Warren Cave Nature Preserve
KEY STATS
Alachua County, Florida
1991
+4 miles
Warren Cave in Alachua County is the longest known dry cave in Florida with more than four miles of mapped passage. With the help of the Florida Speleological Society, The Nature Conservancy was able to acquire this property in 1976. However, in early 1991, the entire tract of land was donated to the NSS to ensure perpetual access for experienced cavers.
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During the 1850s, Florida was embroiled in the Seminole Wars. A series of battles was fought up and down the Florida peninsula. Militia and home guard units sprang up everywhere and settlers built strategically located forts throughout the states. Among the many engagements of the wars was one which is closely tied to the history of Warren Cave. On Sept. 11, 1836, Colonel John Warren led his men in the battle of San Felasco Hammock near the site of Warren Cave.
Whether or not Colonel Warren was actually the discoverer of Warren Cave, as local tradition claims, history at least lends some basis for the assumption in the historical record. Colonel Warren did at least lend his name to the cave. John Lee Williams, writing in 1837, gives this account of the battle in In The Territory of Florida:
“On the tenth of September a cart attended by three white men and two negroes was sent from Newmansville (near the present town of Alachua) to gather corn in a field about a mile from the village; they were fired upon by Indians. The men and Negroes escaped to the fort, but left the cart in the hands of the enemy. It was a rainy evening: the spies were sent to discover the situation and force of the enemy. They were discovered in the hammock of San Felasco four miles distant, about 300 in number. The next morning (Sabbath) Colonel Warren marched out to attack them at the head of 150 men, 100 mounted volunteers, 25 gentlemen citizens, and 25 United States troops. He advanced in three columns, the right led by Col. Warrren, the left by Col. Wills and the centre by Capt. Tompkins with the regulars and a 24 pound howitzer. Within three quarters of a mile of the hammock they were met by the enemy, and the battle immediately commenced along the right wing and centre, while the enemy attempted to turn the left flank; but were charged with spirit by Col. Wills, who drove them into the scrub on the border of the hammock from which they were routed by the artillery, which played upon them with great effect. Their next attempt was on the right; but they were soon driven again under range of the howitzer, which did good execution. The Indians twice charged upon the centre, to take the howitzer, but were repelled, and they were at length routed at all points and driven one and a half miles into a dense hammock.” (probably that in which Warren Cave lies, judging from the map in William's book).
A narrow stagecoach road passed near the cave during the latter 1800s and early 1900s. One of the stage stops, in fact, was quite near the cave. Warren Cave came to be well-known through north-central Florida and when the USGS mapped the area in 1894, they figured Warren Cave predominately on the topographic sheet.
As it remains today, Warren Cave was a popular spot for week-end outings. Early adventurers explored the cave by the light of torches and kerosene lanterns. The soot they left on the walls and ceilings remains today — heavy up to the pit just within the entrance and almost imperceptible as you approach the end of the Historical Section. Two of these early explorers are known to have fallen to their deaths while trying to attempt to cross over the top of the pit. Sometime during the l89Os an attempt was made to commercialize the cave and wooden ladders were installed in the pit. Needless to say, the attempt was a failure.
Bats were once abundant, but are now seen only infrequently in Warrens Cave. The cave has probably sheltered a small but steady population of mice living near the entrance since it was first opened. During past speleological expeditions, when waste food was available, a second group of mice nested more deeply within the cave. The second group no longer exists. The author knows of only one specimen of slimy salamander that has been observed or collected in the cave. It is known to occur in the surrounding terrestrial environment, however, so it may be at least an occasional visitor.
When ground water levels are relatively high (over 150 feet msl), a pool of water is formed to the west of the Crossroads. This pool is the type locality for the cave crayfish (Procambarus pallidus). The southern bullfrog and leopard frog have also been observed here. The pool is presently dry as the water table is relatively low (around 40 feet msl). Cave crickets can usually be found in the twilight zone near the entrance. Other insects and spiders are more rarely observed.
Warren Cave is a large network maze type cavern located along the west facing escarpment, between the Peninsular Highlands and the Limestone Sinkhole Plain, to the west. The cave was dissolved out of limestone and limey sandy clay at a time when the water table in the region was at or above the present level of the cave, possibly 30,000 years ago or even earlier. The cave is formed at and below the contact between the 60 million year old Ocala Limestone (formerly Crystal River Limestone Formation) and the overlying Hawthorne Group, a marine offshore limey sandy clay, deposited over 12 million years ago. The Ocala-Uplift to the West fractured the rock in the area, giving the groundwater a multitude of cracks to dissolve out and form what is now Warren Cave. Where the impermeable Hawthorne caps the limestone in this area, it prevents water from aggressively dissolving away the limestone as has happened further West towards the towns of Newberry and Alachua. It is this "caprock" that has preserved the hill, and thus, the cave for us to see today.
There are three basic levels passable in the cave. The uppermost is formed in the semi soluble Hawthorne Group and averages four feet high and five feet wide. The upper level is intermittent throughout the cave, is connected to the middle level at numerous places, and lies 6 feet directly above the middle level.
The middle level is the main and most extensive in the cavern network and is dissolved from the very soluble Ocala Limestone. The ceiling of much of the middle level is chert, in many places several-feet thick. This chert was, at one time, sand on the bottom of the sea floor. In several places, large chert pendants can be seen hanging from the ceiling, artifacts from a period before the cave was formed. The middle level varies in cross section but is generally no greater than 6 feet wide and 10 feet high.
The third and lowermost level is an expression of the nearness to the surface of the middle level passageways and the resulting greater influx of surface water into the cave during its development. This influx of water produces greater solution in the fractures along which the cave passageways are formed. The entrance sink, drop-off areas, as well as the diggings, and in the extreme rear of the cave, "the pit", are the expressions of this phenomenon. The lower level is typically 5 feet wide and extends down as much as 40 feet below the middle level.
In general, Warren Cave is typical of most caves that have not had extensive flowing water present to carve out deep passageways. The passageway development is generally on a single level, consisting of many interconnected passageways. Putting specific times on the creation of the cave and its varied features is very difficult due to the uncertainty of the regional geology and its obvious role in the development of the cavern. Such data is now being collated and correlated and will be disseminated as soon as reasonable theories are attained. Until that time the unpublished article Warren Cave by Albert Krause should be referred to with the understanding that ongoing research has already shed some light on many speculative aspects of the paper.
Visitors may visit the property and/or Warrens Cave by completing a waiver and obtaining a permit to visit this preserve. Approval of all permits will be at the discretion of the Preserve Management Team. The Preserve Access Rules will be provided to applicants upon approval of their permit.
To request a permit, click on the button at the top of this page or go to the Permit System where you will be prompted to create a login and select the NSS Nature Preserve for which you would like a permit.
Requests for access can be made by applying for a permit through the Permit System where you will be prompted to create a login and select the NSS Nature Preserve for which you would like a permit.
For additional questions about this NSS Nature Preserve, please contact the Preserve Management Team via email at: WarrenPreserve@caves.org.
