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DJ
Nebula's Hike To Timpanogos Cave Story
submitted by Dj Nebula Of SLC 
Timpanogos Caves are a National Park I have wanted
to visit since I was a little kid. And it has a trail to hike to get to
it- so I am there! A great drive to this canyon, you get a back side view
of Lone Peak, The Pfeifferhorn as you make your way to the mouth of the
canyon. There is a fee station right at the mouth of the canyon, it is
$3.00 and it helps keep the canyon maintained. Once you get to the
Visitors Center, you can park either in the main lot, or across the street
in provided parking spaces. There are restrooms, a gift shop, and a small
snack stand. To purchase the tour of the caves, go into the main building,
and ask the Rangers on duty where to purchase them. The tour is $6.00.
They will give you brief trail instructions, and times for when you can
tour the caves. Make sure you have water and snacks for energy for the
trail. It is a 20% grade all the way to the cave entrance. Along the way
there are interpretive trail signs about the geology and wildlife that
inhabits the hills and surrounding area. There is one note of caution, red
sections of the trail are rock slide areas which are designated no
stopping zones. And there is quite the population of Rattlesnakes in the
hills on the way up to the cave. Stay on the trail, don't stop in the red
zones, and you will be just fine.
Over 100 years ago, a Mormon settler Martin Hansen was
up the slopes cutting timber, when he noticed the tracks of a mountain
lion. He decided to follow the tracks up the slope to see where they led
to. He came upon the opening in the rock, which he figured, that must be
this cougars den. This was the opening to what would later be named after
him as Hansen's Cave. Hansen did not enter the cave that day, but later
returned with rope and candles and explored the cave. Then in 1915 the
second cave was discovered by 2 teenage boys James W. Gough and Frank
Johnson. It was the entrance to Timpanogos Cave. Then on a hunting
expedition, the grandsons of Martin Hansen, George and Wayne Hansen were
looking across the canyon at the two cave entrances, when they noticed a
3rd whole in the mountain side. They returned with ropes, candles and the
now 74 year old Martin Hansen. In 1922, Timpanogos cave was designated a
National Monument. Today, it is still a spectacular place to visit, bring
your headlamp and a jacket too because the cave holds a temperature during
the summer of 45 degrees.
I started the tour in Hansens Cave, a large room with
stalactites and water carved outcrops in the rock, and everything had sort
of a brass color to it. On through a passage that wound its way down to
Hidden Lake, a cave pool on your way to the middle cave. As we pass the
growth in the rock there is a small opening, and a ladder from one of the
original explorers from the early days of this caves discovery. Then it
was on to the Great Heart of Timpanogos. A 5 ½ feet long, 3 feet wide
4000 pound stalactite which is composed of 3, possibly more tremendous
stalactites. As we traversed our way through the Timpanogos cave, it had
colors that were amazing. It was a great trip, nice to see the inside of a
mountain, because I am usually climbing the outside. Go see this!
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For Larger Picture 
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For Larger Picture Trail
Stats
American Fork Canyon- Visitor Center- 4.5 miles to
trailhead
Distance to Timpanogos Caves- 1 ½ miles to cave entrance
Elevation Gain- 1065 feet to 6730 feet
Hiking Time- 56 minutes
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