Crystal Cave
Crystal Cave is a popular underground cave in Box Elder County, Utah, and is suitable for novice cavers due to mostly horizontal rooms and lack of serious drops. The cave has a locked gate to protect bat habitat and is available for public use from October to March annually. BLM requires that visitors obtain a permit to enter the cave prior to visiting. No permit fees are required but you must contact the Salt Lake Field Office at 801-977-4300 to obtain a permit prior to your trip. Visitors are required to follow resource protection guidelines and use a minimum amount of protective gear to enter the cave. The cave itself is a simple maze-type cave, containing two main branches and a total of 1326 ft of passage. Passages tend to be narrow, sloping, and rather high in a few places. Chimneys and steeply sloping pits have formed at the junctions of dip joints and bedding plane passages. While there are several fair-sized rooms and passages, much of the cave contains small crawlways and squeeze ways. Be sure you can retrace your steps. Take care not to touch or bump into the delicate walls and ceiling of the cave. Try to stay on previously used paths along the floor of the cave. The cave is closed to public use from April to September each year. The cave entrance is monitored, and unauthorized trespass will be prosecuted.
Cave Safety Tips
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Crystal Cave, also known as Crystal-Tecoma Cave or Crystal Mine Cave, is located in Box Elder County, Utah on the north end of the Pilot Mountains approximately ј of a mile east of the Nevada state line. Crystal Cave is just northeast of the town of Montello, Nevada, off Nevada State Highway 233. The quickest and easiest approach to the cave involves crossing into Nevada. Take I-15 North to I-84 North. Two miles west of Snowville, turn west on Utah Hwy 30, turn south at Curlew Junction and pass through Park Valley and Rosette. Continue west on Hwy 30 into Nevada. At 4.0 miles south of the Nevada state line, turn left (south) onto a dirt road directly across from a radio tower on the north side of the highway. Set your trip odometer to zero. Cross two sets of railroad tracks and turn right at a fork in the road 1.0 miles from the highway. At 2.7 miles, turn left onto a dirt two-track and follow this east for one mile. At 3.7 miles, there is a three-way fork; take the center fork marked by a brown BLM sign post and continue driving southeast until you reach the parking area for the cave at 5.2 miles from the highway. Most of the approach to Crystal Cave is on paved highways. The last 5.2 miles follow a graded dirt road and then two-track jeep trail that are both passable by high clearance, 2WD vehicles in good weather. 4WD may be required with snow or heavy rain. The last quarter mile from the parking area to the cave entrance is closed to motor vehicles. Vehicles MUST park at the base of the slope in front of the vehicle closure sign. Overnight camping should be done in and around the parking site.