By Brooke Meyer
Deep within the Spanish Fork canyon, a dark hole is sandwiched between the mountains,
known to most visitors as the bat caves.
The bat cave is flanked by a silver gate and a sign stating, 'No Trespassing.'
Most students ignore the warning and proceed into the cave.
'Yeah, I have see the sign, but nobody really pays to much attention to it,' said Morgan, 22, from Orange County, majoring in Marriage, Family and Human Development.
It is a hot spot to take girls in hopes that fear will lead to holding hands.
'I usually take my dates there. We tell them a scary story, and then walk down the cave using no flashlights,' said Sean Thomas, 23, from Florida, majoring in history.
The girls and even first time guys fear the unknown, said Thomas.
Green lights start to appear towards the end of cave, giving the cave the name, as the lights look like bat eyes.
But what most students don''t know is that the cave has a history, which could endanger their lives.
'In 1983 the Thistle landslide, named that because the slide buried the town, is the reason many man-made caves were made in the Spanish Folk Canyon,' said Loyal Clark, head of Public Information for the Forrest Services.
A lot of rain in that season saturated the land and caused it to slide right off, she said.
The scary thing is the land is still moving, and the canyon is very unstable, Clark said,
'For safety purposes they have gated the cave and also because it hinders the role of the structure itself,' Clark said.
The caves were created as part of a drainage system, to collect all sorts of debris, mud and rock because the canyon is still moving, she said.
'People have gotten stuck in there and hurt, especially when the cave starts to collect debris,' Clark said.
On top of the physical consequences of traveling into the cave there could be law consequences as well.
'Anything located on federal land like the caves are, you could be prosecuted for trespassing,' Clark said.
The man-made caves are regulated by the Bureau of Reclamanation and the Natural Resource Conservation Services.
'Maybe next time I will think twice before going into the caves,' Meyer said, 'it may not be worth the scare.'
'For safety purposes first and second because of the role of the structure itself.'
'In the case of this cave, the Bureua of Reclamantion and the Natural resource conservation service.'
'The slides is still moving, and the canyon is very unstable.'
'A lot of rain that season, saturated the land and caused it to slide right off.'
'there is still continuing movement.'
'People have got stuck and hurt in there.'
'Hinder the role of the sturcuture.'
'Located on any type if federal land could be prosectured for trespassing.'
'there are real bat caves in the area which would be closed for habit reasons.'