The Emilia cave system is pretty awesome, I can say that it’s a great cave for those who are ready for the next level of caving. There are 3 caves along the creek, but the main cave is my favourite, small drops for the first hour, some cool formations, and the cave itself is a good distance. After about an hour in, you will come to a drop that requires repel gear, I have never been past this point.
The trail is pretty long, but it’s through an awesome forest. There are plenty of birds, small animals, and depending on the time of year, you could see lots of wildflowers or mushrooms. You could see black bears, elk, deer, and perhaps a grizzly, they had been spotted in the area in 2019. We had lots of them visit the north island during this time.
The Emilia cave is just one of the many caves along the Memekay River Valley. We have located about 20 of them so far, but that still leaves many to discover yet. A big part of caving is trying to locate them, many times we can hike around all day and not find a particular cave, but the thrill you get at finally finding that cave makes all the scrambling through the brush worth it. Please do not ask me for directions to any cave, I won’t give it. The way I see it, if you are willing to spend your spare time in search of a cave, you probably are a caver who will respect these caves with the utmost cave etiquette. Happy hunting.