Shoshone Cavern National Monument was proclaimed by William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...

 on September 21, 1909. On March 17, 1954, the 83rd Congress abolished the monument and transferred the 210 acre (0.8498406 km²) site to the city of Cody, Wyoming

Cody, Wyoming

Cody is a city in Park County, Wyoming, United States. It is named after William Frederick Cody, primarily known as Buffalo Bill, from William Cody's part in the creation of the original town. The population was 9,520 at the 2010 census...

. The cavern is located high up near the summit of Cedar Mountain, about 4 miles from Cody on the south side of the Shoshone River

Shoshone River

The Shoshone River is long river in northern Wyoming in the United States. Its headwaters are in the Absaroka Range in Shoshone National Forest. It ends when it runs into the Big Horn River near Lovell, Wyoming. Cities it runs near or through are Cody, Powell, Byron, and Lovell. Near Cody, it...

. The main cavern follows a fairly straight course, extending into the mountain about 2500 feet (762 m). The walls of the cavern are well covered by incrustations of crystals and dripping formations, mostly white, but some brownish or reddish in color. As of 2008, the cavern is owned by the Bureau of Land Management

Bureau of Land Management

The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...

but is not open to the public.