Vancouver Island - Horne Lake Caves - Road Trip 3

Now that we were settled in our campsite, we visited the Horne Lakes Provincial Park and the Caves on the next day.

We had booked a caving tour with the park website, the entrance to the caves is further ahead of the lake. Its a 80 km drive from the campsite, the region around the lake is largely covered by Arbutus trees with its red/orange colored bark.

The caves are located uphill with a 20 mins hike. We had to carry our own waterproof rainshell jackets and thick rubber gloves. The temperature inside the cave is a bit lower than outside, water dripping from everywhere, small streams running inside and even waterfalls ! 

The rubber gloves really helped to hold on to the rocky terrain inside the cave and navigate without hurting our hands. The tour included helmets, high power headlamps and a guide. We are wearing masks since this was during summer of 2020 and Covid was still very active. Apart from that, the air inside the cave is extremely pure, refreshing and even our breath and touch can damage the stalactite and stalagmite formations. 

Our guide was fantastic and explained to us a variety of things on our way to the caves. One thing they do is keep the caves locked, so once we entered in, she made sure to lock them. I think it's very important thing to note, that this cave is extremely dangerous to navigate on your own. It's full of fallen rock, complete darkness, not for those who get claustrophobic, if you are lost and out of battery, no one will ever locate you, there is no mobile cellular network inside, and the cave is not a flat terrain, it is in fact, going down and uphill, with lots and lots of falls and crevices.

   

At the same time, schools bring kids for exploration in these caves. A guide is must and to keep on the track. There are a few slides to go down, can be fun, can be scary. There are also some ladders and an entire waterfall to climb up one at a time. This was the most adventurous part of the tour. At one point, you can hear others but cannot even see them due to the structure of the caves. You definitely need good hiking boots here to protect from any injury and keep yourself stable in this terrain.

Another thing that I distinctly remember and felt like a surreal experience was when all of us turned off our headlamps at the same time. We stood or sat still in complete darkness for a few moments to soak in the cave environment. Turn by turn (distanced apart), they also allowed us to lower the mask and breathe in the uniquely fresh air from the ground below.

Cave Map:

There is an office-cum-museum-cum-store for the caves and it had a splendid collection of fossils, rocks and old cave discovery photos and maps you must see before ending your trip.

In the rock collection, there was gypsum, amethyst, magnetic hematite, peacock ore (a super blend of colors), pyrite and more ! We bought some magnetic rocks that now decor our fireplace.

I hope this post helps you plan your nearest caving expedition and visit the island for all it has to offer !