Cavers Camp

Responding to the guy who asked if anyone had seen or heard bigfoot here. While camping at the Buffalo River Erbie Campground just over a mile away in April 2024 (also noting the campground was not officially opened yet for the season at the time I was there, so only 2 of the campsites were occupied), I was awakened around 1:00 AM by the sound of several "somethings" across the river from where I was camped (maybe the sounds were coming from the powerline corridor; not sure). I was hearing screams, whoop sounds, and a lot of agitated sounding vocalizing that sounded like speech, although I couldn't make out any of the words. Eventually the noises moved west (toward the Caver's Camp), and I got tired of listening, put in my earplugs, and went back to sleep. I will say that none of what I was hearing was outside of the human range of pitch or volume, so it might have been humans. But the speech-type vocals I was hearing didn't sound like your typical group of people out drinking beer in the woods at night - there were no outbursts of laughter, and the vocals were frequently talking over each other loudly. I didn't want to cross the river and investigate in the middle of the night, so it will have to remain a mystery.

Nice group camp right off Erbie Rd, just a few hundred yards from the historic church. There are three full size camp tables and benches along with individual metal fire rings. The area is very flat, so there are several places for tents. There is no electricity but there is a really nice pit toilet that was very clean. You can hear the water reflecting off the high bluff above Cecil Creek at night, so you get a peaceful rest. The forestry service recently cleared the power lines, so there was plenty of firewood laying around. You are just a short distance from the Cecil Cove trailhead loop. This is a nice campsite for up to 12 or so people.

This is the other place we camped every other weekend we weren't at White Rock. This is the base camp, so to speak, for Fitton (sp?) or Beauty Cave. You are required to get a permit to enter from the National Park Service, or used to, anyway. It is NOT a show cave and not one to be explored by amateur spelunkers. Last I knew, there had to be a minimum of 3 in your group and no more than 8 and only so many people may visit in a month. 4 is recommended since if someone gets hurt, one can stay with whoever is hurt and two can go for help. If you do decide to visit and go in at night, make sure to leave a note well placed at the entrance you go in so the park ranger doesn't change the lock on you while you're in there. I speak from personal experience :) It's quite a wait before others in your group find you're long overdue and even longer to get to a phone to contact the park service to get someone out to get the lock open. There are two entrances...you'll need a wet suit on for the other. Both are roughly a 3 mile hike from this spot. I'm hesitant to even advertise this cave but it's really, really cool and we had a hell of a lot of fun exploring it when I was in high school. Again, not for amateurs!!! Well worth the trip, though!!!!

Terrible place to camp. Save yourself the frustration and find somewhere else.

Awesome 3 spot camping area with bathroom. Highly reccomend!