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Rat's Nest Cave
Canmore, Near
Other Names:
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Canmore Caverns
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Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
Rat's Nest Cave is situated on the south-facing slope of Grotto Mountain, roughly six kilometres east of Canmore. The subterranean site contains more than four kilometres of tunnels and a variety of geological and palaeontological features, including stalactites, stalagmites, and deposits of animal remains.
Heritage Value
The heritage value of Rat's Nest Cave lies in its remarkable geological formations and its rich collection of palaeontological resources.
Rat's Nest Cave was dissolved out of limestone of the Livingstone and Mount Head formations deposited near the end of the Devonian period, roughly 350 million years ago. The Front Ranges of the Rocky Mountains began to rise from these formations approximately 85 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period. The titanic forces that compressed, thrusted, folded, and fractured the rock of the mountains created faults and seams that evolved into underground rivers of groundwater serving a vast subterranean drainage system. The Rat's Nest Cave began as one of these waterways. In time, the volume of the cave expanded as water widened the fracture in the limestone.
The several advances and retreats of the Bow Glacier in the late Quaternary period, 120-12,000 years ago, further shaped the mountain environment. During glacial retreats, massive amounts of water flowed through Rat's Nest Cave, expanding tunnels and imparting to the site much of its distinctive geological form. Roughly 12-13,000 years ago, the Bow Glacier made its final retreat; in its wake, the passages of Rat's Nest Cave slowly emptied of water. The drying of the cave enabled the precipitation of travertine formations created through the interaction of meteoric waters and calcium carbonate, the primary constituent of limestone. The spectacular and varied travertine formations in Rat's Nest Cave imbue the site with a rare kind of beauty.
Following the draining of Rat's Nest Cave, the site became home to a rich variety of animal species. Skeletal remains of dozens of creatures have been discovered in the cave, including palaeontological specimens of birds, snakes, fish, and several amphibians. The cave also contains the remains of over 30 mammalian species. The many and varied palaeontological resources of the cave exist alongside the diversity of insects, arachnids, and worms that presently inhabit the site. The human presence in the cave has been established by the discovery of prehistoric tools found at the site that date from roughly 3000 years ago. The site also contains a number of pictographs.
Source: Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, Historic Resources Management Branch (File: Des. 1510)
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements of Rat's Nest Cave include such features as:
- ready access to cave;
- shape and material composition of cave;
- geological formations, including variety of travertine deposits;
- palaeontological resources;
- prehistoric artifacts and pictographs.
Location
| Street Address: |
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| Community: |
Canmore, Near |
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| Contributing Resources: |
Landscape(s) or Landscape Feature(s): 1
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ATS Legal Description:
PBL Legal Description (Cadastral Reference):
Latitude/Longitude:
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UTM Reference:
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Northing |
Easting |
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Recognition
| Recognition Authority: |
Province of Alberta |
| Designation Status: |
Provincial Historic Resource |
| Date of Designation: |
1987/03/12 |
Historical Information
| Built: |
N/A |
| Period of Significance: |
N/A |
| Theme(s): |
Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life : Science
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| Historic Function(s): |
Environment : Nature Element
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| Current Function(s): |
Environment : Nature Element
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| Architect: |
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| Context: |
HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE
Rat's Nest Cave is dissolved out of limestone of the Upper Devonian Palliser Formation. The rock, which is approximately 350 million years old, was uplifted to its present elevation through overthrust faulting during the Laramidian orogeny, 60 million years ago, and again in the Miocene epoch, 40 million years ago.
The cave was originally part of a subterranean drainage system formed below the water table long before the development of the present configuration of the Bow Valley corridor. Through erosion and lowering the base level, most of the cave became dry and the precipitation of the travertine began.
Uranium/Thorium dating of travertine from other caves in similar settings indicates that the oldest of the deposits are in excess of 300,000 years old. In portions of the cave, the process is still active. The 'back' portion of the cave contains an extremely fine and extensive development of stalagmites, stalactites, fossil gour dams, soda straws and other travertine deposits. |
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Additional Information
| Object Number: |
4665-0001 |
| Designation File: |
DES 1510 |
| Related Listing(s): |
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| Heritage Survey File: |
HS 15252
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| Website Link: |
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| Data Source: |
Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, Historic Resources Management Branch, Old St. Stephen's College, 8820 - 112 Street, Edmonton, AB T6G 2P8 (File: Des. 1510) |
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