Local volunteer groups including the "Wisconsin Speleological Society" have been working in conjunction with Manitowoc County Parks and Planning Commission to systematically excavate the glacially deposited sediments in the passages in order to restore the natural beauty of one of those caves... aptly named "New Hope".

Maribel New Hope Cave is open to the public for tours by appointment and on weekends when volunteers are in the park working. The cave gate is locked during other times to protect cave formations and bats who call the cave home, contact us for more information.

Groups of 10 or more ~ Please contact us in advance for tour arrangements so we can best service your group.

Learn about the history of the nearby Maribel Caves Health Resort, the Maribel Mineral Springs, the caves and their formation. Join in the fun working in the cave or on other restoration and renovation projects within the park. Smaller caves along the bluff are open during normal park hours.

Come join in a caving experience you will want to tell your grandchildren about. All ages welcome. Bring a flashlight, wear comfortable old walking shoes, and remember you might get dirty!

Maribel New Hope Cave 

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Maribel New Hope Cave was discovered on one of the coldest winter days in 1984 on February 5th. Steam was coming out of a pile of rocks that covered the entrance area. The rock is called Talus. Talus is simply breakdown pieces of the cliff face as it weathers and breaks apart. Today if you look above the entrance of Maribel New Hope Cave at the moss on the cliff face, you can see how high the Talus pile was across the opening. The moss is above where the rock pile used to be.

Shortly after the steam was found coming out of the rock pile, a preliminary probe of the area from removing rocks out of the way revealed a small opening about the size of a small apple in the cliff face that the steam had been coming out of. Excavation continued the next Spring and a small passage was revealed. However, rocks in the passage discouraged some of the original WSS members attempts to push the passage further so the excavation was abandoned for other easier dig areas in the park. Years passed and other WSS members came on the scene and figured out how to get the fallen rocks out of the way. They dug some more until they hit another rock that stopped their progress. More years passed and other WSS members figured out how to remove the next rock. It was not until 6 years later on October 31st of 1990 that cavers broke through into the first official cave room that is now known as the Halloween Room. The passage from the entrance to this first room was only about a two foot high belly crawl the whole way of about 20 feet.

In 2004, new cavers came on board and pointed out how destructive these ceiling crawls were to the cave. Formations near the ceiling were getting broken off and the ceilings which used to be pristine white were getting dirtied up from mud on people’s caving clothes. New ideas bring new solutions. Like almost starting over at square one, the entrance passage was lowered, a track system was obtained and placed in the entrance passage, and then pail by pail the Halloween Room was emptied out from ceiling to floor. It is much easier removing debris standing up than on your stomach. With a roller track system in place, we began removing 250 to 300 pails in a day. Just this year 2012, we have increased our productivity and pail counts by utilizing wheelbarrows now instead of passing pails. We can now push a wheelbarrow from the dig front all the way through the entrance to the outside of the cave



​  This cave open to the public only during special tour hours.

Pancake Cave

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So little has been said or written about the Pancake Cave over the years that there is no official documented history on the cave known of yet. The cave is situated a ways off the banks of the West Twin River in the Wisconsin State Natural Area of Maribel Cave's County Park. The cave is located in the escarpment ridge that runs the length of the park measuring about sixty feet in height above the river bed. The entrance to the cave is almost at the top of the bluff line along the park bluff and is not easily reached. There are no natural trails to this cave other than a jagged talus climb. This cave is distinguished by its semi-circular entrance that just a few feet across with a small crevice looking entrance that makes for excellent photo shots. This cave goes in naturally about eight feet and is shaped like large pancake. This cave is solutional cave that is relatively quiet and dry with little or no water inside. All around the entrance in the talus pile you will find a neat array of moss covered boulders.



​This cave open to the public during park hours.

Coopers Cave

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So little has been said and written about the Coopers Cave over the years other than a few old pictures. The cave is situated a ways off the banks of the West Twin River in the Wisconsin State Natural Area of Maribel Caves County Park. The cave is located in the escarpment ridge that runs the length of the park measuring about sixty feet in height above the river bed. The entrance to the cave is about midway along the park bluff and can be easily reached by a natural trail to it. This cave is distinguished by its large rectangular entrance and just a few feet away, a small crevice looking entrance that makes for excellent photo shots. This cave is a square tube solutional cave that is relatively quiet and dry with little or no water inside. About 9 feet below the entrance in the talus pile you will find a glistening natural spring that flows year round under the wooden bridge down to the West Twin River. This cave goes in naturally about 20 feet and has two bigger, almost standing height rooms. The caves are visited by hundreds of people every summer from many places around the world.



This cave open to the public during park hours.

Tartarus Cave System

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Neither the exact discovery date of the historic Tartarus Cave, nor the identity of who named it, is known. But, its impressive bluff type entrance could hardly be missed. The Tartarus Cave System is today a three-entrance cave, with the Tunnel Passage Entrance to the south, the Tartarus Cave Entrance in the middle, and the Split Rock Cave Entrance to the north. With two recently discovered passages during the connection activities, one leading off towards the Staircase Cave and the other’s direction yet to be determined, the Tartarus Cave System will continue to bring us back so we can uncover more mysteries of the unknown. These passageways also have the potential for linking up with at least one, if not two sinkholes in the bluff above, that could soon provide other future cave entrances to this very fascinating, and evolving, cave system. Only the future will tell!



This cave open to the public only during special tour hours.