Lost River - Karst Information Portal

2007 NSS Convention Guidebook
Editor’s note: Be careful with the ferns that
encircle
T
the entrance.
he entrance is located on the ridge west of
Dry Run just 150 feet south of Interstate
64. The cave was discovered In the 1960s by
Leo Schotter who fully explored it and did
some digging to enlarge a few passages.
The first 20 feet of the entrance pit is
developed in sandstone. This 25-foot pit
opens into a nice size room 30 feet by 15 feet
with large blocks of breakdown on the far side.
Along this breakdown is a 9-foot climbdown
which leads to a series of small domed pits
descending to a 10-foot-diameter dome. A
crawlway in mud leads to a larger dome. A
Kevin Eve in the entrance room of Schotter Pit Cave.
Photo by Aaron Atz.
324
Schotter Pit Cave
waterfall from this dome forms a small stream
which leaves by way of a walking-size passage.
This passage is developed In a shale bed. A few
feet past the dome is a 5-foot waterfall where
the stream cuts through the shale and into the
underlying limestone. The passage enlarges
until another dome is encountered. This is the
largest dome in the cave. Three leads off this
room can be found. On the far side is a very
small passage from which the water leaves the
cave. It is the best lead in the cave but would
require a lot of work. Above is a high lead
which quickly ends.