"Bernies" Cave List

One of the ways to truly appreciate the tremendous impact that the unique maps and descriptions of Bernie Smeltzer have made on the caving world is to look back on the list of caves he indelibly left his mark upon. Countless times has a caver reached into their pocket and pulled out a mud stained map with those timeless words "Drawn By Bernard Smeltzer". Many of us have come to affectionately refer to them as "Bernie Maps".

Over his lifetime, Bernard Smeltzer drew over 140 cave maps spanning a little over 40 years, from his first one published in 1949, to his last one before his death in 1992.

They are almost all instantly recognizable by his unique blend of passage and formation detail and vivid geological sections.   (Maps are listed alphabetically by year published)

This list of caves is graciously provided by Hope McAdam. Hope and Jeff Uhl compiled this list as part of an exhibition at the 1992 NSS Convention held in Salem, Indiana. This list was made possible through the contributions of Will and Bette White, Dale Ibberson, Steve Smeltzer, Jay Herbein, and John Coolidge III.

*Credit is given to Dale Ibberson, for providing excerpts from his obituary for Bernard L. Smeltzer which was originally published in the York Grotto Newsletter, Vol. 28, No. 4, July 1992. Credit is also given to J. Michael Spencer, editor of the Fall 2003 MAR Field Meet and MAR 50th Anniversary Field Guidebook, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, for re-printing the above information on Bernard L. Smeltzer.