New room found at Grand Canyon Caverns

Cavers discovered a new room at the back of Grand Canyon Caverns this summer after a 7-year search.  They believe it may lead to a larger passageway.  Explorers from the Arizona Grotto Association are mapping the find now, and the cavern owners
hopes to open tours soon.

Grand Canyon Caverns are privately owned and reported to the be the largest dry cave in the U.S.   [Right, one of the first pictures from the new room. Photo credit, Grand Canyon Caverns]

The National Park Service reports that "Hidden within the Grand Canyon are an estimated 1,000 caves. Of those, 335 have been recorded. Very few have been mapped or inventoried. Most have developed in the limestone of the Redwall and Muav formations, although some are known to exist in other formations."

Our Grand Canyon expert believes the Grand Canyon Caverns are in the Kaibab Limestone.

Correction (9-16-15):   Our team is saying the cave is in the Redwall Limestone, not the Kaibab as thought. Take a look at our geologic map 35.5291, -113.2316. There are no Permian age rocks in the area.  And take a look at the cave’s website http://gccaverns.com/about/history/  They don’t report the formation name, but they report it’s Mississippian age.

On a side note, Lhoist’s Nelson lime operation is located near the cave area. The quarry’s Redwall limestone is so pure it’s reported to be the only U.S. source used to produce metallic calcium at a New England plant.