Cave Lake State Park is a public recreation area occupying more than 4,000 acres in the Schell Creek Range, adjacent to Humboldt National Forest, in White Pine County, Nevada. The state park is located at an elevation of 7,300 feet 20 miles southeast of Ely and is accessed via U.S. Route 50 and Success Summit Road. It features a 32-acre reservoir for fishing, flat-wake boating, and camping.
Although the lake is currently drained for dam reconstruction, we hope it will re-open in time for the 2025 NCKMS conference.
Audio Tour: Cave Lake & Ward Charcoal Ovens
The park is popular for brown and rainbow trout fishing, ice fishing, crawdadding, camping, and picnicking. Hiking is offered on four developed trails, three to five miles in length. For overnight stays, the park offers a yurt and two designated campgrounds, Elk Flat and Lake View, with modern facilities. Winter activities include ice fishing, ice skating, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling.
Ely's annual Fire and Ice Festival is held in January at the park, sufficient ice and snow permitting. The event, which began in 2005, features an ice and snow sculpture contest, and concludes with a fireworks show. Bathtub races have also been held at the lake each year since 2010. Both events have been named by the American Bus Association among the top 100 events in North America.
Cave Lake State Park is located about 20 miles southeast of Ely via U.S. 93. Turn off on the Highway 486 exit and continue about 6.4miles to the park entrance.
Video compliments of KNPB - PBS Reno, Nevada
German brown trout are found in Cave Lake and the park's streams. Hatchery rainbow trout are stocked in the lake, which is fed by Cave Creek and empties into Steptoe Creek. Big game animals such as elk and mule deer, and predators such as bobcat, mountain lion and coyote, reside in the area. Hawks and eagles are common, as are vulture, pinyon jay, magpie and varieties of waterfowl and songbirds. Several varieties of reptiles are present including the occasional western rattlesnake.
Park vegetation is typical of the Great Basin and includes aspen, big sagebrush, rabbitbrush, Mormon tea, wild rose, chokecherry and currant. A pinyon/juniper woodland area interspersed with wetlands surrounds Cave Lake. Sedimentary limestone and shale, typical of the Great Basin, dominates park geology, and the area is characterized by large up-thrusts, narrow canyons and shallow caves.
Park weather is highly seasonal with wide variations in temperature. Summertime highs may range from 90°F to a low 40°F. Wintertime highs are often in the 30s and 40s, and nights are often below zero. Extreme lows may reach thirty below zero. Snow is common from early December through early April, with several feet on the ground through peak winter months. The remainder of the year is relatively dry, and rain and snow showers are infrequent. Ely, Nevada, weather reports are consistent with weather at the park.
Elevation: 7,198 ft
State: Nevada
District: White Pine County
Coordinates (WGS84): 39.19376, -114.69638
Nearest town: Ely, NV
Distance from the convention center: 21 miles
The reservoir you see today at Cave Lake was originally built to serve the Civilian Conservation Corps, who were working in the area during the 1930s. The property switched hands a few times among local ranchers, but in 1968, all 1,240 acres of the modern day park was sold to Nevada Department of Fish and Game for a whole $10.00. In 1973, the land was transferred to Nevada State Parks, and has been welcoming recreationalists since. Image courtesy of Nevada Commission on Tourism.
The official event schedule for the 2025 NCKMS has now been updated. Please check our schedule page or download a PDF to your mobile device.
The National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI) is a nexus of research, stewardship, outreach and information for caves and karst while fostering interdisciplinary collaborations, created by the US Congress in 1998 in partnership with the National Park Service, State of New Mexico, and the City of Carlsbad.
NCKRI is located in Carlsbad, NM, and is a research center of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
Track for the Nevada Northern Railway was laid over a century ago, connecting one of the largest copper mines in North America to the Transcontinental routes to the north. Today, several of the original steam locomotives that were used over a century ago are still in operation. The Nevada Northern Railway is the best-preserved example of a standard-gauge short-line left in North America.
The 2025 NCKMS conference will include a geology-themed trip aboard this historic railway.
Patchy blowing dust before 11am, then patchy blowing dust and widespread showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 55. South southeast wind 20 to 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Widespread showers and thunderstorms before 5am, then isolated thunderstorms and scattered rain and snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27. South southeast wind 15 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Isolated thunderstorms and scattered rain and snow showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 47. Southwest wind 5 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts less than a tenth of an inch possible.
2025 NCKMS T-Shirts
Of course we'll have t-shirts! What would a caver event be without them?
It might look like this thing that an AI system suggested, but we're having real humans dress it up a bit. Might look completely different by the time our humans are done with it.
Our theme at NCKMS this year is "Hidden Waters - Hidden Life". So, we have a concept at least!
