By Lee Schoenbeck

YES TRISH — IT’S STILL THERE

Everybody likes an adventure. After reading my column on Devil’s Bathtub, Trish commented about a cave that her mother had taken her to decades ago:

“There is a hidden cave up Roughlock Falls Road. The entrance is hidden up on a hill across from a camping area (I believe it is called Timon Campground. The cave is named after it). Last time I was there, a pine tree had fallen across the entrance. It is near impossible to find now unless you know exactly where it is. The entrance is small anyway. You have to crawl into it. Once inside you’ll see the cave is well lit because it goes all the way through the ridge. The other opening is large and provides breathtaking views of the area. My mother showed me this cave as her father (the one who found it) showed it to her.”

The search was on. Trish hadn’t been there in over thirty years, but her memory was good — and the cave hasn’t moved. But like many of the best hikes in the Hills, there are no signs or marked trails for Timon Cave.

TIMON CAMPGROUND

About four miles above Roughlock Falls you’ll find Timon Campground. It’s just past the marker where they cut down the South Dakota tree that became the national Christmas tree. It’s a pretty little fee camping area with a creek running past. If you were only looking for a restful place to have lunch, this much of the trip alone would be a success. But the cave requires a little more work.

LOOK UP

At the entrance to Timon, if a person stands and looks across the road from the campground, there’s a hill — a big hill. Actually, it’s more of a wall with some trees sprouting from it. The wall has a washout that runs straight down to where you are standing, and that’s where the climbing commences. There is a tree laying in the washout that functions like a guard rail to hold onto and keep you from sliding backwards with every step. The hike isn’t that long, it’s just all up — straight up.

AT THE TOP

When you’ve run out of log to hold onto, climb about another twenty yards straight up to a stump. This is a well-designed stump. If you get above it, it’s just about waist high. You won’t need prompting to figure out that God put that stump there for you to park your rear against as a rest and to aid in the battle against gravity. To the right of the stump (and up, of course) is a trail that leads to a ledge. A short walk along the ledge and you’ve found the cave entrance.

SEE-THROUGH CAVE

Ok. I’m comfortable enough in my masculinity to admit that I am way not into bats, maybe even scared of the little vampire wanna-bes. I don’t want to have them in my hair, I don’t want to walk in their guano, and I surely don’t want to provide their nourishment (you get a bunch of rabies shots for that one). So, we took my yellow farm gloves in case I’d be crawling on guano, my purple Sisseton Livestock Sales barn hat (no bat nesting through that), and a flashlight (ok, it’s not as efficient as baseball bat — but it’s a lighter carry). Happily, Timon Cave has NO bats, just a great view.

You can see through the cave to the entrance on the other side that overlooks a huge canyon. Since there are no bats, you can happily crawl into the cavern and enjoy the view. The cavern is roomy enough for you walk around in, square dance about or throw a party. It’s pretty clear from the initials on the walls that your event wouldn’t be the first one held there.

WORTH THE TRIP

The view is stunning. Take a lunch and enjoy it. The setting is perfect for sitting in the sun and looking out over the canyon on either side. But remember that whole Isaac Newton thing about stuff going up, because down is no picnic. That gravity thing doesn’t seem to understand that you want just a little of it at a time with each step; it would prefer to dump the whole load on you at once. Straight down felt a lot steeper on the descent than it did on the way up.

As for Trish, who wanted to be able to tell her mother about what happened to the cave they hiked to in the last century, she can tell her mom it’s got centuries more life in it. And it’s safely tucked away, way up there in the canyon wall.

Lee Schoenbeck grew up in Webster, practices law in Watertown, and is a freelance writer for the South Dakota Magazine website.

Warm water and rare plants make Cascade Falls a unique place to take a dip.

Story by Katie Hunhoff
Photography by Stephen Gassman

Artesian springs fill Cascade Creek with constantly warm and clear water. Photo by Stephen Gassman.

Today most swimming holes are concrete squares with colorful umbrellas and rows of plastic chairs. But South Dakota still has some natural places and one of the best is 8 miles south of Hot Springs at Cascade Falls, where murmuring falls, lush foliage and warm turquoise-colored pools create a movie-like atmosphere in the middle of Fall River County.

The clean, clear water of the falls originates about two miles upstream at Cascade Springs, where a series of six artesian springs feed ever-warm, 67-degree water into Cascade Creek. The water’s temperature creates thick vegetation around the springs, creek and falls. Rare plants are found there, including a fern, prairie gentian and orchid that are nonexistent in the rest of South Dakota.

Cascade Falls is the only place along the creek recommended for swimming.”The water isn’t too fast and you can find different depths of water,” explains Cindy Reed, who lives with her husband Marc Lamphere in an old building that was the Allen Bank in the town of Cascade.”People feel safe about their kids being there. It has the added nuance of being a historical public swimming hole for well over one hundred years.”

Early settlers at Cascade hoped their village would become a popular destination for warm mineral baths and spas, but leaders of nearby Hot Springs plotted Cascade’s demise by directing traffic away from the town. Photo by Stephen Gassman.

Cascade was founded in the 1880s between Cascade Springs and the falls. Town fathers hoped it would become a thriving spa destination due to the confluence of the warm mineral water and a railroad through the Hills. By the turn of the century, Cascade had 50 businesses, a post office and 400 residents. Fred Evans, an ambitious businessman who owned much of the land around Hot Springs, put a quick end to Cascade’s growth, along with the economic crash which eliminated a lot of the town’s financial support. Evans was determined that Hot Springs would have the only mineral spa in the Hills, and he even went to the expense of paying a stage coach driver to not stop at Cascade.”The age of the stage passed, the railroad went in to Hot Springs and Cascade withered and died,” wrote journalist Jerry Wilson after a visit to the valley.

J.G. and J.H. Keith, husband and wife, were founders of Cascade who remained there decades after everyone else had given up and left town. The Keiths owned much of the land around the former town and their heirs eventually donated Cascade Falls and Springs to the Forest Service, believing them to be so special they should be shared with the public.

If you go

Cascade Falls Picnic Grounds is 8 miles south of Hot Springs on Highway 71. The area got a makeover recently by the U.S. Forest Service. There is a small parking lot, restrooms and a picnic area. An established trail and steep stairway connects the parking lot to the falls. The area is ideal for swimming or picnicking, but watch for poison ivy on the banks of the creek.

EDITOR’S NOTE — This story is revised from the July/Aug 2010 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order this back issue or to subscribe, call 800-456-5117.

Tag: hidden gems

Timon Cave