John Guilday Caves   Nature Preserve

The John Guilday Caves Nature Preserve is in Pendleton County, West Virginia. The property is better known as the Trout Rock caves. Trout, New Trout, and Hamilton Caves are the three largest caves, with Hamilton at about 4.5 miles in length. Used by cavers for many years, the caves harbor numerous animal species, adding to the management challenges.

In 1983 the NSS completed the purchase of the 40 acres of forested land, near Franklin, West Virginia. This property has been the site of significant paleontological excavations. The property has been designated the John E. Guilday Memorial Cave Preserve in honor of the late John Guilday who was one of the foremost paleontologists in the country working with cave-deposited material (and a long-time NSS member). He was research curator at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. He also made the initial paleontological studies in Trout Cave.

The Cave Preserve Committee, headed by Dave West, is responsible for management of the cave preserve with goals of encouraging re-establishment of bat hibernation and preservation of the paleontological sites to be investigated, as well as continued recreational caving.

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