Two Lick Run Cave in Randolph County, WV

This was the first time I can remember driving 11 miles on a dirt road (and then another 11 back out to a paved road).  The cave is located way up a steep mountain where cars cannot be taken.  It's about a 2 mile hike up some pretty steep terrain.  There is a mountain logging road but obstacles along the way prevent anything larger than a person to pass in some areas of the trail.

The hike was not enjoyable for me.  It is very steep and long.  There are a few different trails to choose from and the topographical map is not so easy to use in the woods (at least for us it wasn't).  The worst part was that we got a fairly late start in the day and then were slowed by part of the group who seemed to be along for a nature hike as well as caving.  I tried to keep my frustration to myself but with the back tracking we had to do several times, the intensity of the terrain and the stopping to look under rocks and logs, I was quite irritated by the time we finally found the cave entrance.

The cave's entrance has a 30 foot or so wall at one side with large trees and logs broken down over the area where a tiny mountain stream trickles down the eroded stone.  Immediately the passage puts us on our hands and knees until we reach a junction where the entrance passage meets a stream bed which seems to be for water exiting the cave rather than coming in, although there wasn't any water in it and is fairly horizontal.

This cave is horizontal with two levels about 12 feet different in altitude.  The first place where the lower level is found actually presents an exposed hole in the floor and seems to offer a way down but no way back up.  After a little investigation you can find a spiral ramp around to the left which makes access to the lower, unmapped level, very easy.

There is one long, straight passage in the upper part of the cave with lots of decorations.  There is also a treat at the very end of the cave that is fairly hidden beyond a flat shelf that provides about 10 inches of access to a vertical area about 3 feet high that then goes horizontal again underneath another shelf.  The angles are too intense amongst the formations in this area to push it without risk of breaking my bones or getting really back-breaking contorted.