Big Skylight Cave, Four Windows Cave, Giant Ice Cave

El Malpais National Monument, NM Lower Colorado Plateau

Trip stats

Distance
2.5 mi
Net Gain
Minimal ft
Time
2-4 hrs
YDS Rating
Class 2
Route
Out/Back

Ratings out of 10

Effort
1/10
Personality
5/10
Beauty
7/10
Solitude
2.2/10
What do these mean? →

Route map + Trailhead

Trailhead Coordinates

34.944556, -108.106916

The directions link below drops a pin on the trailhead coordinates and lets Google Maps pick the route. If the drive has rough roads or access issues that GPS nav might get wrong, I cover that in my trip report.

Get directions (opens Google Maps in a new tab)

Trip report

Red tape

Permit required to enter the caves. Go to the El Malpais Visitor Center in Grants to get a free permit.

Apr 29, 2018 — A fun little area of El Malpais known as the Big Tubes Area has access to three fun caves and a couple other features. Get a permit to enter the caves. From the parking area, cairns mark the route easily to Big Skylight Cave, where you can also find a natural bridge amde of volcanic rock. From here, I went to the Giant Ice Cave (no ice this time of year, and it was also a pretty small cave, so that's misleading), and then to Four Windows Cave. With a headlamp, it's easy to see the entirety of these caves in only a few minutes each. From Four Windows Cave, I checked out Caterpillar Collapse and then also part of the Seven Bridges feauture.

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Photos

34 photos

  1. Starting along the cairned Big Tubes Area trail.
  4. A sign marking the direction of the different caves and features.
  5. Natural lava bridge on the right. Big Skylight Cave is behind me.
  6. Entrance to Big Skylight Cave.
  7. Big Skylight Cave
  10. Big Skylight Cave's skylight. There is some pretty moss below it with a sign reading not to step on it.
  11. Entering Big Skylight Cave.
  12. Looking back toward the skylight before entering Big Skylight Cave.
  13. Above looking down into the skylight of Big Skylight Cave.
  14. Walking along the Natural Bridge.
  15. Giant Ice Cave.
  16. At the back of Giant Ice Cave.
  17. Ceiling of Giant Ice Cave.
  18. Entrance to Four Windows Cave.
  19. Four Windows Cave was my favorite.
  20. Mosses within Four Windows Cave.
  21. Entering Four Windows Cave, looking back toward the entrance.
  22. Some long-exposure shots of Four Windows Cave.
  26. Heading toward Caterpillar Collapse.
  27. Caterpillar Collapse.
  28. Entering the rocky ground of Seven Bridges.
  29. Under the first bridge looking toward the second bridge.
  30. The gap between the first two bridges.
  31. Seven Bridges.
  32. Third bridge is more of a tunnel.
  33. Going under the third bridge.
  34. There were more bridges, but I got the point and decided to exit the tube and head back.

Photo 1 of 1

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Hire or refer me as a web developer, or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so it's funded by yours truly. It also takes a ton of work to edit photos and write these reports. I really appreciate it!

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