Lost River - Karst Information Portal

Robinson Ladder Cave is an Indiana Karst
Conservancy property and is also an
Indiana bat hibernaculum. A liability release
form must be signed before visiting Robinson
Ladder Cave. one may be picked up at the
convention caving kiosk.
Robinson Ladder Cave is located in the
bottom of a small sinkhole on a wooded hillside
between the lower clearing and the upper
clearing. The entrance is a 13-foot climbable
pit. A handline is recommended to assist in
the descent to the entrance room. There are a
couple of nice stalagmites in this room. The
passage off the entrance room is reached by
climbing up a flowstone wall for 15 feet. This
is the main passage in the cave. It starts out as
an easy hands-and-knees crawl then enlarges
Robinson Ladder Cave
Crawford County Caves
By Dave Black
shortly to walking size. In 500 feet a pit-dome
complex can be entered by way of two pits along
the left wall. The pits can all be free-climbed
or bypassed except for the 44-foot pit. The
entrance to this pit is very tight. The bottom is
reported to have a 20-foot climb-down into a
canyon that is too tight to follow.
The main level continues past the dome-pit
complex by way of a hole in the breakdown.
The passage continues as walking and crawling
for 600 feet until a terminal breakdown room
is reached. In this room is an inscription of the
first explorers: “S.W. Miller, Feb. 5, 1882, We
stoped”[sic]. Presently, this is still the end of
the cave.
The cave is noted for its history, which is
evidenced by numerous old signatures and
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