Caves[12] | British Columbia | Located in Monkman Provincial Park | ||||
Thanksgiving Cave | British Columbia | 479[13] | 8,386[13] | Located near Tahsis. A through passage was discovered in September 2017. | ||
Trou de la Fée | Quebec | Located in Desbiens | ||||
Trou du Diable | Quebec | 980 | Located in Saint-Casimir. Second longest cave in Quebec. | |||
Trou du Perdus | Quebec | Located in Saint-Michel-du-Squatec | ||||
Underground Lake | New Brunswick | 13.1 | 141 | A gypsum cave located in the community of Demoiselle Creek | ||
Valdes Island cave | British Columbia | Located on Valdes Island | ||||
Vanishing River/Reappearing River | British Columbia | Located southeast of Port Alice near Kathleen Lake | ||||
Wapiabi Cave | Alberta | 152 | 540 | Located near Nordegg | ||
Warsaw Caves | Ontario | Located in Douro-Dummer Township near Warsaw | ||||
Weymer Creek caves complex | British Columbia | Located in Weymer Creek Provincial Park. Caving is strongly discouraged until a park management plan is completed.[14] |
See also
References
- ^ Heide Pearson, Calgarian explorers among team that discovered Canada’s deepest cave near Fernie, BC, Global News, January 15, 2018
- ^ Environment, Ministry of. "Bocock Peak Provincial Park - BC Parks". bcparks.ca. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Rollins, Jon (2004). Caves of the Canadian Rockies & Columbia Mountains. Surrey, BC: Rocky Mountain Books. ISBN 0921102941.
- ^ Environment, Ministry of. "Evanoff Provincial Park - BC Parks". bcparks.ca. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
- ^ Derek Davis, et al, (1996 Revised Edition), Natural History of Nova Scotia, Volume II: Theme Regions, Nova Scotia Museum, p. 96
- ^ Plateau Mountain Ecological Reserve Management Plan
- ^ Joshua Rapp Learn, "Cave Mappers", Canadian Geographic Magazine, April 2014, pp. 36-37.
- ^ The Saint-Leonard Cavern Archived 2017-12-04 at the Wayback Machine, Alive 375: Society for the Celebrations of Montréal’s 375th Anniversary, 2015
- ^ Michelle Lalonde, Spelunkers discover 15,000-year-old cavern in St-Léonard park, Montreal Gazette, December 1, 2017
- ^ The Canadian Press (3 December 2018). "Newly discovered cave in B.C. might be largest ever found in Canada". CBC News. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ^ Environment, Ministry of. "Small River Caves Provincial Park - BC Parks". bcparks.ca. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
- ^ Environment, Ministry of. "Monkman Provincial Park - BC Parks". bcparks.ca. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
- ^ a b "Canada's 100 Longest and Deepest surveyed caves". CanCaver. Caving Canada. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ Environment, Ministry of. "Weymer Creek Provincial Park - BC Parks". bcparks.ca. Retrieved 2020-10-19.