Cave Creek Cavern Treasure Hunt

The Cave Creek Cavern Treasure Hunt is a simple one. There is just one clue and no bonus treasure. It involves a long hike, but the scenery is beautiful. Also, if you have the proper gear, it gives you the opportunity to explore a great cave which has one of the largest underground rooms in Colorado.

Getting To Cave Creek Cavern

From Fairplay CO, head south on Highway 285 about five miles to Road Number 5, which goes to Weston Pass. About 7 or 8 miles along this you'll come to Road Number 455. Turn right and follow this as far as your car will allow. If the road signs are not clear, you can use your GPS to help you. Here are the GPS coordinates of the cave entrance:

N 39 07.894 / W 106 07.725

Hopefully the road is decent past the private property, and you can park after the sign announcing that you're entering the Pike National Forest. We made it a mile past with a fairly high-clearance van, and parked in a clearing (GPS coordinates N 39 06.52 / W 106 06.58) From there it was 1.88 miles to the cave according to the GPS, which may be a hike of about 3 miles if you follow the trails that go most of the way. You may also be able to drive a bit closer if you have four-wheel drive

If you don't have a GPS unit, bring a map. From wherever you park (following the above directions), Cave Creek will be north of you, and your final destination will be Northwest. Find Cave Creek and follow it up until you see it gushing out of a small hillside (see photo). To the right a small stream goes up further, but it is either wet or dry depending on whether it is running above or below ground where you are. A couple hundred feet up this, and up the hill to your right is the cave.

Within 100 feet of the cave there are several pits and old mines and posts that look like telephone poles cut near the ground. One of the latter has some parallel lines cut into it, and below that two letters, one over the other. Count the lines and write down that number plus the two letters, plus the number of inches from the bottom of the bottom letter to the top of the post.

Insert the digit representing the number of parallel cuts, and the two letters (lower case) and the number of inches in place of the question marks below to get the URL address of the solution page (once you arrive there have you completed the treasure hunt):

http://www.ColoradoTreasureHunting.com/s-???.html

About Cave Creek Cavern

Colorado is not known for big caves, but this one has over a thousand feet of passageways, and is said to have the largest underground room in the state. We spent about two hours in it and did not explore all the passages. There is a small stream running through parts of it (at least when we were there in early June), with a small waterfall in the big room, and some nice crystal formations here and there.

This is a wet cave, and cold. Be prepared with all the necessary gear if you go in. The entrance now has a small culvert that you slide down to get in. Be careful or you'll slide the next 100 feet down in the small passageway. It's slippery and muddy.

(Note: You do not need to enter the cave for the treasure hunt clue.)

After the first slope down, there is a pile of boulders and a pit that will drops down. I don't know how deep it is, but you'll certainly die if you stumble into it. Fortunately it is easy to avoid. Just take the passage to the left. When you hear the sound of running water, go towards that to get to the big room. At times you'll be able to walk, but often you'll be crawling or squirming. The photo here is of Mike Kopczynski in the "Colorado Room" (formerly "The Big Room").

I wouldn't recommend Cave Creek Cavern for someone's first cave, but if you have some experience it isn't a difficult one. There is a small hand line that was left running down the first 70 feet or so of the entrance passage, which helps more coming up than going down.

The slippery culvert is tough to climb up when you are ready to leave. You may need a hand from another in the group. Have the tallest person go last, as he or she may be able to push off of the beam below and reach up to the edge to pull himself or herself out.

An Old Abandoned Mine

On all sides of the entrance to Cave Creek Cavern there is obvious mining activity from the past. At the time we were there, a mine twenty yards or so to the west still had an opening into it. Save yourself the trouble of exploring this one. It is unstable, full of Pack rat poop, and only goes in about 100 feet before ending. Be careful, as there may be other openings we didn't see (there was still some snow there in early June), which might be dangerous.