As a kid, I always liked caving as well as hiking. “Jack’s Cave” in Wolcott, although of
historical significance due to its use by the local Native Americans, is not
much of a cave – it’s only a few dozen feet deep cut into the side of a
hill. I’ve also been in Howe Caverns
(NY), Crystal Cave (PA), Luray Caverns and Endless Caverns (VA), Mammoth Cave
(KY), and Carlsbad Caverns (NM). But
these are all tourist attractions and easily negotiated. But one that’s not developed is Tory’s Cave
in CT. It’s located along Route 7 near
New Milford. I’ve been in it four times. Now you can find all about it on the Internet
and there are even YouTube videos about it, but back in the 1960’s you had to
know where to find it and few did.
The entrance is up the hill and in the corner of what looks
like a small sinkhole. The hole that you
go in is almost vertical, i.e. straight down, so you sit down and start sliding
down this twisty hole in the ground (if you’re too large or afraid of small
places, don’t go there!) About a dozen
or so feet down the hole you’ll suddenly find your feet dangling in the
air. You have to know what’s below you,
but you roll over on your stomach and lever your lower half down, get a bit of
a foothold on the wall and it’s only a 3’ drop to the floor below. The main room is 20-30’ across with perhaps
an 8-10’ ceiling in the middle, but it’s pretty irregular. There are a few other rooms, accessible by
going down into holes in the floor and under big rocks. It’s a true limestone/marble cave. Usual precautions apply – don’t go alone,
tell others where you’re going, bring appropriate equipment (we used
flashlights back then, but headlamps would be better). And be prepared to get a bit dirty going down
and back up the entrance hole.
There are a few other caves in western CT that I should also
mention. One is Leatherman’s Cave in Watertown. That was formed by the collapse
of a ledge formation in the Black Rock area but it not the type of
marble/limestone cave that you climb down into. The other is Twin Lakes Cave in
Salisbury. This one is probably the largest cave in CT, but it has been closed
to the public for nearly 100 years.
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy-B_psK0qU
(listen to all the water dripping in this video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti74o3_sKh4
(probably the best video of the two)
http://cavingnews.com/20130813-firefighters-rescue-woman-from-connecticut-cave
(it can be dangerous as this woman found out)
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