Cueva de la Quebrada del Toro

Quebrada El Toro Cavern - De Beilard's Cavern

Useful Information

Location:	Cueva de la Quebrada del Toro National Park, Sierra de Falcón, Falcón State. 15 km from Santa Cruz de Bucaral in the State of Falcon. Access road from La Taza. (10.828439, -69.132257)
Open:	All year daily 8-16. [2023]
Fee:
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:	L=1,602 m, T=25-27 °C.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Cueva de la Quebrada del Toro National Park, Sierra de Falcón , Falcón State.
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

21-MAR-1961

National Park established.

Description

Cueva de la Quebrada del Toro (Cave of the Bull's Gorge) is also named De Beilard's Cavern in honour of De Beilard, the Venezuelan speleologist who explored it for the first time. Like many caves in the area it is inhabited by oilbirds (steatornis caripensis). See Showcave Cueva del Guácharo for more information on those birds. But several types of birds actually live in the cave, including the paují, the blue macaw, the paloma turca, the jay, the bluebird, the bellbird and various parrots. It is home to numerous mammals like the cachicamo, the farmer fox, the araguaco, the limpet, the tapir, jaguars, flying squirrels, bats, capuchin monkeys and the cunaguaro. And there are several reptiles including the Mapanare snake, the Tragavenado snake, rattlesnakes, cuaimas and the tigra mariposa. It is also home to the endemic Hueque Scorpion aka Sierra Falconiana Scorpion (Tityus falconensis).

This cave is an active river cave, so far with the largest known underground watercourse in Venezuela. The underground river is named El Toro which forms two big lakes, both over 200 meters long, which can be crossed on small boats. The cave is the resurgence of the El Toro river, a tributary of the Tocuyo River which drains towards the Caribbean Sea.

The cave formed in limestones from the Miocene, 25 to 13 Ma old reef limestones. The main entrance is a huge portal which is 10 m high and 15 m wide. The cave is visited only with guided tours, the permit must be obtained from the ranger station at the park.