Cornplanters Cave Cache
The Indian chief, "Chief Cornplanter" was a very respected and
important Indian Chief, who was once the leader of the "Six
Nations" of Indians. The land this cache is located on, is now part
of the Allegheny National Forest. This property was once owned by
Chief Cornplanter.
For years this area was known as "Sam's Rocks", who was Samuel
Morrison, the son of Cornplanters most trusted white-man friend.
Today it's a popular and EXTREMELY scenic area known as "Rim Rock".
It's just across the river from "Jakes Rocks", and "Kinzua Rocks",
other Indian mountain top encampments.
To start, park in the spacious parking lot and follow the
(wooden) stairs down toward the cliff overlook. Find the "Indian
Stairway", originally built by the "Cornplanter Indians", that goes
to the bottom of the rocks. Then use your GPS to find your way to
the first cave located at: N 41 50.557 W 078 56.756, and then use
the coords found there to go to the main cache.
To enter the first cave, you go up a smaller set of "Indian stairs"
and it's a walk-in cave. If you can make it through the narrow
hallway entrance, you should have no problem.
The main cache is hidden in a smaller cave that is seldom
visited and a fairly short distance(under 1/4 mile) from the first
cave.
The main cache is just a fairly short walk from the first cave,
but through the woods (bushwhacking), and you will pass many large
boulders.
The second cave, is actually three. The center cave is a large
open overhang cave, with two smaller caves to each side. The actual
cache is hidden in a smaller cave off the the side of the big main
opening. It's up a narrow passage, around the corner, and just
sitting on a shelf.
Both caves are fairly easy, safe, but do require a small amount
of climbing (never more than 4 or 5 feet). I set the difficulty and
the terrain high just because you will be hiking in a "boulder
field", not that it's real difficult. But the first cave is fairly
narrow and some people may have difficulty with the narrow
hallway.
What you will need to do this cache search, would be good
flashlight, and grubby clothes! A helmet (bicycle or otherwise)
will help protect your head from the rocks! And by all means, bring
your camera and binoculars! This will undoubtedly be one of the
most scenic geocache's you will ever see!
The Rim Rock overlook is one of the areas (ANF-Allegheny
National Forest) best kept secrets.
There are a total of 5 caves in the Rim Rock area. On the way back
to the car, a little NNE of the first cave, around the corner and
up the hill is another "tunnel" cave that takes you back up to the
main level. It's real safe and kind of fun to walk through as long
as you watch your head near the low ceiling. Look for the rock
marked "Billy Boy" (around to the left).
There is parking and bathrooms at the Rim Rock area, but be
aware that the area closes 10PM to 6AM.
The cache is in a smaller black plastic tool box, it also
contains a pen and logbook. Please sign the logbook and if you can,
take pictures!