Neff’s Cave: Utah’s Best-Kept Subterranean Secret

Situated deep under Mt. Olympus, Neff’s Cave descends 1,163 ft. (354 m) into the earth, making it the 15th deepest cave in North America and the second deepest cave in Utah. It sits directly on the Wasatch Fault and a river flows beneath it.

David E. Jensen

August 5, 2021

Descent into Neff's Cave. Photo by: Adam Haydock. — Descent into Neff’s Cave. Photo by Adam Haydock.

Sometimes the best-kept secrets are hidden in our own backyard. For example, if you were to ask an experienced caver from France to name 10 of the top technical caves in the world, he would more than likely include Neff’s Cave among them. He might even tell you where it is. He may have even been there. On the other hand, if you were to ask random Salt Lakers about Neff’s Cave, a majority of them would most likely respond with, “Neff’s Cave? Where’s that?”

In 1949, teenage brothers John and Jamie Lyon discovered a clandestine opening to a cavern at the base of a limestone cliff not far off Neff’s Canyon trail in the Wasatch Mountains just east of Salt Lake City. The average person may not have given this jagged crevice a second glance, but for these young adventure seekers, this portal to an underground realm was more temptation than they could resist.

The boys returned several times to the cave, each time pushing the boundary of their incursion. Eventually, they brought ropes, lanterns and sandwiches, prepared ― so they thought ― to truly explore this subterranean domain. But things didn’t go exactly as planned.

Now well inside the cave, John and some of his friends found themselves trapped at the bottom of a cliff face composed of crumbling shale where they spent three days immersed in total darkness.

They took turns crouching on the ground as the other boys huddled over them to share body heat. Their youthful exuberance, so palpable that morning, must have been smothered by the cold and clammy blackness that enveloped them now.

As they were about to give up hope of ever being found, a team of rescuers came, led by Jamie, who didn’t go to the cave with the other boys that day. He was the only person who knew where they might be. It seems they hadn’t bothered to tell any adults about the cave.

As word of the cave spread, steps were taken to keep people out. In 1951, a team from the National Park Service determined that it was too dangerous to be a Park Service attraction. It was subsequently gated by the Forest Service.

As a single, large vertical fissure, Neff’s provides a technical challenge for even the most intrepid spelunker. Helmets, ropes, rappelling and ascending gear, adequate lighting, and years of caving experience are required to fully explore its depths. It is no place for amateurs or the merely curious.

In the early 1990s, I was fortunate to be part of a hand-picked team of intermediate to advanced cavers led by none other than John Lyon himself. We were treated to an initiatory exploration of Neff’s in exchange for hauling bags of cement up the mountain to reinforce the cave’s steel gate that had been breached by vandals.

One at a time, we inched our way down into the barely-penetrable darkness which was perforated only by the flashing blades of light from a half-dozen headlamps. There’s nothing quite as adrenaline-inducing as free-rappelling on a rope, 100 feet at a time, straight down into a black and seemingly bottomless abyss. It was a truly thrilling, once-in-a-lifetime experience that I’ll never forget.

A sign on the gate reads, “Neff’s Cave is gated to protect delicate resources inside. It is protected by the Federal Cave Resources Protection Act of 1988. Permission to enter may be obtained by contacting the Wasatch-Cache National Forest, Salt Lake Ranger District.”

Only professional cavers need apply. For the protection of the cave and the potential for death or a complicated and expensive rescue operation, access to Neff’s Cave is highly restricted by the Forest Service and the Timpanogos Grotto of the National Speleological Society. You must be a member of one of these organizations or be endorsed and accompanied by a member in good standing to request entry.

If you are interested in Utah caves, read
Spelunking in Utah – Exploring the Vast World Beneath – Cavers Take Their Sightseeing Underground

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David E. Jensen

Dave started writing in high school where he gained a love of language, communication and photography. As a published freelance writer and photographer for the past 35 years, his work has appeared in several local and regional publications on a variety of subjects. As the owner of Wasatch Snake Removal, Dave writes extensively about snakes in an attempt to educate the public about the vital role snakes play in healthy ecosystems, and the important relationship between snakes and humans. In 2014, he sent a manuscript to Utah Stories (The Joy of Snakes: The Truth About Snakes in Utah), which they published. Shortly thereafter, he joined the editorial staff and eventually became a copy editor and a regular contributing writer. He appreciates the diversity of the stories and the talented people who write them, and he credits Utah Stories with sharpening his skills as an editor.

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Before Alta was known for powder days and lift lines, it was a silver mining town clinging to the side of a narrow canyon. In the late 1800s, men lived at 8,000 feet, went underground each day, and endured winters that regularly buried buildings in snow. This past summer, that mining town resurfaced — literally — during construction at the Alta Ski Area.

To understand what Alta really looked like, you don’t begin with legend. You begin with its trash — and this time, that happened almost by accident.

Alta Ski Area was installing underground water reservoirs to support snowmaking. Because the project sits on Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest land, an archaeologist was required to monitor the excavation. No one expected the trench to produce much.

But, It did.

Artifacts began surfacing almost immediately. Enough that the Forest Service contacted the Utah State Historic Preservation Office for help. Lexi Little, who coordinates the Utah Cultural Site Stewardship Program, helped mobilize nearly 30 volunteers to assist with what quickly became a focused two-week excavation.

Winter deadlines were approaching. The pipes for the reservoirs had to go in the ground. There wasn’t time for a slow, extended dig.

“It was two weeks of digging in the dirt and helping figure out exactly what we were looking at,” Little said.

Most of the people screening soil weren’t professional archaeologists. They were trained stewards from around Utah — part of a statewide volunteer network that now approaches 500 people. They poured dirt through shaker screens, scanning for fragments that could piece together a town long buried.

“Archaeology is human trash,” Little explained. “Archaeologists are very into trash.”

Alta had left plenty behind.

https://youtu.be/hzIHzx3OGoo?si=dKcl2CEz-t6FZzYw

Victorian-style ceramics appeared first — the kind typically used in hotels. Medicine bottles followed. Ink bottles. Hand-blown glass. A porcelain doll’s foot surfaced from the soil, a small detail that shifted the mental image of the town. Families were here. Children were here. This wasn’t only a camp of miners.

The bottles helped establish time. Manufacturing details — whether glass was hand-blown or mold-made, whether a maker’s mark appeared on the base — allowed archaeologists to date many of the artifacts to the 1870s through the 1890s, when Alta was booming as a silver mining town.

“That gives you that range of dates for when Alta was really booming,” Little said.

One reusable soda bottle clearly stamped “Salt Lake City” connected the canyon to the valley economy below.

Then something unusual rolled out of a dirt pile.

A corked bottle. Intact. Liquid still inside.

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