SITE DESCRIPTION:
A significant portion of Virginia's biological diversity is located underground in caves of western Virginia.
Numerous invertebrate animals such as amphipods, isopods, beetles and psuedoscorpions have adapted to conditions
of total darkness, limited sources of food and a low constant temperature. Mud banks, cobbles in cave streams,
drip pools and cave walls provide habitat for these organisms. Caves of the Upper Tennessee River drainage in
extreme southwestern Virginia are especially noteworthy for the diversity of their fauna. Many species found
in these caves are known from only one or a few cave systems and nowhere else n the world. Unthanks Cave is
an exemplary cave noted for the diversity of life that it supports. It is one of the most biologically
significant caves in the southern Appalachians. The streams in Unthanks Cave provide subterranean drainage
for a large karst area south of the Powell River. The cave was protected by the Virginia Office of the
Nature Conservancy and was generously given as a gift to the Department of Conservation and Recreation
in 2004.
VISITATION:
Unthanks Cave has been gated to protect the delicate natural communities and species which inhabit the
cave passage. Access to the cave is limited to data collection and monitoring purposes.
