Primitive Campground at Fort Stanton Cave, Lincoln NM
Dawn at Fort Stanton Cave, December 19, 2009
This little, 3 site, primitive campground is at the entrance to the Fort Stanton Cave in the new Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave National Conservation Area off US 380 west of Lincoln NM. This Conservation Area was established in 2009 to protect and conserve the unique and nationally important subterranean cave resources of the Fort Stanton - Snowy River cave system. Snowy River is a significant passage within Fort Stanton Cave. This campground primarily serves those who have been issued a permit to enter the cave.
Fort Stanton Cave entrance, December 18, 2009
With 14-3/4 miles of mapped passages, Fort Stanton Cave is the third largest cave in New Mexico. The cave is open for recreational caving under permit from April 15 to November 1.
Snowy River Passage in Fort Stanton Cave
To quote the Bureau of Land Management
Very slow moving ground water dissolved the grayish-brown limestone in which the cave is formed and recrystallized that limestone into a white-colored mineral called calcite. Through numerous infillings of ground water saturated with calcite, followed by draining and drying, repeated coats of calcite were laid on the bottom of the cave through the entire five miles of Snowy River passage that has been surveyed to date. This unique white crystalline deposit glistens like snow and may be the largest calcite formation in America. Several endemic microorganisms have been discovered in this new section of the cave. In this sunless environment, species living here do not get their energy from the sun. Instead, they chemically break down rock. In the process, they create chemical byproducts that could have pharmaceutical uses. There are also several species that have formed symbiotic relationships with each other.
Continuing exploration and scientific research will help us better understand the formation of caves in this area, improve our understanding of groundwater hydrology of the region, and increase our knowledge of the biology of the cave. In the years to come, many new biological discoveries are anticipated.
Due to the scientific importance of the cave, the Snowy River passage is not open to the public. BLM is planning interpretive products in the future so the public can enjoy and better understand this unique resource.
Read Snowy River Passage for more info.
Primitive Campground at Fort Stanton Cave, Lincoln NM
- This is a primitive campground with three sites and a single pit toilet.
- Verizon cell phone and Broadband service is good.
- Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave National Conservation Area info
- Locate Fort Stanton Cave Campground on my Night Camps map
- Check the weather here
Nights I've camped here
Emptiness
Emptiness shouldn't be thought of as a negative. A lot of people misconstrue that as meaning the opposite of something is nothing. But this is something slightly different. I don't want to get into comparative religious things because that's a complicated topic. But if we were to think about it, the problem of life and death has to do with what comes in between, and what comes in between is an awful lot of suffering. We're not just talking about the pain of suffering, we're talking about suffering. Our common everyday parlance it's called stress. That's a kind of suffering and we die from this. From the standpoint of Zen Buddhism this life isn't some sort of stage mock-up for something else that comes after this. This is what we have. We're right here and we're being in this present moment. What you want to think about when you think about emptiness is a way in which to stay present. Just as, in a way, in a very strange kind of concept, there really is no such thing as time. There's no dress rehersal for anything.
The Artful Mind, Reverend Sohaku Flagg, Rinzai Buddhist priest, in an interview with Nanci Race, Jan/Feb 2003