Lost River - Karst Information Portal

This pit is located on a heavily wooded
hillside in the state forest. The entrance
is difficult to find, a 2-foot by 3-foot hole in
a small sinkhole. A 105-foot rope is needed
to rig the 103-foot pit. For the first 18 feet
the pit is very narrow, then it bells out to
form a free drop
in the middle of a
60-foot-high by 25foot-wide
room. For
the last 25 feet of the
drop the pit becomes
a 10-foot by 15-foot
shaft.
No passages
have been found
off the large midlevel
entrance pit.
At the bottom an
obscure hole leads
up to a 30-foot-long
by 25-foot-wide
breakdown room.
Also off the floor
of the entrance
room is a hole
through breakdown
to a too-tight drain
hole. This pit has
become know for
the December 27,
1987, death of
Chris Elder. He was
inexperienced and
had explored only
a couple of caves,
his group had never
before seen a cave
that went straight
down. The group
tied a 30-foot rope
to a tree and Chris
Copperhead Pit
Crawford County Caves
By Dave Black
entered the pit with only a flashlight. He
stopped 20 feet down, then pushed off
and ran out of rope. After this accident
the entrance was covered with some logs
and is even more difficult to find.
Bill Baus beginning the descnt into Copperhead Pit.
Photo by Dave Everton.
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