Sundial Cave - near Richfield, Idaho USA
Posted by: 
jwanlesss
N 43° 06.683 W 114° 16.290
11T E 721998 N 4776796
Unique cave with a hole in its roof that puts a spot of sunlight on a large tilted boulder on the cave floor.
Waymark Code: WM144JE
Location: Idaho, United States
Date Posted: 04/13/2021
Views: 3
Called “Sundial Cave” because it has a small hole in the roof allowing a beam of sunlight to shine on a big, flat, tilted rock on the cave floor. The bright spot of sunlight moves across the rock, minute by minute. The spot's daily path across the flat rock varies up and down the rock with the seasons of the year. At high noon on days of the equinox, the same place on the rock is illuminated year after year.
The cave has a 30 foot wide opening and is tall enough for standing. At the back of the cave is a frozen whirlpool of lava where lava drained away from this lava tube. There is also a fork at the back of the cave which takes the hiker on a circular path back to the beginning of the fork, causing some locals to call it the "merry-go-round" cave.
Expect a rugged hike to get to this unique cave. It is located in the volcanic desert of central Idaho and within the Lava Wilderness Study Area managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. (
visit link)