Where exactly are the Indian Caves located in the valley ?

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originalpmac

Mountain climber
Anywhere I like
Mar 28, 2012 - 12:48pm PT
Juicer. Remember the night with me(pierce) and stevo watching the moon behind half dome? And the two drunk Brits that slept in the cave and were real as#@&%es to the girls? Anyway that was a killer night. Tell Eric I said hey. If you all ever make it to co hit us up. Cheers!
On-Site Flasher 69

Sport climber
Riverside
Mar 28, 2012 - 03:33pm PT
Yosemite's going to be a more sober place without you jucie!
johnny2plat

Trad climber
San Luis Obispo, CA
Apr 4, 2012 - 05:57pm PT
I like to get off at the Mirror Lake (ie: Mirror Meadow) bus stop, then head toward the lake/meadow but take a left when you get to the trail (or paved bike path) that heads to the Ahwahnee. About the point where the bike path & dirt trail touch, head right (uphill) and you should see a jumble of rocks that make up the "Indian Caves". They are not real caves, just fun rocks to climb around in with your kids. I think the Park Service took it off the maps years ago because they were afraid kids (or clumsy adults) would get hurt. You can tell if you're in the right place because the rocks are polished from millions of kids sneakers over many years. Also, you will find mortar holes from years of acorns being crushed there by the Valley's previous inhabitants.

9thLife

Boulder climber
Ahwahnee
Apr 28, 2014 - 08:58pm PT
My kid and I have bolder scrambled around in back of Camp Curry and once we saw a bear about 15 feet away. Pretty cool and terrifying at the sane time. It was cruising to scope out the trash
Wade Icey

Trad climber
www.alohashirtrescue.com
Apr 28, 2014 - 09:17pm PT
no one knows where the Harpole cave is .....
not even Harpole...
zBrown

Ice climber
Brujo de la Playa
Apr 28, 2014 - 09:27pm PT
no one knows where the Harpole cave is .....

Ah, but many of us know where it is not, though nobody knows where it will not be when it shucks off its material body.
the Fet

climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
Jun 2, 2015 - 09:58pm PT
I took my kids out there this past weekend.

I believe the actual Indian Caves are about 1/4 mile East of the circle on the map above. Closer to the trail that cuts South to the Mirror Lake shuttle stop than to the trail that cuts South to the stables.

I have an old topo map that shows them there. And it looks like a road used to go right to them. There are some large overhangs under huge boulders there close to the trail that would make nice shelters and are fun for kids to explore. The photos and videos I found online of the "Indian Caves" are of these overhangs.

We looked around for a couple hours and were about to give up on finding any actual caves when some guys came down from above the huge boulders and I asked them about any deep caves, and a nice guy explained how to find the deepest, darkest one he knew about. We had walked right by the entrance to it earlier and missed it. It's not under a huge boulder like the overhangs, it's just a small hole in a jumble of rocks. A passage dropped down about 30 feet to a small platform, then two small passages dropped down from there in different directions each about 30 feet as well. We turned off our lights at the bottom and it was pitch black and would be hard to find your way out in the dark.

I'm not surprised there are many caves in this area as mentioned above. And I'm not surprised the Park Service has tried to "erase" all mentions of this "attraction". There is a sign saying to respect the native Americans old territory, but there was still a lot of graffiti in the deep, dark cave we entered. And I could see people getting stuck or hurt down there. But for adventurous, respectful people it sure is fun.
Risk

Mountain climber
Olympia, WA
Jun 2, 2015 - 11:29pm PT
Unbeknownst to most, there's a fantastic, flat campsite under a tall rock overhang near the base of the Snow Creek switchbacks that stays 100 percent dry in the worst (or best) winter monsoon. The best "Indian Cave" for camping I ever found is west of the prominent overhanging rocks on the valley floor, and up a way's into the boulders. Big enough for a crowd, but really dusty, dirty and drafty. You'd have to be pretty desperate to stay there other than for the novelty of it.
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