BigBendHiker

I just finished reading "Beneath the Window" by Patricia Wilson Clothier. As a child, she grew up in Big Bend prior to it becoming a National Park. The book is an excellent accounting of pioneer life in early Big Bend. It is available in the BB bookstore.

In her book, she talks about two features I had never heard of in the park. The first is Alum Cave. According to the hand drawn map in her book, it appears to be SW of the Cattail Falls area. The other feature is an old abandoned mine that sounds as though it was just NE of the window. Has anyone heard of these features or seen them? Just curious...

DayTripper

If you enjoyed Clothier's book, then you might be interested in Big Bend: A Homesteader's Story by J. O. Langford. It describes the homestead he and his little family established at Hot Springs in the southeastern section of the park around the turn of the last century. It is a very interesting story of pioneer life in this unique section of the state.

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Shannon

Justin and I purchased Langford's book after our return from Big Bend National Park in October 2001. I, too, highly recommend the book for those interested in the lives and experiences of those who settled in the Big Bend region.

Day #2 of my Big Bend NP trip report includes some information about Langford, including a link to his book.

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Alchemist2000

Any idea as to distances? The national park doesn't publicize a number of features (including Cattail Falls). However, some of the topo maps that you can get online, such as from mytopo.com, might have some reference to one of these. It is a long shot, but it might be worth taking a look.

Good luck. Let us know if you find anything promising.

BigBendHiker

The hand-drawn map does not provide much information with regards to distances. Using the trailhead to Cattail Falls as the starting point, it appears that the distance to Alum Cave is about twice that of the distance to Cattail Falls. I have used Topozone and done some searching there...but no luck thus far. I posted a similar question on the Big Bend Chat Page (http://www.big.bend.national-park.co...d/bigbchat.htm) but did not get any leads there either...

If nothing else, it is fun to just day-dream about hiking in that area and coming across Alumn Cave or that old mine...

whreid

Can anyone give me a full list of the caves in Big Bend National Park?

Bill whreid@infowest.com

01ACRViper

i'm positive there isn't a full list of caves in Big Bend, as all of them ahven't even been discovered. It'll be hard to find any information on any caves on the internet. your best bet is to go to a geological library at a university, that'll be your best bet.

Bigblue30

My girlfriend and I camped in the Chisos Basin Campground last Sept for about 6 days. It was awesome. I have the National Geographics Topo Texas edition and it shows two caves.

NW of Toll Mountain.
LAT/LONG/ELEV:
29DEG15.594N, 103DEG17.196W, 6265FT
Accessible from Emory Peak Trail

W of Casa Grande Peak
LAT/LONG/ELEV:
29DEG15.992N, 103DEG17.012W, 6170FT
Looks like it could be accessible from the Lost Mine Trail

This topo map also shows the trail to Cattail Falls and another cave in Pine Canyon south of Lost Mine Peak.

BigBendHiker

Thanks for the reply. Sounds like you are an avid Big Bender...check out the Big Bend Chat page at www.bigbendchat.com.