Spirit Mountain Cave: A Hidden Gem

Great destination! Enjoyed the open trail and peaceful outdoor atmosphere.

Great experience! BLM office staff was very friendly & helpful (Kelly was terrific). Road up to cave requires high clearance, hike to cave is short. The cave is fun to explore but you definitely need to be fit to explore all of it, not recommend for kids or those with limited mobility.

Great destination! Enjoyed the open trail and peaceful outdoor atmosphere.

Great destination! Enjoyed the open trail and peaceful outdoor atmosphere.

The Spirit Mountain Cave ( once known as Frost Cave ) is an adventure good for various levels of enthusiasts. As several reviews have mentioned, to get into the cave you need a few things: - A key from the Cody BLM office - A high clearance vehicle to get up to the cave (or a good set of hiking shoes :-) - headlamps - hard hat The BLM was very good to work with and provided our small (4 person) group spelunking hard hats and headlamps along with the key ( all for a $20 deposit). They gave us a map of the known areas of the cave. The drive up the mountain affords some beautiful views of the Cody area, but there are some steep drop offs; pay attention as you drive. Once parked, there is about a 0.3 - 0.4 mile trail to the cave entrance. It is downhill from the parking lot, and gets a little steep just before the cave entrance. The 'gate' to the cave may be a bit challenging for some; the padlock is behind the gate - you have to reach through the grate, feel where the lock is and hope you don't drop the key as you open the lock. Once you get the lock removed, a very heavy metal door ( maybe 24 inches square ) swings downward, allowing access to the cave. There are some areas of the cave that can be easily accessed by young children and folks that don't enjoy crawling on their knees or bellies, but to get to several of the explored areas, plan on some steep descents / ascents with very low ( hands / knees / belly crawl) passages. I was pleased to see that most of the graffiti left by previous generations of visitor has been cleaned up, but it is clear that many of the original limestone structures have been removed from the cave. There are still lots of interesting things to see, and I'd like to return better prepared for more serious cave exploration.