There is only one natural entrance to the cave. The entire area is mantled with loess and glacial till. The cave system, which is dendritic in its layout, is developed within a subtle carbonate ridge bounded by surface drainages some of the side passages cross under these drainages. Formed almost entirely within the Dunleith Formation of the Galena Group (Ordovician), the cave consists of over four miles of borehole and stream gallery, nearly a mile of parallel stream passage and another 11 miles of infeeders and their associated offshoots. The cave proper is situated in the Iowa part of that basin. The cave system, which is relatively young and still forming, is part of a fluvio-karst drainage basin located in northeast Winneshiek County, Iowa and southeast Fillmore County, Minnesota. Since its discovery in the late sixties, over 20 miles of passages have been documented. This status is accorded to geologic and ecological features considered to be of national significance. Considered as the most significant cave system of the Upper Midwest karst region, Coldwater Cave was designated a National Natural Landmark by the U.S. Coldwater Cave, Iowa’s longest and most spectacular cave, is located beneath the gently rolling hills of farm country north of the State Preserve in Northeast Iowa and Southeast Minnesota. It also encompasses four miles of Coldwater Creek, which is one of several coldwater trout stream tributaries to the Upper Iowa River that is open to public fishing. It encompasses Coldwater Spring, which bubbles out of Coldwater Cave, one of the most extensive karst cave systems in the Driftless Area. Located 3 miles northwest of Bluffton off of Coldwater Creek RoadĬoordinates: 43.43432199496354° N, -91.94785837761273° WĬoldwater Cave State Preserve is a 60-acre public area.
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