Apache Death Cave

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 0.4 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation: 5404 - 5427 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 45 mins.
Trailhead: Two Guns
Fee: none
Attractions: cave ruins, ghost town

The Apache Death Cave is located in a branch of Canyon Diablo in the ghost town of Two Guns, Arizona. The legend of the cave claims that a group of Apaches raided a Navajo encampment on the Little Colorado River, killing everyone except for 3 girls that they took captive. Later some Navajo warriors tracked them to this location and had their revenge.

To get there find your way to Two Guns by taking I-40 Exit 230 where you can park near the abandoned gas station. For turn-by-turn directions you can enter 'Apache Death Cave' into your driving app.

From the gas station follow the dirt road that goes west toward Canyon Diablo and some of the Two Guns ghost town ruins.

The road ends at a short branch of Canyon Diablo where there are some ruins on the right. The cave is on the right side of the ruin in this photo but the easiest way to get down to it is to go around the left side of the short canyon and find the spot where you can drop down into the wash and hike back out on the other side.

There is a cairn that marks the drop in point which requires a minor scramble to get down the rim of the canyon.

Once in the wash follow the faint social trail that passes behind one of the structures.

On the north side of that structure there is a wide gap in the cliffs. The Apache Death Cave is straight ahead at the back of this gap. This open area is where the Navajo warriors had, according to the legend, thrown in burning sagebrush to smoke out the Apaches.

As you head toward the cave you will pass another gap on the right that has a few wall remnants.

Continuing to the back of the gap you will come to the opening of the cave.

Inside of the Apache Death Cave there are more remnants of walls. A Native American, with at least some Apache blood, named Harry 'Indian' Miller used this cave as a tourist attraction, advertising it as an 'underground Apache dwelling', but making no mention of the 'Death Cave' story.

The legend of the Apache Death Cave appears to be a work of fiction that was created by a writer named Gladwell Richardson, who also wrote a farce about the Canyon Diablo railroad camp that proved to be a fabrication, to attract tourists and perhaps to help sell one of his books. Some people that have been taken in by the hoax claim that the Apache Death Cave is one of the most haunted places in Arizona. If you would like to see it for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.