Leviathan Cave
Worthington Mountains, Lincoln County, Nevada
Success! A wild trip through one of the most remote and unspoiled caves in the West.
Ryan Crockett and the Micron Crew (again).

The Micron crew didn’t give up. This time we traveled to Leviathan Cave in the Worthington Mountains equipped with GPS units, daylight, warmth, and haunting memories of the previous attempt last November.. The Micron line-up consisted of Ryan, Justin, Leon, Jason, and Dano (the ‘o’ in Dano stands for hardcore).

We took Mail Summit Rd going West of Highway 318 near Hiko to get to our camp spot on the East side of Worthington Mountains. This route was much better than the route we took last year through Rachel. When we arrived at the campsite, we were thrilled to find a pile of chopped firewood waiting for us.

The hike to Leviathan Cave is only 2.2 miles, but it took us at least 3 hours due to the rough terrain and steep climb. There is a 2000 ft. elevation gain from the campsite to the top of the saddle in less than 2 miles. From the saddle, you have to hike 500ft. downhill to reach the cave.

At the opening of the cave there are two choices. Go down a 20 ft. rope ladder, or tie off to a tiny bush and free rappel 100 ft. I chose the rope ladder route, while everyone else rappelled.

To view a short movie of the above rappel, please right-click and select "save target as". High speed connection recommended.

The opening to the main cave can be hard to find. Two of the 3 passages dead end. Since part of the fun is finding the cave on your own, I’m not going to go into details.

Leviathan cave is definitely the most exciting Great Basin trip I’ve been on so far. The only disappointment was the garbage we found inside the entrance and evidence of cave formations that had been broken off. If you decide to travel to this cave, please be respectful and pack out all your crap!

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