The cache overlooks the entrance to Jasper Cave. When I was here the cave was "exhaling" which tells me the cave is much larger than it appears.
This locations was originally shown to me by Acid Rain and I thought it was far too interesting to allow to fade into obscurity.
I checked with the NPS at Jewel Cave to see if Jasper Cave and Jewel Cave are connected. The answer I received was, "Jewel Cave has only two known entrances, the natural entrance and the man made elevator shaft. As far as we know at this time, the two caves are not connected."
Further conversation yielded the following information. Measuring the air flow of Jewel Cave shows a volume of 4 to 5 billion cubic feet while the known parts of the cave only account for 100 million cubic feet leaving 95% of the cave yet to be found. Are Jewel and Jasper Cave connected? Maybe, maybe not.
STAY OUT OF THE CAVE. You need to: first, know what you are doing (ergo, you must be a spelunker); second, you need to know the protocols to protect against White Nose Syndrome; third, you need to get a permit to enter from the Forest Service; fourth, it would be easy to get lost in the hole in the ground to die of dehydration, starvation and hypothermia.
Take Forest Service road FS282 (Mud Creek Road) to FS458. It is a mile down that "road". I would suggest a high clearance vehicle. I pedaled my bike in there since I didn't know the condition of the road. It's rough but passable. Also, the road is gated and closed from November 1 to May 15. Foot and horse travel is always allowed.