New Virtual Tour of Lehman Caves

This article was originally published in The Midden – Great Basin National Park: Vol. 20, No. 2, Winter 2020.

By Gretchen Baker, Ecologist

In February 2020, LiDAR scanning and photogrammetry were conducted in Lehman Caves over the course of two weeks, led by Blase Lasala and assisted by participants from Great Basin NP, Zion NP, El Malpais NM, and the Geologic Resources Division. The LiDAR scanning involved placing a high resolution scanner on a tripod and conducting 360-degree scans all along the tour route, approximately a body length apart. In addition, a camera collected color images from the same locations, and these were combined with the LiDAR data.

LiDAR and color scanning of part of the Lehman Caves tour route. This 3D
scanning resulted in a virtual tour of the cave, available on the Park’s YouTube

NPS Photo by Gretchen Baker

Following the scanning, Blase worked on developing the pointcloud and cleaning up the data, a time-intensive endeavor. Meanwhile, a team from Great Basin NP developed the script and how a virtual cave tour would flow. In addition, descendants of Takeshi Ban and the local Shoshone and Goshute Tribes were consulted on portions of the tour that focus on inscriptions and the entrance area.

During this time, Covid arrived and shut down Lehman Caves. It has been closed ever since. Fortunately, with the development of a virtual cave tour, now more people than ever can experience what the tour route is like via the Lehman Caves Virtual Tour.

The virtual cave tour is split into three main videos, each highlighting different parts of the cave. Each also has special call-out videos, where you can learn additional details about topics such as cave inscriptions, cave biology, and how the cave formed. To see this video you can visit this link: Virtual Lehman Caves Tour It features subtitles in English and Spanish and audio descriptions, making the cave accessible in new ways.