Paradise Ice Cave
Encyclopedia
The Paradise Ice Caves were a system of interconnected glacier cave
s located within Mount Rainier
's Paradise Glacier
in the United States
. These glacier caves were visited and documented at least as early as 1908. They have a varied natural history, as their size and even existence has changed over time, from a maximum surveyed length of 13.25 kilometers in 1978, to not existing at all during both the 1940s and 1990s due to glacial recession. In 1978 they were the longest mapped system of glacier caves in the world.
Glacier cave
A glacier cave is a cave formed within the ice of a glacier. Glacier caves are often called ice caves, but this term is properly used to describe bedrock caves that contain year-round ice.-Overview:...
s located within Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier is a massive stratovolcano located southeast of Seattle in the state of Washington, United States. It is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States and the Cascade Volcanic Arc, with a summit elevation of . Mt. Rainier is considered one of the most...
's Paradise Glacier
Paradise Glacier
The Paradise Glacier is a glacier on the southeast flank of Mount Rainier in Washington. It covers and contains 0.8 billion ft3 with Stevens Glacier included. The glacier is bounded to the west by the Muir Snowfield, Anvil Rock and McClure Rock. There is a single extant main lobe of the glacier,...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. These glacier caves were visited and documented at least as early as 1908. They have a varied natural history, as their size and even existence has changed over time, from a maximum surveyed length of 13.25 kilometers in 1978, to not existing at all during both the 1940s and 1990s due to glacial recession. In 1978 they were the longest mapped system of glacier caves in the world.