Skylight Cave, Lava tube cave in Deschutes National Forest, Oregon, US.

Skylight Cave is a lava tube in Deschutes National Forest, about nine miles northwest of Sisters, Oregon. Visitors enter through a collapsed roof section via a steel ladder. The eastern passage holds three hornito skylights that give the cave its name, while the western passage is longer, filled with sand and clay, and harder to navigate.

Skylight Cave formed as a lava tube in Deschutes County, Oregon, and its entrance is a collapsed roof section reached by a steel ladder. The eastern passage keeps mostly original morphology, while the western passage is longer, filled with sand and clay and harder to navigate. Many years' worth of rotted ladders were once strewn around the entrance floor.

Skylight Cave is closed to all visitation from September 15 to April 30 each year because Townsend's big-eared bats hibernate inside. The dates are set by the U.S. Forest Service, which manages the cave within Deschutes National Forest. Outside that window, the cave is open and the bats are absent.

Bring sturdy footwear and a reliable flashlight or headlamp for the rocky terrain. Plan your visit between 8 AM and 10 AM when sunlight streams through the ceiling openings most effectively.

The eastern passage displays numerous small dome-like formations suggesting where the ceiling once had additional openings. These features reveal how the cave has naturally evolved over time.