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nobodysmama
Dress warmly, wear sturdy footwear and keep fresh batteries handy for that lamp, flashlight or whatever. It's long (nearly 2 miles?), dark, and in a couple spots the cave is difficult (if not downright impossible) for the out-of-shape and serious claustrophobes to navigate.
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N6703UDmichaeld
These are Lava tubes up by Mt. St Helens---southern side. It is quite a ways from longview and would take most of the day. The site is well maintained by the forest servicel. You can climb down the stairs and look around in the large chambers or if you what a challenge you can scramble through the caves to the upper enterance. Be sure to take at least two sources of light each, warm clothing and gloves would be handy. It is something to see
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714austink
What a natural adventure! The lava tunnels are truly incredible and make for quite an exploration. Would absolutely recommend!
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randolphm403
This is a very good cave for people to start out with:1. It's easy to find.2. It's on a paved road and has a paved parking lot.3. Except for a few places, it's tall enough to stand up and you don't have to watch your head, so you don't need a helmet.4. Unless you go off the main tube or to the very end, you don't have to crawl, so you don't need knee pads.5. It's open every day.6. You don't need to listen to a tour guide telling dumb stories.7. It's two miles long.8. It has two entrances, so you don't have to backtrack through the hard part.9. It has neat formations such as a skylight, a lava ball, and a lava fall.10. It's free (with annual forest service pass).11. It's challenging, but within reach of most healthy adults and teenagers.12. Since the main tube doesn't have bats, you don't need to worry about being quiet.13. You're allowed to bring a tripod for great pictures.14. It's so big, so even in the busy season it's not really crowded.15. You don't have to wait in line for a tour.Plan to take a long time though! I recommend going through the bottom (easy) part first, then going back to the parking lot for a water, food, and potty break. Then, if you're still interested, go up and do the hard part. That will easily take two hours, since it's longer and slower going with all the rocks to climb over. Seriously, one time I went with a friend who had never been to this cave. We were thorough and took our time to enjoy everything. We were here six hours. It was totally worth it. Dress for cool weather though!!! The temperature in the cave is about fifty degrees Fahrenheit all the time.
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Hgtravl
Walk in the depths of the earth with the Ape Cave Lava Tubes!Visited here in the fall time with my husband and Uncle. We had a blast.You can park in the parking lot provided, and walk threw the forrest to the entrance. We went with our Uncle who is a experienced local to the Lava Tubes. He knew what to bring for this adventure:1. Flashlights with extra batteries2. Water bottles3. Hats/Light Jackets. 4. Sneakers or BootsI do give a warning to people who have Claustrophobia or afraid of dark places... You do not realize how dark it is until you go under and even tho it is a wide and pretty open cave, you may get the feeling of being trapped under ground. When we turned our flashlights of, and I put my hand out in front of my face, I literally could not even sense or see my hand in front of my eyes. I recommend the hat because there is constant dripping water above you. Do not wear any open toed shoes, as the floor of the cave can be rocky and messy.We spent a good hour in the caves. We did not take the "harder" part of the cave which is clearly marked. We just kept on walking forward in the caves until we hit a part where you would have to literally crawl on your belly threw a tight opening, thats when we turned back. It was a overall hour or a little more trip. It is a fun experience, something worth doing.
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Tush4
Did it with my spouse (both 55 years old). If you do the long uphill walk take head strap lights and good walking shows. Do not take heavy clothing as it is not so cold and you work...be ready for some roock climbs so you need both hands. Wonderfull experiance.
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213AshleyC213
This is something my husband really wanted to do. We started on the upper tube and it was just too rocky. I would do this on another day where could start early in the morning. We did the lower tube and it took a little over an hour round trip. I would highly recommend hiking boots that are waterproof. We went in October and it was raining, I was very thankful for my raincoat because water was pretty steady coming in from above. I would also recommend a headlamp, any light would be good but gets to keep your hands free. The ground is not level and rocky so wear shoes with good soles with ankle support. Cave was about 42 degrees so dress in layers. Only fee is $5 per car.
