Snedegars Section, Friars Hole Cave System, West Virginia

Ben Williams and Ester Suchevits in the Snedegars Saltpeter Trunk, November 2015

           Known since at least the time of the Civil War, Snedegars is the only section accessible directly by horizontal caving.  The section has four entrances: Saltpeter, Staircase, Stream, and North.  

           The Snedegars Saltpeter entrance is a very large 20ft wide and 40ft tall entrance that immediately leads into several hundred feet of large walking borehole over 45ft in dimensions.  The borehole ends rather spectacularly in the Ampitheater Room, a 150ft diameter and 45ft tall breakdown room with a large stress fault in the north wall.

Cindy Barton walks into the Snedegars Saltpeter Entrance, November 2015.

Cindy Barton (near) and Tyler Anderson (far) in the Ampitheater Room, note the big stress fault on the far wall.  November 2015.

           Passing the Ampitheater Room one follows the stream into a cobble crawl that ends at the Snedegars Sump.  Turn offs to the south here lead to some domes and formation areas.  Also near the sump is the connection to the Staircase Entrance Series.  A very tight and long rock crawl leads to this area, which is more easily accessed by the Staircase Entrance, a series of 30-40ft pits.

           Back in the Ampitheater, on the north wall, is a large turn off heading to the Saltpeter Maze.  The mazey section leads to the North and Stream Entrances which are only a few feet away from each other.  

           Of particular note, as one walks through the Snedegars Entrance they are about 80ft over the southern start of the Log Roll Crawl in Canadian Hole.