Let's take a little trip through history today, with this little gem from our collection…
Devil’s Lake State Park is full of stories. Over the years, hikers have passed along all sorts of myths and misunderstandings about the park’s geology and landscape.
In this series, we’ll take a look at some of those stories and see what’s actually going on.
Today’s Myth
“I’ve heard that if you crawl through the opening of Elephant Cave on the East Bluff Trail, it opens up into a larger cave.”
Quick answer?
Nope. It just ends.
The Geology Behind Elephant Cave
The area around Elephant Cave and Elephant Rock (which actually looks more like a bison, but that’s another story!) is one of the most geologically interesting spots on the bluff. It’s a place where several very different rock layers meet.
If you stand facing the cave opening, you can see three distinct formations.
The oldest rock is Baraboo Quartzite, which forms the left side of the cave. The right side is sandstone, deposited much later when this was the shoreline of a shallow sea. Finally, the top layer is a conglomerate, sometimes called puddingstone, made of mixed pebbles and rock fragments that were cemented together later still.
At one point, the sandstone may have been pushed up against the quartzite, leaving a small gap between them. Later, the conglomerate layer formed across the top of both rock types.
What looks like a cave today is really just a small opening created where these rock layers meet and weather apart.
What’s Actually Inside
Now back to that rumored cave you have to crawl into.
A few years ago, I attached a GoPro to the end of a long stick and pushed it through the opening, creating what looked a lot like a geological colonoscopy video.
And in the end… we reached the end.
The opening leads to a short crawl space, but there’s no hidden chamber and no deeper cave system beyond it.
Still, it would be pretty cool if there were.
Interestingly, there’s another rumor about a much larger cave hidden somewhere on the West Bluff.
We’ll come back to that one another time.
Videos To Learn More!
Geology Lite! – Devil’s Lake Rocks with naturalist Susan Johansen-Mayoleth
Geology Deep Dive! – Geology of Devil’s Lake from geologist and author Steven Baumann.
For nearly 30 years, the Skillet Creek blog has focused on 3 main goals; To inspire you to visit and explore the Devil’s Lake region, to help you get the most out of your visit by sharing tips, events, and other helpful information. Lastly, to advocate for our environment & wildlife and talk about how we can keep our natural areas amazing now and into the future! That last goal can sometimes cause controversy, but it’s the only way we can accomplish the first two. – Derrick Mayoleth, Owner.
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