The name is about the floor. Boulevard Cave got it from a stretch of remarkably smooth going, created by a lava cascade: molten rock pouring through the tube and glazing the floor flat as it went. In a monument where most cave floors are a jumble of collapsed ceiling blocks, a smooth one is worth naming.
That contrast is the whole lesson of Lava Beds. Some tubes kept their roofs and their original surfaces; others have floors buried under breakdown, the rubble left when a ceiling failed. Boulevard shows the first case, and its neighbour Balcony Cave, visited on the same trip, shows how the level of the molten river left shelves along the walls as it dropped.
Both are ranked moderately challenging by the Park Service, which at Lava Beds means sections of low ceiling that require stooping and floors rough enough that gloves and kneepads earn their place. A cave map is recommended.
The monument sits on the northeastern flank of Medicine Lake Volcano, the largest volcano by area in the Cascade Range, and protects more than 46,000 acres of lava tubes, cinder cones, spatter cones, pit craters and flows. It was established on 21 November 1925. Twenty seven caves have marked entrances and developed access, out of a great many more.
A caving permit is required before entering any cave in the monument. They are free from the visitor centre, and they exist to brief visitors and to limit the spread of white-nose syndrome among bats. Bring a helmet, bring more than one light, and check the closure list before travelling.
Other places on the map within a couple of hours.
