Having done a random drive for my previous WI exploration a few weeks back, this time I decided to specifically seek something out, and I started by searching my favorite things to explore - anything underground. I scrolled through the meager cave listings Wisconsin has to offer, and a particular review under Cherney Maribel Caves decided for me that this was the place to visit. I'm guessing this person went there expecting a nice touristy cave with a gift shop, because their review was a warning to others - that this was not a business, but an actually cave in the wild.
Maribel Caves is plural. In total there are seven caves located within this cliff in eastern Wisconsin, originally documented in the late 1800s and soon after purchased by Charles Steinbrecher, who in 1900 founded Maribel Caves. Remains of Steinbrecher's hotel still stand on an adjacent field to the cliff, and although the field is private property, the ruins can still be admired from afar.
From my hotel, and including running back from the parking garage to the sixth floor because I forgot my phone cord, it took me an hour and a half to arrive at the Cherney Maribel Caves Park, putting it just after 7:00pm. Pretending not to see a sign declaring that the park closed every night at dusk, I took off into the woods.
I was double-timing it down the trail and within five minutes came to a stone wall and structure that took me completely by surprise. At this point I knew nothing about the separate hotel ruins, and since this building was marked no trespassing, I continued on my way.
In 1963 the current owner of this land, Adolph Cherney, sold it to Manitowoc County, which used it to create their very first county park. And because this is a public park, helpful little signs have been posted to point you toward the good stuff.
I followed the sign for New Hope Cave, and soon found myself wondering if I should have spent my free night at the hotel bar. A steel door stood between me and the New Hope Cave, and a big steel lock prevented that big steel door from opening.
What I did not know at the time is that, although seven caves can be found along this stretch of cliff, at 200' in length the New Hope Cave is the largest of the bunch, and mostly closed to the public. I say mostly because tours are given by volunteers of the Wisconsin Speleological Society once every month. Only on a Sunday though - show up on a Wednesday night when you're pushing dusk, and this cave is strictly off limits.
The good news was that most of the other caves I found were wide open to exploration. The bad news was that I was exploring in a work shirt, my favorite pair of sneakers that I hoped to keep clean, and with just my cell phone flashlight. But if I pride myself on anything it is never backing down from a good story, and so that is how I entered my next find, the appropriately named Pancake Cave.
Although not much bigger than our New Hampshire cubby-hole boulder caves, Maribel Caves differ in that they were formed in the more traditional sense - by water running steadily through soft limestone for eons of years. I read once that due to a whole bunch of physics, it is impossible for a river to form in a straight line. Twists and turns are an inevitable result of Nature's forces. I think the same holds true for caves. Cooper Cave, the next one down the path, was a fine example of this, passing through a winding hallway before terminating in a cozy little room.
I've gotten pretty good at playing with perspective in my pictures, and although this next tunnel may look like something I took a nice easy stroll through, I traversed the Cave of Treasures entirely on my hands and knees. I soon reached a room big enough to squat in, and although the tunnel continued out the far side of the room, this was the point I called it a night, crab walking my way back out before using the last of my bottled water to wash off my hands and knees.
I ended up exploring three of the seven caves before darkness chased me out of the woods that night, which means I still have over 50% of the job to complete. I made it back to the hotel quite late, and was tired enough the next morning that I unwittingly strolled through the airport metal detectors with a beer cap in my pocket. Not my finest moment, but it gave me a chance to get to know the TSA screener on an intimate basis. When telling the story of this trip to the mid-west, however, I'll leave those details for the blooper reel, and instead focus on my adventure of an after-hours chase through unknown woods in search of wild caves.
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https://www.maribelcaves.com/
