Cheese Cave
Encyclopedia
Cheese Cave is a lava tube
located in Gifford Pinchot National Forest
just southwest of Trout Lake, Washington
. It is approximately 2060 feet (628 m) in length, a mostly flat floor 25 feet (8 m) wide and is 45 feet (14 m) to 60 feet (18 m) high.
Official reports cite the cave as being discovered 1894 by Joseph Arnie, a local resident. The cave was first used for storing potatoes and later cheese. Homer Spencer established the Guler Cheese Co., which used the cave's constant 42 °F (5.6 °C) to 44 °F (6.7 °C) passage to age its cheese. The cheese company is now gone but remnants of storage racks remain toward the north end of the cave.
Cheese Cave's natural, entrance is located 246 feet (75 m) from the north and end of the tube. The north cave entrance is in private property and has a building over the sinkhole
. There is a steel staircase from the inside of the private building down to a small rock pile on the cave floor.
Toward the north end of the cave, remnants of wooden racks can be seen.
The south entrance has a dirt parking area, and a low pavilion
structure over the opening. The opening is artificial, and has a permanently-placed ladder descending to a debris pile. The debris pile can be descended on foot, landing on a flat and clear cinder floor. The main length of the cave is mostly clear with occasional piles of fallen rock.
Lava tube
Lava tubes are natural conduits through which lava travels beneath the surface of a lava flow, expelled by a volcano during an eruption. They can be actively draining lava from a source, or can be extinct, meaning the lava flow has ceased and the rock has cooled and left a long, cave-like...
located in Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Gifford Pinchot National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in southern Washington, USA. With an area of 1.37 million acres , it extends 116 km along the western slopes of Cascade Range from Mount Rainier National Park to the Columbia River. It includes the 110,000 acre Mount St....
just southwest of Trout Lake, Washington
Trout Lake, Washington
Trout Lake is a census-designated place in Klickitat County, Washington, United States. The population was 848 at the 2011 census. The town is notable for dairy farms, herb farms, as an access point to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.-Geography:...
. It is approximately 2060 feet (628 m) in length, a mostly flat floor 25 feet (8 m) wide and is 45 feet (14 m) to 60 feet (18 m) high.
Official reports cite the cave as being discovered 1894 by Joseph Arnie, a local resident. The cave was first used for storing potatoes and later cheese. Homer Spencer established the Guler Cheese Co., which used the cave's constant 42 °F (5.6 °C) to 44 °F (6.7 °C) passage to age its cheese. The cheese company is now gone but remnants of storage racks remain toward the north end of the cave.
Cheese Cave's natural, entrance is located 246 feet (75 m) from the north and end of the tube. The north cave entrance is in private property and has a building over the sinkhole
Sinkhole
A sinkhole, also known as a sink, shake hole, swallow hole, swallet, doline or cenote, is a natural depression or hole in the Earth's surface caused by karst processes — the chemical dissolution of carbonate rocks or suffosion processes for example in sandstone...
. There is a steel staircase from the inside of the private building down to a small rock pile on the cave floor.
Toward the north end of the cave, remnants of wooden racks can be seen.
The south entrance has a dirt parking area, and a low pavilion
Pavilion
In architecture a pavilion has two main meanings.-Free-standing structure:Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in...
structure over the opening. The opening is artificial, and has a permanently-placed ladder descending to a debris pile. The debris pile can be descended on foot, landing on a flat and clear cinder floor. The main length of the cave is mostly clear with occasional piles of fallen rock.