Pluto's Cave
North of Weed (Siskiyou County, near Mt. Shasta) · near Weed / Mount Shasta City · Shasta Cascade
Caving
At a glance
- Depth
- 30
- Season
- Year-round · Best in dry conditions; can be muddy/icy after rain or snow
- Cost
- FREE · BLM land, no fee, no permit
- Difficulty
- Moderate — undeveloped, unlit lava tube with rocky floor and scrambling. Real self-guided caving, not a show cave.
Permits and booking
- Permit
- No permit, no fee (BLM land). Practice White-Nose Syndrome decontamination (don't bring gear worn in other caves). Respect any seasonal bat closures. Tell someone your plans — no services, limited cell signal.
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- No
- Gear
- Headlamp + backup light (2 per person — no lighting inside) · Sturdy shoes with grip · Long pants, long sleeves, gloves (rough lava rock) · Warm layer · Helmet recommended
Caving detail
- Nickname
- The Wild Lava Tube
- Cave type
- lava-tube
- Tour length
- 1–2 hours to explore the accessible passages
- Formations
- Ancient lava tube (Pleistocene) · Skylights & collapsed sections · Bats (seasonal — respect closures) · Mt. Shasta views from the entrance area
- Featured caves
- The main tube
- Intl tip
- Pluto's Cave pairs with everything in the Mt. Shasta area — the mountain itself (hiking guide), the McCloud River Falls swimming (swimming guide), Lake Shasta Caverns, and the Upper Sacramento rafting (rivers guide). Weed and Mt. Shasta City are the base towns.
The guide
Pluto's Cave is the real deal — an undeveloped, unlit lava tube on BLM land north of Mt. Shasta, discovered in 1863 by a ranche…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Pluto's Cave — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 41.556, -122.308