Sierra Mountain Times

Looking into the cavernous sinkhole known as Bower Cave in Mariposa County.

Story and Photos by Thomas Atkins

Of the hundreds of natural passageways leading into the underworlds of Tuolumne, Calaveras and Mariposa Counties, Bower Cave is by far one of the most unique and interesting caverns in this tri-county area. This magnificent marble and limestone hollow is rich in beauty as well as history and its chambers echo with Indian legends and as tales of tourists who once flocked to this underground wonder. However, over the past decades the grandeur of this cavern has faded into obscurity, and with the exception of the flocks of swallows darting to and fro from their mud nests clinging to the limestone cliffs, the cave seldom sees visitors.

Part of the reason for this is because of the high level of protection and the limited access to the cave that the Stanislaus National Forest Service allows. In fact, to visit the cave one must first obtain a permit from the Groveland Ranger Station in Buck Meadows, just inside the Mariposa County boundary. Upon receiving this permit, my friend D.J. and I began our adventure to Bower Cave. From Buck Meadows we followed a small back road, which twisted us farther into the colorful countryside of Mariposa County and a secluded section of the Stanislaus National Forest. Once known as the Coulterville-Yosemite Road, this now deserted road was once bustling with carriages and stagecoaches transporting tourists on the first wagon route to enter Yosemite Valley.

Yet like Yosemite Valley, Bower Cave was discovered long before white men ever set foot in the Sierra. For thousands of years the Native Americans of the Sierra knew about this cavern, and it is said to be one of the most significant cultural and spiritual places for the Me-Wuk people who inhabited the western slopes and foothills of the Sierra - including villages near the cavern and present-day Groveland. Me-Wuk legend tells us that the cave, known to them as “Oo-tin”, was the center for the creation of the world and its inhabitants and was home to the First People. Some still believe that the cavern is sacred passageway, and after death their sprits will return to Mother Earth through the cave.

Looking up at the lofty perch where musicians once played while people danced on the long gone dance floor that was constructed at the bottom of the cave.

The cave is still considered a sacred site of wonder and awe, and because of the cave’s importance to the Native Americans a chain link fence now protects the subterranean sanctuary. After crossing the mellow waters of the Merced River’s north fork, we parked at a turnout and followed a short trail up the eastern slope above the river to the fence guarding the grotto. Veins of marble and limestone rock protruding from the ground were telltale signs that we were in cave country and we were eager to see what treasures awaited behind the gate. Unlocking the padlock with the combination code given to us with the permit, it was only a few more steps before we were staring into the monstrous mouth of Bower Cave.

I’ve got to be honest; it wasn’t what I expected. I have been in dozens of caves and this was by far the most unique. Staring into the startling sinkhole, 100 feet in both diameter and depth, I witnessed a massive room carpeted with moss and ferns and shrubs, which sloped toward a small, dark pool at the bottom. It was an awesome site and was much different than the cold, dark, dampness I was accustomed to. It was a cave of light! Sunshine poured into the limestone and marble fortress, and instead of bats, dozens of swallows swooped and circled within its vast chambers. It was as if we were looking into another world. Yet as impressive as it was, I would’ve loved to see what it was like when it was first discovered by the 49’ers.

It is said that gold miners and early settlers were the first to discover the cave, but who found it first is a matter of dispute. One source said that on March 19, 1851, a miner known only as “Shore” went looking for lost horses and reported finding a large spring in a lime deposit along the North Fork of the Merced River. He also mentioned that he found and explored “a very remarkable cave” in the ledge, naming it Marble Springs Cave. Lacking a rope and climbing gear, Shore shinnied down one of the immense maple trees growing from the caverns floor. These maple trees are no longer growing in the cave, but a 1918 brochure of the cave describes, “four large big leaf maples, two of them seven feet in diameter at the base, growing in the cave and protrude from the mouth of the cave. They are covered in thick moss all the way to the top – 280 feet from the ground.”

 A view from the orchestra’s platform into the bottom of the cave where the deep pool that many cave divers have explored is located.

Although Shore may have been one of the first to discover the cave, it was miners Nicholas Arni and Frederick Schoeble  who claimed the land around the grotto in 1856. The two established a ranch and quarried marble in the area and eventually began to promote Marble Springs Cave as a tourist attraction. At first a windlass lowered people into the cave in a bathtub-size bucket, but it wasn’t long before a steep staircase replaced the daunting descent. By 1861, the cave property fell into the hands of Henry Becker who named the cave Bower Cave, due to the maple trees creating a perfect “bower” or twined shelter above the cave’s entrance. By this time Yosemite Valley had been discovered and the cave had become a prime tourist stop for travelers coming and going between Yosemite and San Francisco.

Moss covered cave formations hanging from the cliffs of the cave.

