The Butler Cave Conservation Society, Incorporated, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit Virginia corporation dedicated to the conservation, exploration, survey, preservation, and scientific study of the caves in and around Burnsville Cove, Virginia.
The BCCS owns or otherwise manages scores of caves in Bath and Highland Counties, including the Butler Cave-Sinking Creek System, the Chesnut Ridge Cave System (Bobcat, Burns, and Blarneystone Caves), and Robins Rift. Currently we have explored, mapped, and taken steps to conserve over 50 miles of caves, all centered in and around Burnsville Cove. Read more about the BCCS and our Mission.
Butler Cave had been designated by the National Park Service as a National Natural Landmark, and the Burnsville Cove Conservation Site has been designated as one of the seven "Significant Karst Areas" in Virginia by the Natural Heritage Program of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.
We are still actively exploring and finding new cave "in the cove" and we welcome experienced cavers to join us in conserving, digging, exploring, and surveying caves in the Burnsville, Virginia area.
Members of the BCCS have authored a 479-page book on the caves of Burnsville cove, and the book was published in 2015 by Springer. It is available for purchase at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
To get involved, read about our project weekends, check out our calendar for events, read and sign our waiver, take a look at some past trip reports, and learn a little about the Society.
The BCCS has a small grant program to encourage scientific research of the caves and karst in and around Burnsville Cove.
Ed Kehs Sr. peering over a pile of muddy cave packs in Bobcat Cave.
