Guler Ice Cave Exploring in Winter

Looking for winter exploration and adventure close to White Salmon, we decided to snowshoe to the Guler Ice Cave just north of White Salmon in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.  The Ice Cave is a lava tube stretching for about 650 feet with two entrances.

Traveling to the Guler Ice Cave

The drive from White Salmon to Trout Lake was a beautiful 30-minute drive.  We purchased a day use Sno-Park permit for $22.00 at the Trout Lake Grocery which is open seven days a week from 7am-8pm.  You can also purchase passes at the State of Washington website including a seasonal Sno-Park permit for $40 which is valid for the entire Winter Recreation Season.

With Sno-Park permit in hand, we headed up the road (Hwy 141) 6 miles to the Atkisson Sno-Park. The parking lot was huge and includes a warming hut with a wood stove. The trails from the lot offer up 16K of ski and snowshoe trails (marked but not groomed) and 154 miles of groomed snowmobile trails.

There is only one trail from the parking lot so we headed that way.  Within five minutes we arrived at an intersection with one main groomed road to the left.  From there we walked about 15 minutes to the sign directing us to turn left to the Ice Cave.  We left the snowshoes in the car as the snow appeared to be well packed and groomed which ended up being a not so good idea.

 

After turning left at the Ice Cave sign, the snow was not as well packed.  We passed a mom with her two daughters on cross-country skis gliding along with big smiles.  It was a beautiful sunny late afternoon and the conditions were perfect for playing in the snow!  However, I was starting to hear grumbling from my son as he was sinking up to his knees on almost every other step for the last 10-minute hike to the Ice Cave Picnic Area.  Well not exactly where you want to picnic in the winter, but it did inform us that we had arrived.  Mistakenly, we took a snowshoe or cross-country trail loop which did NOT take us to the entrance of the Ice Cave, but instead, we walked around in one big circle back to the picnic area.  After looking more closely, we found the smaller of the two entrances right behind the Picnic Area sign.

We entered here and started exploring.  It was magical!

The ice floor, ice stalagmites, and large drip masses of ice form during the winter from the freezing of dripping water.  Native Americans used the ice cave in the summer to store their huckleberries and gather fresh water.  The pioneers sold the ice to local taverns to chill drinks.  The cave “ice floor” we decided could be used for ice cave sledding!

 

We conveniently ended up at the main entrance of the Ice Cave for our departure from the Ice Cave.  We climbed up the ladder and looked to our left and sure enough… there was the Ice Cave Picnic Area sign.  We had a good laugh about missing both entrances and doing the extra loop.

What to Bring to the Guler Ice Cave

We made sure that we each had a working headlamp.  You want both hands available to maneuver around the rocks and ice.  You could bring a good flashlight with you if you want to be able to see further into nooks.  If you are exploring in the winter time, then you are already going to be dressed for the less than 32-degree temperature in the ice cave.   I had my hiking boots on which worked well.   My step-daughter wore microspikes and was cruising around easily.  I did bump my head once, but not worth bringing a helmet.  Although my ski helmet would have kept my head warm for the hike!  Hungry? We enjoyed a snack while we were in the cave for the novelty of it.