Hellhole (cave) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Hellhole
Pit entrance of Hellhole. Note caver visible at extreme bottom.
Location	Germany Valley, West Virginia
Depth	737 ft (225 m)
Length	42 miles (67.5 km)
Discovery	1940s
Geology	New Market limestone
Entrances	1
Hazards	bat cave
Access	private

Hellhole is a very large and deep pit cave located in Germany Valley, eastern West Virginia. It is one of the longest caves in the United States. This amazing cave is super important because it's home to nearly half of the world's population of a special type of bat called the Virginia big-eared bat. Hellhole is also the deepest cave in its area, reaching down 518 feet (158 meters).

Hellhole has a long history with the National Speleological Society. This group started in the 1940s. Many basic caving skills, like the single rope technique, were first developed and practiced in Hellhole's 154-foot (47-meter) entrance drop.

About Hellhole Cave

The only way into Hellhole is through a big, funnel-shaped pit. This pit is on the lower slopes of North Fork Mountain. To get down, people use ropes to descend the impressive 154-foot (47-meter) entrance shaft. This leads into a huge chamber. Since explorers first started mapping the cave in the 1940s, they have found over 41 miles (66 kilometers) of passages inside Hellhole.

Deeper inside the cave, there's another well-known pit called "Little Hellhole."

Most of Hellhole's passages are found in a type of rock called New Market limestone. This same limestone is also mined nearby by the Greer Lime Company.

Home to Amazing Bats

Hellhole is a very important place for bats, especially during winter. It's like a cozy, cold home for them to sleep (hibernate).

Bat Species and Populations

Hellhole is a special winter home for two types of bats that are in danger of disappearing. These are the Virginia big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii virginianus) and the Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis).

• For the Virginia big-eared bat, Hellhole is one of the biggest hibernation spots in the world. About 9,000 of these bats live in the cave. This is almost half of the total world population, which is around 20,000 bats.
• The cave is also the largest winter home in the mid-Atlantic region for the Indiana bat. About 9,000 Indiana bats live here, which is more than in any other cave in the area.
• Hellhole is also one of the world's largest winter homes for Little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus). Over 100,000 of these bats live in the cave.
• At least four other types of bats also call Hellhole home.

Why Hellhole is So Cold

The main reason Hellhole is such a perfect home for bats is its very low temperature. Most caves in West Virginia are about 57°F (14°C). But Hellhole averages around 47°F (8°C).

Hellhole stays cold because it acts like a natural cold air trap. It is located in the middle of a valley and has only one entrance. In winter, cold air flows off North Fork Mountain and gets trapped inside the cave. This cold air sinks and, since there's no lower exit, it fills the cave's huge passages. This natural cold air trap is very special. Experts say it makes the cave very sensitive to damage from nearby mining. If a new opening were made lower than the entrance, the cold air would escape. This would destroy the cave as a winter home for these bats.

Other Cave Animals

Hellhole is also home to two rare cave invertebrates. These are both types of millipedes: the Germany Valley Cave Millipede and the Luray Caverns Blind Cave Millipede.

History of Exploration and Protection

From the 1940s to the 1980s, explorers mapped about 8.5 miles (13.7 kilometers) of passages in Hellhole. However, in 1988, the cave was mostly closed to cavers. This happened after the Greer Limestone Plant leased the land where the cave entrance is located. The only times people were allowed in were for bat counts. These counts were organized by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

The entrance to Hellhole is on private land. The landowner did not want to sell the land. The Greer Limestone Company, which runs a quarry nearby, leased the cave entrance in 1986. As the leaseholder, Greer soon started to limit access to the cave. However, Greer did allow the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WV DNR) to go into the cave twice a year to count the endangered bats. In the 1990s, the WV DNR encouraged Greer to allow some limited exploration and mapping, usually one or two trips a year.

By this time, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service knew that Hellhole was a critical habitat for two endangered bat species: the Indiana bat and the Virginia big-eared bat. It was known that about 45% of the world's Virginia big-eared bats hibernated in Hellhole. Greer had set up buffer zones around the known cave passages. These zones meant no work within 250 feet (76 meters) and no blasting within 500 feet (152 meters) of the cave. But the problem was the word "known" – what if there were parts of the cave that weren't known yet?

In 1995, a new part of the cave called "Krause Hall" was found. In 1996, explorers went into one of the deepest parts of the cave, more than 400 feet (122 meters) below the entrance. Then, in 1997, a big discovery in this area showed that Hellhole was much larger than previously thought. It extended far to the south, meaning the parts of the cave known before were just a small side passage of a much bigger system.

With these new discoveries, Greer faced the possibility of losing more valuable limestone to protect the endangered bats. Because of this, Greer stopped allowing further exploration of Hellhole. Cavers felt that the quarry did not want to find more cave areas. This was because finding more cave would mean losing more limestone to bat habitat.

In 2000, Greer announced plans to renew its mining permit and expand its quarry. This caused concern among cavers. They worried that mining without knowing the full extent of the cave could accidentally break into it. They argued this would harm the cave's ability to be a bat hibernaculum.

In 2002, after long discussions with Greer, the USFWS, WV DNR, and other groups, the Germany Valley Karst Survey (GVKS) was hired. Their job was to map the full extent of the Hellhole cave system. All mapping activities had to be done during a 16-week period in the summer to avoid disturbing the bats. Over the next three years (2002–2005), GVKS members explored and mapped over 12 miles (19 kilometers) of new passages. This increased the known length of the cave from 8.5 miles (13.7 kilometers) to 20.3 miles (32.7 kilometers). They also found Hellhole to be the deepest cave in West Virginia at 265 feet (81 meters). Later, these numbers grew to 28.28 mapped miles (45.50 kilometers) and 519 feet (158.2 meters) deep.

Since then, the known size of the cave has continued to grow. As of June 2015, Hellhole is reported to be 42 miles (67.5 kilometers) long and 737 feet (225 meters) deep.

Interesting Facts

• According to the NSS Geo2 Committee on Long and Deep Caves (as of September 23, 2015), Hellhole is the 38th longest cave in the world.

See also

In Spanish: Hellhole (cueva) para niños