Grutas de Bustamante

Gruta de las Palmas - Grutas del Palmito - Caves of Bustamante

Useful Information

Location:	Juan Gòmez a. S/N, 65150 Bustamante, N.L. 6 km from San Miguel de Bustamante, signposted. Sierra de Gomas (Sierra De Gómez). 1 hour walk to the cave entrance or shuttle service. 107 km from Monterrey on Hwy 1. (26.5006864, -100.5263999)
Open:	All year Tue-Sun, Hol 9-17. [2024]
Fee:	Adults MXN 50, Children (5-10) MXN 30, Children (0-4) free, Seniors MXN 30. [2024]
Classification:	Karst Cave Biggest Underground Chambers
Light:	Incandescent Coloured Light
Dimension:	L=3,000 m, T=18 °C. Salon de Gigantes: L=600 m, W=100 m, H=30 m, Ar=39,730 m².
Guided tours:	L=400 m.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:	Arrigo Cigna (2016): Tourism and show caves, Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie Supplementary Issues 60(2), June 2016, pp. 217-233. researchgate DOI
Address:	Grutas de Bustamante, Juan Gòmez a. S/N, 65150 Bustamante, N.L., Tel: +52-81-2033-2626. Municipio de Bustamante, Tel: +52-81-8246-0023 or +52-81-8246-0179 or +52-829-24604-70.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1906	discovered by Juan Gómez Cazares, a local who felt cold air coming out of a crack.
1910	exploration by General Naranjo from Lampazos.
1950	post convention trip to the cave after the first World Convention at Montereyy, Mexico.
1956	a crew of cavers make a film of the cave.
1960	first visit of the Alamo Grotto.
1961	the Texas Speleological Association sponsors a cleanup trip to the cave.
1962	first visit by Orion Knox.
1964	field trip from the NSS Convention at New Braunfels.
197?	"variable" entrance fees introduced and first electric light.
197?	road from Bustamante to the foot of the hill built.
1997	Labor Day project to cleanup the cave sponsored by the TSA.
1998	Labor Day project to cleanup the cave sponsored by the TSA.

Description

Grutas de Bustamante, named after the nearby town Bustamante, is a huge cave system. But rumors about many kilometers of cave and speleologists staying months inside the cave are just legend. Much of the cave was surveyed by Jan and Orion Knox from Austin, Texas, who visited the cave many times for forty years.

The cave is also called Gruta del Palmito (Cave of the Palmettos), where palmettos are dwarf fan palms that usually grow in moist marshy areas such as Florida or east Texas. But sometimes they also grow in the desert, and they did on the mountainside above Bustamante. It seems, the discoverer of the cave made a living by collecting palm fronds for thatched roofs. When he noticed cool air coming out of a pile of boulders, he dug a little, until the breeze turned into a blast. He went to the town and reported his find, and soon a large group of people went up the mountain and excavated the entrance.

Bustamante cave is famous for being really huge, having several huge chambers. The first one is 200 m long, 100 m wide and 20 m high. The Salon de Gigantes (Hall of the Giants) is even bigger: 600 m long, 100 m wide and 30 m high. With an area of 39,730 m² it is listed at place 24 [2024] of the World Largest Chamber by Area.

The cave is a show cave, but the grade of development changes now and then, a cycle of on and off and up and down which continues to present. Since the seventies numerous attempts have been made to develop it, which often ended by the famous Mexican custom known as Mañana. In the early seventies the road from Bustamante to the foot of the hills was built, electric poles and lines installed at the cave entrance, and variable entrance fees were collected. It seems it was never clear, who collected which amount from whom, and even cavers who visited the cave for decades are confused. Then it took some more years until finally wires and open bulbs on wooden sticks were installed inside the cave. It took only a few years until the wood rotted out and the bulbs and wires lay on the floor. A hotel built at the car park was never completed and never used until it finally became ruined.

The next topic of development is the ascent from the car park to the cave entrance. By foot this is a walk of only 1.6 km, but an elevation gain of 250 m. Physically fit visitors need 45 minutes, normal people should schedule an hour or more. This walk through the Méxican desert requires appropriate clothes, sturdy shoes and enough water. Many years ago, in an attempt to build a road to the cave entrance, a single lane track was bulldozed into the shrubs, but it stopped a hundred meters from the cave. Later a landslide blocked this road about halfway up. Later this road has been reactivated, but it was still not very good. Then it was paved, and today there are shuttle buses from the car park to the cave entrance.

The Texas Speleological Association (TSA) organizes regular meetings with volunteers to provide assistance in cave conservation and appropriate development. The tasks of those meetings are rubbish removal, trail improvement, graffiti removal, and improvement of the lighting system. It seems the cave is visited since the 1950s, but most visitors just leave rubbish and graffities. And the locals are not interested in the cave except when they hope to earn some money. Continuous support by the Knoxes, the Texas Speleological Association, and in the last years by the Central Texas Trail Tamers (CTTT), resulted in a rather good shape of the cave at the moment. The light system and the paths are maintained by the volunteers generally once a year.

The cave is today a rather well-developed show cave, the trails are elevated and removable, which is the least possible impression on cave life. It was even mentioned in a paper by Professor Arrigo Cigna, who is specialized on show caves. The cave tour is wheelchair-accessible, which is rare among show caves. You have to leave the wheelchair at the car park for the shuttle ride, there are wheelchairs available at the cave. There is also a drawback of the currently good development, the light is coloured.