Cave Rock, also known as deʔek wadapush ( Washo for Standing Gray Rock), is a stone formation on

U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlanti ...

north of

Stateline, Nevada Stateline is a census-designated place (CDP) on the southeastern shore of Lake Tahoe in Douglas County, Nevada, United States. It lies next to the California state line and City of South Lake Tahoe. The population was 842 at the 2010 census. ...

. It is a column of volcanic

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomi ...

standing about tall. US 50 passes under the rock through the Cave Rock Tunnel. The formation was designated a

Traditional Cultural Property The U.S. National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) classifies its listings by various types of properties. Listed properties generally fall into one of five categories, though there are special considerations for other types of properties whi ...

and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2017.

History

Cave Rock is a remnant of a

volcanic vent A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

. The original volcanic cone built through that vent was based high above the present ground level and was eroded away long ago. The rock's caves were carved by waves during the Last Glacial Period, when

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...

's water level was hundreds of feet higher. The local

Washoe people The Washoe or Wašišiw ("people from here", or transliterated in older literature as ''Wa She Shu'') are a Great Basin tribe of Native Americans, living near Lake Tahoe at the border between California and Nevada. The name "Washoe" or "Washo" ...

hold the formation as sacred, and believe only

shamans Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

should visit the area. During the

Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

and the

Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pik ...

, wagon trails were established to traverse the rock. The formation remained a hindrance to travel despite these trails, leading to the construction of a

trestle bridge A trestle bridge is a bridge composed of a number of short spans supported by closely spaced frames. A trestle (sometimes tressel) is a rigid frame used as a support, historically a tripod used to support a stool or a pair of isosceles trian ...

around the outside of the rock in the 1860s. In 1931, the first tunnel through the rock was made, followed by a second in 1957 to alleviate traffic. The trestle bridge remained open to pedestrians until 1964, when it was dismantled due to safety concerns. The formation is the subject of a conflict between the Washoe tribe and

rock climbers Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and ...

, with whom it is a popular climbing site. In 1997, the Washoe people complained about visitors to the rock, and sought to ban women altogether from the area. This request was refused, but a subsequent request to ban rock climbers from the area was approved by the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

and upheld in court in 2003. Members of

The Access Fund {{Infobox organization , name = The Access Fund , image = The Access Fund Logo.jpg , image_size = 200px , caption = , map = , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption = , type ...

challenged this decision on constitutional grounds in 2005, leading to the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

supporting the closure "on the grounds that Cave Rock has historical significance." A permanent climbing ban was enacted on February 28, 2008. The rock is open to hikers.

References

National Register of Historic Places in Douglas County, Nevada {{Nevada-NRHP-stub

History

See also

References