Cheese Cave

Cheese Cave is a substantial lava tube in Gifford Pinchot National Forest near Trout Lake, Washington, stretching about 2,060 feet with a broad, mostly flat passage and high ceiling. Reportedly discovered in 1894 by local resident Joseph Aerni, it maintained a steady cool temperature that first suited potato storage and later cheese aging. Homer Spencer’s Guler Cheese Co. used the cave as natural cold storage, giving it its present name. The cave has both natural and man-made entrances, and remnants of wooden storage racks near the north end still reflect its unusual commercial use. It is valued both as a volcanic feature and as an example of practical adaptation to local geology.

Trout Lake, Washington · United States