If on the other hand we were to have a conversation on what is the most dangerous cave in all of Acadia National Park, we may not see eye to eye, since several of the caves in the National park on Mount Desert Island have taken a life or two. At Schooner Heads Anemone Cave, college of the Atlantic student Douglas Rose was the last person to have died there by drowning after becoming trapped in the cave by rapidly rising waters, and a bad coastal storm approaching did not help matters any. The cave on Great head claimed a teens life as he attempted to enter the cave and a rogue wave swept him off the rocks and out to sea.
Clearly the caves that are easy to access pose a danger unique to themselves, but the most dangerous of all the caves are the ones very little, if anything is written about, caves whose past are so dark only a handful of explorers have dared venture into them. One such Maine explorer, Matthew Marchon, described as a death cave, the kind of cave where one can easily lose their life in. The cave I am speaking of is the ancient Sporting Horn Cave, and while you will find some writings on the Sporting Horn, you will come up short when it comes to the Sporting Horn Cave. That was not always the case, back in the mid 1800's to early 1900's crowds would gather nearly every day to make their way out on the dangerous cliffs just to look down at the mouth of this mysterious cave, all lured there by the spectacular show the mouth of the cave put on, for as each onrush of wave advanced toward the mouth of the cave, a hugn shower of white water would shoot upward into the sky.
I had come across a very old story that told how a few island school boys had accessed the mouth of the cave by rowboat at low tide and how two of the boys ventured a short ways into the cave. The cave reached its heigth of popularity when a couple films used the cave in a motion pictures, but with the passing of years and the property where the cave is located on changing hands, the cave faded into time and nearly became forgotten altogether.
Today's land owners, unlike the ones of the past who welcomed the crowds, would rather not see anyone on the property, and the less written about the Sporting Horn Cave the better. This is a true cave in every sense, it runs pn some distance, and earns its nickname, the death cave, simply by the fact that the further back you venture into the cave, the more it slopes, go too far in and you risk sliding downward to a certain death. Due to how dangerous this cave is and the potential for loss of life, I will not give instructions as to how you can reach the mouth of the cave by land, but I will post a few photos and maps. In his book, The Acadia You Haven't Seen, explorer Matthew Marchon gives specific directions on how to reach the cave, listed under the name "Meadow Brook Sea Cave," which is also known as the Sporting Horn Cave. Needless to say, you DO NOT want to get caught in the cave as the tide is rising, and only enter the cave at low tide. Good footing is a must and flashlights strongly recommended.
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| MAP OF SCHOONER HEAD SPOUTING HORN CAVE Acadia National Park |
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| SPOUTING HORN CAVE Schooner Head - Acadia National Park |
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| THE MYSTERIOUS SPOUTING HORN CAVE Schooner Head Acadia National Park |
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| PEOPLE GATHERED TO VIEW SPOUTING HORN CAVE Schooner Head Acadia National Park |