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twinsmom070
My husband really wanted to do this. So we drove from the metro Seattle area and stayed the night in Longview the night before. This helped a lot. Because otherwise the drive is a little long, and then to go hiking, and drive back the same night, is a bit much for us. We got up first thing and drove to the Ape Cave from the hotel. Our children are 11 and twin 8 yr old's. They had no problem whatsoever and enjoyed the cave. We took the cave lights (the ones on elastic that fit around your head). I had read that the lanterns that you can rent there were hard to hold on to while walking around at the same time. But we figured out that the lanterns are really nice because 1) the light from them is warmer and you can actually see better because the light range is much farther. 2) As long as you are not going to the difficult cave (they don't recommend for families), then you will only need your hand in about 3 places for just a few seconds. 3) Children like to "run/walk fast" ahead and its hard to see them and where they are going with only the small lights on their/your heads. These produce enough light to see a little ways directly in front of you. But not enough to see very far ahead or for a "crowd" of people. *To do it again, we would bring both. The individual lights for all of us, to help with a small area right in front of us (where your feet are stepping). And we would also rent one lantern for the group of us, to see farther ahead, to see more details in the cave, and to have a better view of our group.The cave itself is fairly flat. However, do not wear open toed shoes or flip flop types. Wear boots or sturdy athletic shoes. Although the cave is fairly flat, it does have small ridges in about half of it that you could get flimsy shoes caught on and trip. And note, the cave is similar to cement-so it's very hard if you fall. Our kids liked the long length of it. But honestly, I could of probably turned around half way. It's all pretty much the same until you get to the place that you "can" choose to crawl in. (very few do this)I would not recommend this for really small kids. You cannot take strollers in the cave. Toddlers would fall a lot and hurt themselves if you let them walk. And carrying them the entire way would get old very quick. "If" your child does well in the dark, and does not trip/fall a lot, then 5 yrs would be the youngest I would recommend.And take jackets! It's about 42 degrees year round in the cave. After 30 minutes, you will be chilly! There is no way to get a wheel chair down, and there are steal stairs that you must climb down to get to the opening of the cave. Bathrooms are above before you climb down the stairs. GO before you venture down, especially due to the temperature getting colder once you proceed. Don't take anything extra that you don't have too. It's hard to see if you drop it, and you won't need much. This means no food. It doesn't take that long...you can wait for a snack until you are back on the surface. We did not take water either. Unless you have problems with dehydration while walking, don't bother to take it. You'll be fine until you get to the top again. *And please realize, when you get to the end, you simply turn around and walk back.
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OrnitH
We had not taken into account at all the long drive to get here from our hotel at Woodland. It takes about an hour drive each way. There are two trails possible in the cave; we have done the shorter one that takes about an hour. It is good to have a flash lamp each, preferably a hat/miner style. We rented a lamp at the visitor center, which is only $5 and was a great addition as it also warms you up a little... We brought our fleeces, but it is really cold there.The kids (tweens) got a little bored after a while and claim it was way too easy. At the end it seems to be a dead end, but you can actually crawl further to a small room where you really have to turn back. I tried, but gave up when i was flat on my belly and could not manage with the lovely lamp in hand... The kids enjoyed that part a lot. We also saw a white mice there defeating gravity on the rocks above us.Another bit of helpful info - we discovered after the fact that they honor the Oregon parks pass - we had a 5 days pass from our Oregon Coast part of the trip which we had not imagined will be any good in Washington... but you CAN use it and save the $5 parking fee.
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Kachee
But my husband was all for it, so I went for it. I'm not a fan of being underground in mines and such. It took me about 10-15 min of being under there to start feeling comfortable. We did the upper tube and it was fine getting around. You have to climb over big rock piles and I was wishing I wore a pair of work out gloves. They would be perfect for climbing around! When we first got down there we had our head lamps on and thought it wouldn't be enough light. Give your eyes a few minutes to adjust. If you are going alone or with 2 people, I would recommend an extra light source like a flashlight to better see some of the neat parts of the cave.
