Shawnee Cave facts for kids

Shawnee Cave (also known as Donaldson Cave or Donaldson-Bronson Cave) is a cool underground place located in Spring Mill State Park in Indiana. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) helps manage who can visit this amazing cave.

Shawnee Cave: An Underground Adventure

Where is Shawnee Cave?

Shawnee Cave is found within the beautiful Spring Mill State Park. This park is in the state of Indiana, a state in the United States. It's a great spot for nature lovers and adventurers.

Exploring the Passages

Shawnee Cave is part of a longer underground stream system. This stream starts outside the park and flows through other caves. These include Twin Caves and Bronson Cave, both inside the park. The entire underground system is over 8,000 feet long!

You can enter Shawnee Cave through the Bronson Cave Entrance. You can then exit through the Donaldson Entrance. It's important to know that the path connecting Twin Caves to Bronson Cave is very dangerous. Because of this, it is completely off-limits to visitors.

Protecting the Bats

For a while, people could not visit Shawnee Cave. This was because of a serious illness called White-nose syndrome. This disease affects bats and can be very harmful to them. The ban was put in place to help protect the bats living in the cave.

Good news! The Indiana DNR has now lifted this ban. This means visitors can once again explore Shawnee Cave.

How to Visit

If you want to visit Shawnee Cave, you need to arrange your trip. Access to the cave is managed through the Indiana Karst Conservancy. You can find more information and arrange your visit on their website.