There is a small footbridgeat the point where the riverdisappears underground.When the water is low youcan leave the trail here andfollow the old river bed. Ashort walk will bring you toa feature known as theFalls. Water only rarely flowsover the Falls now, but youcan see clear evidence ofthe erosive power of thehuge volume of glacialmeltwater that coursedthrough this channelthousands of years ago.

OTONABEEC O N S E R V A T I O N

289 Caves Road Warsaw, Ontario Canada

(705) 652-3161 / 1-877-816-7604

www.warsawcaves.com / caves@nexicom.net

WarsawCavesConservation Area and Campground

Spelunkers Guide to the Caves

Warsaw Caves Conservation Area and Campground is

located just 30 minutes northeast of Peterborough.

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The caves were created by the chemical erosion of thelimestone bedrock. Limestone has a distinctive crystalstructure and it will fracture and crack in a specificpattern. As the ancient river flowed over the bedrock itmade its way into and through these cracks. High carbondioxide levels made the river water slightly acidic and itdissolved the limestone over thousands of years,widening the natural cracks and fissures in the rock. Intime the river was flowing both over and through thebedrock, in its surface bed and in underground channels.This type of landscape is known as karst topography.

At the height of this ice age 20,000 years ago muchof Ontario was covered in sheets of ice two to threekilometers thick. When these glaciers began toretreat 12,000 years ago, meltwaters created pre-historic Lake Algonquin (the present-day upperGreat Lakes and Lake Simcoe) and Lake Iroquois(present-day Lake Ontario).

The flow of glacial meltwater from Lake Algonquinto Lake Iroquois formed the Kirkfield Spillway, whichincluded the Indian and Otonabee Rivers. Theancient rivers were very different from the shallow,placid Indian River of today, being more like themodern-day Niagara River. The deep, swift, glacier-fed river shaped the landscape found within theconservation area, leaving behind caves, kettles,limestone cliffs and ledges, underground channels

interesting natural features.and other

karst (kärst) a region made up of porouslimestone containing deep fissures and sinkholes andcharacterized by underground caves and streams.[German, after Kras, name of the hinterland of Trieste,Slovenia]

noun -

As the glaciers retreated, the weight of ice carried by thebedrock lessened and it rose up in a process known asisostatic rebound. The shifting of the bedrock andcontinued erosion caused the collapse of undergroundriver channels, leaving behind a series of caves and thebroken limestone landscape we see now.

The site is geologically stable today and the rebound ofthe bedrock means there is no longer water flowingthrough the caves, although there are still manyunderground rivers flowing through the area.

and a river canoe guide are available at the gatehouse oronline for download at www.warsawcaves.com.

How were the caves formed?

The Warsaw area is characterized by limestonebedrock formed in the Paleozoic era seas thatcovered the entire region over 350 million yearsago. This bedrock was shaped through a series ofPleistocene epoch glaciations, including theWisconsin ice age which ended 10,000 years ago.

How were the kettles formed?

Along the course of the old riverbed there are a numberof potholes or round depressions in the bedrock knownas rockmills or kettles. These were formed when granitestones trapped in the river current were spun around inplace, grinding their way into the underlying limestone.

Opposite the caves is a trail that leads to thekettle formations and a scenic lookout30m above the Indian River. Trail maps of the

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Spelunkers Guide to the Warsaw Caves

The Warsaw Caves Conservation Area andCampground takes its name from a series of sevencaves found in the park. This guide will provide youwith some information about the geologic history ofthe site and tips for exploring the caves and otherspecial features.

What do I need to go spelunking?

Make the most of your exploration of the caves bybeing properly prepared. A visit to the WarsawCaves is not a walking tour – it is more like anadventure in an underground jungle gym!

wear sturdy, good fitting shoes

wear clothing that you don’t mind dirtying

use a flashlight or a headlamp (headlamps areavailable for sale at the gatehouse)

Helmets, climbing ropes, and other climbing gearare not required on the caves trail.