In 1865 geologist J.D. Whitney surveyed the cave and was impressed with what he saw. “The limestone is well displayed, and is remarkable as containing a very picturesque and quite unique cave. It is an immense crack in the limestone, open to the air at the surface, and irregularly widened out in a cave-like manner below…The picturesque effect of the cave is greatly heightened by the growth within it of three large maple trees, of which the branches project out at the top. The water at the bottom is exceedingly pellucid, and permits the ramifications of the crevice beneath its surface to be seen for a depth of at least forty feet. Access can be had to the bottom of the cave by a series of ladders, and a boat is permitted for the use by visitors, as is  a platform, which permits a comfortable and cool stay in this curious place, which seems to be peculiarly adapted for a picnic in hot weather.”Yet none can describe it more eloquently than the mountain poet, John Muir, who visited the cave on his way to Yosemite in 1869. “It is a delightful marble palace, not dark and dripping, but filled with sunshine, which pours into it through its wide-open mouth facing the south. It has a fine, deep, clear little lake with mossy banks embowered with broad-leaved maples, all under ground, wholly unlike anything I have seen…Many other caves occur on this limestone belt, but none like this, as far as I have learned, combining as it does sunny outdoor brightness and vegetation with the crystalline beauty of the underworld.”

Word spread rapidly of this amazing underworld, and with the completion of the Yosemite-Coulterville Toll Road in 1874, it was becoming a very profitable operation. Visitors to the cave paid fifty cents a tour and a number of buildings, including an eight-room hotel (1874), were erected to serve and accommodate the many tourists who frequented the historical site.

 Swarms of swallows leave their cliff-hanging nests in search of food.

At this time the cave was owned by Marie Wenger (Henry’s wife), and by 1898 Marie’s daughter Caroline inherited the cave and surrounding properties. Thanks to the ingenious idea of Frederick Wegner, a dance floor was constructed at the bottom of the grotto as a means of entertainment and enjoyment for the locals and tourists alike. Not only did Frederick haul in the timbers to construct the dance floor, but he also built a lofty perch for an orchestra to play in the acoustically perfect cave entrance. From the late 1800s to the early 1900s the Bower Cave was the place to be and community dances were held a couple times a month on the large dance floor at the bottom of the cave. Yet by the 1920s the floor began to sag and rot, and music was no longer heard drifting from the mouth of the cave.

By this time the mines had dried up and the Big Oak Flat Road (today’s Highway 120) replaced the Yosemite-Coulterville Road as the main entry to Yosemite, leaving the once lively community nothing more than a ghost town. Despite the efforts of the Wenger Family, the cave and surrounding lands no longer provided a means of earning a living and in 1945 they sold the property to James and Ida Rice. Unfortunately, in the early 1950s the cave was closed to the public when a visitor fell down the rotting staircase and was killed.
Yet in 1953, Bower Cave was back in the spotlight. Since its early founding, nearly everyone suspected that the cave extended underwater through the pool, but only brief glimpses were possible of a darkened hole leading down through the crystal water. But in March 1953, Jon Lindbergh (son of Charles Lindbergh) decided to shine some light on the subject. As a marine biology student at Stanford University, Jon had used scuba equipment for several years and was persuaded to visit Bower Cave to explore its mysteries. By this time the use of scuba equipment was beginning to be common in open water diving, but few dared to enter caves. In fact Jon’s dive was the first cave dive in the west (and came shortly after the first U.S. cave dive in Florida in late 1951.)

Believed to be one of the West’s largest underground lakes, Jon arrived at the site wearing his thin “frogman” suit and single air tank and dove into the frigid 50-degree waters of the cave. After swimming down to about 150 feet, Jon rose to the surface into a blackened void. Breaking the water’s surface, he found himself in a large chamber some 46 feet in diameter and nearly 60 feet high adorned with white stalactites, flowstone, and draperies…but unfortunately without any beach or landing area. Due to the cold water, Jon’s three dives were made over two days and lasted about one hour each. By the end he had explored inwards for nearly 350 feet. The organizers of the dives were delighted with his discoveries, and Jon and the cave received widespread publicity in newspapers across the state.

However, after Jon’s dives Bower Cave once again fell into obscurity. But despite the cave being closed, Cave Research Associates and the Stockton Sport Divers made more dive attempts in the late 1960s, but little came of them. In 1969, a San Francisco Bay Area group became interested in diving Lilburn Cave in Kings Canyon National Park and did their training in Bower Cave. During the next four years, the Bower Cave Diving Group explored the frigid depths of the cave on a biweekly basis, pushing the limits of Bower Cave and their gear. They found a huge passage beyond “Lindbergh’s Room” nearly 100 feet in diameter as well as four more air pockets along the tunnel-like passage. Due to the extreme depth, frigid waters, and the limitations of compressed air diving, progress was eventually stopped at 1,387 feet of passage at a depth just over 262 feet. These dives and others led to the discovery of rare organisms found only in Bower and surrounding Mariposa County caves. Yet the cave continues to hold onto its secrets in it’s darkest chambers beyond reaches of these explorers’ lights…

In 1981 Jack and Barbara Linkletter became the last private owners of Bower Cave and shared the cave with friends and fellow divers, but kept it out of the public eye. In 1991, through the efforts of Trust for Public Land, Friends of Bower Cave and the desires of the Linkletter family, the USDA Forest Service acquired Bower Cave, and it remains under USDA Forest Service administration today.

For those interested in visiting Bower Cave, contact the Groveland Ranger District located 8 miles east of Groveland at 24545 Highway 120. The District can be reached by phone at 962-7825.