Timpanogos Cave

Date Placed: July 15, 2009
Letterbox: Traditional
Carver: GreenJello
Planters: GreenJello and Teancum
Location: American Fork Canyon, Utah, Utah
Status: Active


Timpanogos Cave National Monument is a trip worth taking at least once during your lifetime. The cave tour consists of three main caves, located 1,000 feet above the canyon floor. They are accessible after a short but strenuous hike of 1.5 miles on a paved trail (bring water!). The round trip through the cave and back to the trailhead is about 3.5 miles and takes approximately 3 hours. As cave tours are frequently sold out over weekends and holidays, it is highly advised to pre-purchase tickets before heading to the Cave. And don't forget to bring your jacket-- temperatures inside the cave hover around 45 degrees.

Since letterboxes cannot be hidden in National Park Service areas, this box is located just outside the National Monument boundaries.

Directions: From I-15, take exit 284 (Alpine-Highland exit). Head east from the exit on Highway 92 for 10 miles. Note: There will be a fee station just after you enter the canyon. You will need to pay $6 to proceed through (National Parks Annual Pass accepted, too).

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Note from CW Sunseeker: "I told them at the fee station that I was going to the visitor center, and looking around - not going on the tour. So I got a free temporary pass."
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As you approach the monument, please drive very carefully. There is a lot of pedestrian traffic! Not long after you pass the Timpanogos Cave National Monument Visitor's Center on your right, watch for a stone pillar sign on the left that says, "Entering Uinta National Forest". Just past this sign, pull into the first parking area on your left.

Get out of your car and look around. It is beautiful here! As you are enjoying the view, notice a "No Camping" sign to the east. Stand on the rock just behind the sign. Angle yourself so that your left side is facing the river, and your left shoulder is lined up with a group of large trees between you and the river. Straight ahead of you are two tree stumps. Walk over to them. Off to your right and back a little bit is a tree with a funky base. On the west side of this tree, in between tree roots and under bark/leaves, is what you're looking for.

Notes: This is a busy picnic area. Please be very stealth and rehide the box to look as natural as possible. (Dead leaves/bark pieces are plentiful on the ground below the stumps.) This box will be inaccessible if there is snow. Plan on finding it between late May through early October.