Keep in mind that you are sharing the park withothers. Please be respectful of the site and otherusers.

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spelunker (spi-luhng-ker) - a person whoexplores caves, especially as a hobby; a caver; apotholer. [From obsolete spelunk, cave, fromMiddle English, from Old French spelunque,from Latin sp

noun

ēlunca, from Greek spēlunx.]

risk and must exercise caution. Have fun, but conductyourself in a safe and responsible manner!

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You can easily enter cave#1 by either of two largeopenings. From the firstchamber you make adescent of roughly 4.5m byway of several ledges. Tothe right is a passage thatends at a large chamber. Tothe left is a narrowerpassage that will lead you tocave #2.

The entrance to the secondcave is a bit more of asqueeze, but it opens upinto a chamber from whereyou can move in any one ofthree directions. Straightahead across the flatpolished rock is the passagethat leads to cave #1. If youlook at the ceiling here youwill see some of the fewfossils on the site. To theleft of the flat polished rockis a descent that dead endsat a series of lowerchambers. If you move tothe left, but bypass thedescent, you will find apassage leading to cave #3.

You have to enter cave #3feet first – use your rightfoot to find your footing asyou lower yourself throughthe cave entrance. Once youare in you again have achoice of three directions oftravel. To the right beyond amound of rocks is thepassage to cave #2. To theleft is a horizontal crevicethat you crawl through toreach a circular chamber. Ifyou climb up past the righthand side of the crevice youwill come to a pair of exitsto the surface.

You will have to wiggle yourway into cave #4 feet first,but it is – quite literally –the coolest of the caves.This is the ice cave wherethe temperature is alwaysabout 2ºC and where youcan find ice well into thesummer season. To the leftyou can crawl your way intoa small chamber or, to theright, through a narrow,

hard-to-see passage that leads to cave #5.

For those who may be uncomfortable in anenclosed space, you may want to begin yourexplorations with cave #5. It is easily accessibleand is the most open and spacious of the caves.Standing on the flat trail roughly a half dozenmetres before the entrance of cave #4, turnsharply to the right and make your way up theslope to cave #5. Or you can continue to follow thetrail from here past the lastthree caves and on to theDamselfly Pond.

From the entrance of cave#5 you can go left – feetfirst to secure your footing –to enter a narrow passagethat leads back to cave #4.To the right you can follow ashort open passage thatoffers several vertical climbsto the surface.

Cave #6 resembles a longcorridor with high ceilings.The entrance is very steep,so be careful when loweringyourself in. If you feeluncomfortable enteringhere, there is anotherunmarked entrance 15mfurther down the trail. Fromthe entry marker, moving tothe left will lead you to adead end, while moving tothe right will take you downa passage that has severalvertical exits.

To get to cave #7 you needto carefully make your wayacross large slabs of brokenlimestone and descendthrough a crevice to theentrance. The cave itself isopen to the sky. Aftermaking your way into thecave you will travel a shortdistance to an open area.

You can exit here or continue on to another open areafrom where you have the choice of exiting or making a10m underground belly crawl to the next exit.

After leaving the cave #7, make your way down to thepath at the bottom of the slope. You can return up thetrail to the left to the parking lot or follow the trail tothe right to the Damselfly Pond. The Indian Riverbegins to re-emerge here after flowing undergroundfor several hundred metres. In the summer, if you sitquietly you can hear the beating of the wings of thelarge numbers of black-winged damselflies that arefound here. Stay very still and one may land on you.

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Lookout Trailand the Kettles

Before you go: The caves, the uneven terrain,and other natural features of the park can behazardous. Visitors use the site at their own

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be polite and act safely in close quarters

don’t go caving alone – take a buddy

young children should be supervised

don’t litter – carry out your empty water bottlesand food wrappers!

don’t smoke – butt out before you go caving

don’t move rocks or logs, and don’t damage trees

don’t deface the caves in any way

no dogs in the caves, please

no alcohol

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These caves arenot linked!

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