Little Huson Cave Park, Regional District Of Mount ... Cave Park Overview(1).pdf · Little Huson...

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Transcript of Little Huson Cave Park, Regional District Of Mount ... Cave Park Overview(1).pdf · Little Huson...

Page 1: Little Huson Cave Park, Regional District Of Mount ... Cave Park Overview(1).pdf · Little Huson Cave Park, Regional District Of Mount Waddington, 2006 page 4 of 5 BIOPHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Page 2: Little Huson Cave Park, Regional District Of Mount ... Cave Park Overview(1).pdf · Little Huson Cave Park, Regional District Of Mount Waddington, 2006 page 4 of 5 BIOPHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Little Huson Cave Park, Regional District Of Mount Waddington, 2006 page 2 of 5

Regional District of Mount Waddington Parks

Little Huson Cave Regional Park

Location: On Atluck Creek where it leaves Little Huson Lake

Map Reference: NTS 92 1/7

Air PhotoReference: B.C. 5264 #37

Size: 4.9 hectares

Elevation: 75 metres

Status: S.U.P. #11693, Lease under application

Vegetation: Predominately fir and cedar with scattered yew along the creek.

Understory: Salal, huckleberry, ferns, (a great deal of monkey moss) moss and lichen on rockfaces in the canyon.

INTRODUCTION

The Regional District of Mt. Waddingtonidentified the need for this park in astudy undertaken in 1978. This reporthas been updated from the originalproposal for the Park which was firstprovided protection in 1984.

Vancouver Island, especially thenorthern half, is an area rich with karsttopography. There are over 1,000known caves on the island and possiblyjust as many waiting to be discovered.Few people, however, have ever beeninside a cave. The Little Huson LakeCave Park offers a unique opportunityto introduce the public to caves andother karst features. Although the parkcontains 15 caves, it was chosen fordevelopment mainly because of thesuperficial rock formations within theAtluck Creek canyon. The site is goodfor the inexperienced caver; no specialequipment is necessary and there areno delicate features that can bedestroyed by a careless orunknowledgeable visitor.

The Cathedral “River” Cave

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BIOPHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

The Little Huson Lake Cave Park is anarea of spectacular natural beauty,containing karst features which are uniqueto Vancouver Island. All exposed bedrockis Quatsino Formation limestone, whichoccurs to a depth of 300 meters at thislocation. The limestone bed has a gentle10 to 15° slope to the northeast. The formof local karst features is dictated by theslope of the limestone. This type of karstformation is referred to as "beddingcontrolled", as caves tend to be formedalong the bedding plane rather than injoints or cracks. This type of cave tends tobe flat. The Little Huson area has a fewjoint-controlled passages running off from the main canyon and cave system.

The Cave Park iscentered on the AtluckCreek Canyon. Thiscanyon has a numberof interesting karstfeatures, including anatural bridge, and alarge "cathedral" caveentrance where thecreek flowsunderground for 60metres. The bridgefeature is consideredunique to VancouverIsland.

The canyon itself wasprobably formed by adown-cutting surface

stream which then, as now, flowed underground onlybriefly. Large limestone boulders around the entranceto the underground river cave indicate that the cavehas collapsed a bit. The (collapsed) arch and bridgewere created by eddies where the stream meanderedwhich eventually wore through the rock face. As the stream cut further into the highly solublelimestone, one rock "bridge" was left above water. Many of the 15 other caves in the area are joint-controlled features formed by groundwater in a process unrelated to stream action.

The park has a number of other minor karstfeatures which could be of interest to visitors; forexample "grykes" shallow cracks in the ground;and "scallops", rippled rock surfaces created byhigh pressure water flow. The park requires a wellplanned system of interpretive signs to drawattention to these minor features of karsttopography as well as the more obvious andspectacular formations.

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PARK PHILOSOPHY

The Little Huson Lake Cave area will be developed as a day use recreation area and aninterpretive area for local residents and tourists. Camping and picnicking will not be encouraged onthe site. Visitors wishing to camp can do so at the nearby Canadian Forest Products campsite onAtluck Lake and Anutz Lake.

In the past, the Regional District hasconducted cave tours, but this is not theintent at Little Huson. Here, the visitorcan take a self-guided tour usinginterpretive signs that have been erectedat strategic sites. The Regional District'sgoals in establishing the cave park wasto give the public at large an initialawareness of karst processes, as wellas providing a chance to view andphotograph the spectacular arches,canyon and cathedral cave entrance atthe Little Huson site. Parking, Signage

Trail development is rudimentary for three reasons; first, keep the park natural in appearance;second, to make the trail somewhat challenging; and third, to keep construction costs low. Forexample, stairs are only be provided in a few areas with grades of 50% or more. At two points thetrail is close to dangerous, sharp drop-offs with unstable edges. Railings and warning signs areprovided in these instances. For the most part, however, the Regional District will only warn visitorsthat the site has inherent dangers, and then rely on people to use common sense.

The site is located only 9 kilometers off the Island Highway within Western Forest Products' (WFP)T.F.L. #37. With the exception of the last 200 m, the road provides access to active logging areasand is fully maintained by WFP. Western Forest Products has recognized the significance of thisPark and works closely with the Regional District on ensuring that there are minimal conflictsbetween Park use and forestry operations.

The Regional District developed andcontinues to maintain signage, theparking area, outhouses, a visitorinformation booth, a 150 metre trailfrom the road to the canyon and 200metres of trail along the perimeter ofthe canyon. Initial improvementswere completed in 1985. In the late1990’s a natural arch rock formationin the upper canyon collapsed andthe portion of the trail leading to thatfeature was closed. A stairway wasthen constructed to a cave entrance,half way down the east side of thelarge cathedral cave that AtluckCreek flows through. This trail

provides visitors with one of the most spectacular and unusual views of the entire park.

At a later date, the cave park could be developed further by constructing a trail with two bridgesright inside the canyon, along the creek from the rock bridge to the cathedral cave entrance. Thebridges would have to be suspension bridges. Any developments are given careful considerationbefore they are implemented, to ensure that man-made "improvements" do not detract from thenatural beauty of the canyon.