John Brown’s Cave is located on the Lehigh Portland Trails property. It is a type of natural cave known as a “Solutional Cave”, which is formed in rock that is soluble, such as limestone. The cave was formed as groundwater dissolved quantities of soluble rock by seeping along joints and faults, and over long epochs of geological time, expanding to become a cave. In the case of John Brown’s Cave, a small intermittent stream enters the mouth of the cave, flows through, and exits below the bluffs along US-169 highway. The length of the cave is nearly 300 feet. It has a large entrance you can walk into, and it’s possible to traverse the entire length of the 300-foot cave, albeit not without getting wet.
Accessing John Brown’s Cave
John Brown’s Cave is located along Cave Trail South. To visit the cave, you can park at the Eastern Trailhead, and walk or bike along the South Loop Trail heading south and east. Just past the entrance to the Rubble Ridge Trail, a new Cave Trail Connector splits off to the east. After a short distance, it meets up with 1650th Street. After yielding to any road traffic, cross the pavement to enter the Cave Trail.
Follow Cave Trail South for about a half mile, first heading east along a straight path, then south paralleling a small limestone bluff (the cave “exit” is located here), then south to a rock wall, then north along the top of the bluffs, before heading back west a bit. The cave entrance will be on your left, and will first be seen as a large depression. As you get closer, and enter the depression, you’ll see the large cave entrance heading east. After exploring the cave, you can either retrace your steps to get out, or continue following Cave Trail South, which creates a large loop that will eventually lead you back to the entrance path.
The approximate GPS coordinates of the cave entrance are 37.903559°, -95.383420°.
John Brown’s Cave Map
The following map/drawing of John Brown’s Cave was produced by the Kansas Speleological Society, which surveyed the cave in August 2017. Please note that the water level in the cave can vary a great deal due to recent rainfall! Click the image to view a PDF.
Cave Safety and Etiquette Considerations
While we welcome your visit to John Brown’s Cave, there are certain precautions you must take when exploring the cave:
- Never go caving alone
- Wear a hard hat (a bicycle helmet will do)
- Bring at least three light sources. Caves are dark! If your light fails, it’s easy to become disoriented.
- Be prepared to get wet! The cave carries water at all times. You will get wet, and your clothing and shoes will get wet. This can be dangerous in cooler weather. The cave water is especially deep immediately after a rain.
- Leave your electronics (e.g. cellphone) outside the cave, unless you have reliably waterproof storage.
- Bring bandages and first aid. It’s easy to scrape your skin.
- Call 9-1-1 for emergencies!
In addition to those safety considerations, there are also some common-sense etiquette rules we ask you to follow:
- Carry out any trash you may bring or find
- Do not move rocks
- Do not harm or disturb any plants or animals
- Do not litter
- Do not leave graffiti on the rocks
- Do not take souvenirs
Caves are amazingly fragile places. They can be easily damaged and ruined by humans, and once they are, they’re changed for all time. Be considerate of your fellow explorers, and leave the place as you found it, for the next visitor to enjoy.
These rules can be summed up in the “Caver’s Creed”:
Take nothing but pictures.
Leave nothing but carefully placed footprints.
Kill nothing but time.
See Also