Butler Cave Conservation Society Open House

The Butler Cave Conservation Society held and open house on August 22nd, 2026 to share knowledge with the public about the importance of caves and offer people and opportunity to do a little spelunking. AMRN reporter Nick Mullins was there to learn about cave conservation and see what new with BCCS and their partners.

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[Soft Music]
Nick Mullins:
Signs advertising caverns are a common sight in the Shenandoah Valley. From the world famous Luray Caverns and their Great Stelacpipe Organ to the Grand Cavern in Grottoes, there are many options for leisurely strolls into the region’s subterranean worlds. But for those looking for a little more adventure, they need to look no further than the small community of Burnsville, Virginia. I had the chance to catch up with the the Butler Cave Conservation Society at an open house they held August 22^nd.

Sarah Xenophon:
We are here today to reach out to the community, educate folks about caves and karst and sinkholes all over the place.

Nick Mullins:
That’s Sarah Xenophon, a board member for BCCS.

Sarah Xenophon:
So we kind of wanted to do some education, let folks know we’re resource. You know, if they want to explore their caves or learn more about the areas they’re in, but you can invite us out, we’ll show you around or we can show folks around our own caves.

Nick Mullins:
The Butler Cave Conservation Society owns multiple cave containing properties in the area, including the Butler Cave system with some 18 miles of passageways. The organization maintains the properties as they continually explore and map the system. But the organization is about more than just spelunking. While it’s easy to think of caves as simply dark labyrinths full of neat rock formations and the occasional cluster of bats, they play a much deeper role in our local ecosystems. Open houses also provide BCCS an opportunity to bring in other organizations to share their knowledge and important work.

Courtney Parker:
My name is Courtney Parker. I’m the Office and Programs Manager for Southeastern Cave Conservancy. So similar to Butler Cave Conservancy, we protect and conserve caves and karst lands in Southeast. Caves play a critical role in transporting our groundwater, which we all depend on. So if you care about having clean water, you also want to care about the quality of the water transportation underneath your feet whether that’s through a well or a lake or a stream.

Nick Mullins:
Andrew Young, water shed monitoring coordinator for the Cow Pasture River Preservation Association concurs.

Andrew Young:
The hydrology of the Cow Pasture and the Jackson watershed is, an amazing and remarkable natural resource. It’s super interconnected from the karst system. I’m sure there’s people that know way more about it than me, but I know they do die tracing and they still haven’t found where some of these caves sink to and come out, so it’s an incredibly complex system. Because of the hydrology and the importance of this area to the culture and economy, we’re here to protect the resource and make sure the water is clean for everyone.

Nick Mullins:
Beyond understanding the roles caves play in our water systems, they are also full of important scientific information that continues to be researched and explored. Rosie Bear, part of BCCS’ science committee explains.

Rosie Bear:
So we’ve been helping students with research on the chemistry of the sediment, with the US Geological Survey on age dates of the sediments, some speliothemanalysis, which will give you like your paleoclimate history as recorded in a cave formation.

Nick Mullins:
As I quickly found out, there are many things think about when it comes to cave preservation. From water quality protection to scientific research and protecting the habitats of our furry flying friends who keep down mosquito populations, making sure people appreciate and respect these areas is extraordinarily important.

But for some of us, there is a fascination with caves that goes beyond the hydrological and ecological importance. Caves are just… well… really cool.

Rowan:
The thing with caving is that everything has the chance to be very muddy, and slick, and slippery.

Nick Mullins:

That was Rowan, one of the many volunteers helping give tours that day. A seasoned spelunker, she provided our group with a lot of good advice to stay safe, and protect the cave.

Rowan:
Good rule of thumb is having three points of contact. In the cave we also have all sorts of very beautiful formations. The coolest ones are the glittery ones. Don’t touch them. That’s how you break them and that’s how you make them muddy and so that they aren’t going to grow in the future anymore.

Nick Mullins:
After Rowan gave us a thorough briefing on what to expect, we made our way through the heavy door and descended into the cave. [Soft Music Begins]

You could instantly feel the temperature and humidity drop, a welcome relief from the heat outside.

Rowan:
We’re in the entrance. Already we can see some pretty formations. You can see up there, some of the formations are coming in white. And that means it’s like kind of fresher. It hasn’t as much mud and accumulate on it.

Nick Mullins:
Over the next 20 minutes we continued almost a quarter mile into the depths of Butler Cave, working through only a few narrow passageways before we entered Sand Canyon. Along the way we saw gypsum working its way through the crevices.

[Inside the cave]
Is this, it’s not quartz, is it? – Gypsum?

Rowan:
It’s probably gypsum. You can see actually on the side, you can see these are some really nice prettie

s. These are kind of like the starts and gypsum flowers where the crystals kind of grow like petals.”

Nick Mullins:
It’s a completely different world full of mystery that beckons you to go around the next turn to see what else can be discovered. With so many of these cave systems in the region, it’s important for organizations like BCCS to help conserve these natural wonders, explore them, and help us understand their importance in our natural world.

If you’re interested in learning more about the region’s caves, you can connect with the Butler Cave Conservation Society through their website butlercave.org.

For Allegheny Mountain Radio News, this is Nick Mullins.