Greg Brick
Areas of expertise
Member statistics
- Member since
- 11th July 2007
Greg Brick has taught geology at the college level for 5 years. He has been caving for more than 20 years, and published a 223-page guidebook, “Underground Iowa,” in 2004, and a 226-page book, "Subterranean Twin Cities," in 2009. He is editor of a national caving publication and recipient of the 2005 Peter M. Hauer Award from the National Speleological Society for research in cave history. He has appeared on the History Channel program, "Weird U.S."
Greg Brick's activity
- June 2011
Greg Brick reviewed Naples Catacombs in Naples, Italy
Several Italian cities have catacombs beneath them. During a visit to Naples in 2011, I paid 8 Euros for a tour including the San Gennaro and San Gaudioso catacombs, carved in the tufa bedrock beneath the Capodimonte heights above the city. Unlike the b…"
- April 2011
Greg Brick reviewed Caving at Barra Honda in Costa Rica
Costa Rica is well-known for eco-tourism, and a tour frequently offered through various travel companies is the trip to the caves of the Barra Honda karst. On our trip, the bus was parked at the base of the massif, and it was a very steep and fatiguing h…"
- June 2010
Greg Brick reviewed The Great Pyramid in Cairo, Egypt
Of the 3 pyramids at Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo, the one most famous for its extensive interior tomb passages is the Great Pyramid (of Cheops), but at the time of my visit (May 2010) the tourist authorities were only permitting visits to the interio…"
- December 2008
Greg Brick reviewed Sea Lion Caves in US West Coast, United States
The Sea Lion Caves is a commercial operation located along Oregon’s scenic coastal highway, U.S. Highway 101, about 12 miles north of the town of Florence. The caves were formed in basalt by wave action and house a native population of sea lions and mari…"
Greg Brick reviewed A-J Mine in Alaska, United States
The Alaska-Juneau Mine, or A-J for short, which operated from 1882 to 1942, was the most productive gold mine in North America for a while. It has been converted into a museum that is heavily patronized by cruise ships doing the Inner Passage, which is h…"
Greg Brick reviewed Snorkeling at Hidden Worlds Cenotes in Mexico
A cenote ("say-no-tay") is a flooded sinkhole, often leading into a cave. Along the Mayan Riviera in the Yucatan, south along the coastal highway from Cancun, cenotes abound, and are often commercialized for snorkelers and divers. Hidden Worlds Cenotes i…"
- January 2008
Greg Brick reviewed Niagara Falls in Buffalo, United States
Many waterfalls, great and small, have a breezy space behind the sheet of falling water called a “Cave of the Winds," sometimes regarded in legend as the dwelling place of a thunder god. The problem with these tourist attractions is that the owners…"
- October 2007
Greg Brick reviewed Ape Cave Lava Tube in US West Coast, United States
According to the U.S. Geological Survey website, this is the longest lava tube in the conterminous US, at 3.9 km, having formed "about 2,000 years ago." The cave is well posted, being a unit of Gifford Pinchot National Forest, just east of Coug…"
- August 2007
Greg Brick reviewed Journey Behind the Falls (Canada) in Buffalo, United States
Many waterfalls, great and small, have a breezy space behind the sheet of falling water called a “Cave of the Winds," sometimes regarded in legend as the dwelling place of a thunder god. The problem with these tourist attractions is that the owners don’t…"
Greg Brick reviewed Mammoth Cave in Appalachian States, United States
The Mammoth Cave of Kentucky is the longest cave system in the World, with 367 miles (591 km) of surveyed passages as of 2006. Several million years old, it occupies half a dozen levels in a 300-foot thickness of flat-lying limestones. Each successive le…"
- July 2007
Greg Brick reviewed Gypsum Cave in Las Vegas, United States
If you tire of your losses in the casinos of Las Vegas, and would like a quiet cave for some philosophical reflection, go to Gypsum Cave, on the outskirts of the city. Gypsum Cave is best known for the remains of the extinct Ice Age ground sloth, excavat…"
Greg Brick reviewed Newark Earthworks in Lakes Midwest, United States
The Newark Earthworks in the state of Ohio is one of the largest geometric mound complexes in the Americas. Originally covering about 4 square miles, they were constructed 2,000 years ago by the Hopewell Indians. The earthworks line up with some basic as…"
Greg Brick reviewed Hocking Hills Caves in Lakes Midwest, United States
The Hocking Hills of southern Ohio were just beyond the glacial boundary during the last Ice Age. As the continental ice sheet retreated, the resulting meltwater carved gorges, some more than a hundred feet deep, in the reddish Blackhand Sandstone of the…"
Greg Brick reviewed Baumannshohle in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
Hohle, related to the English word hole, means cave in German, and so this is Baumann’s Cave. Friedrich Baumann was an iron miner in the Rubeland (Rough Land) of the Harz Mountains when he discovered this natural cave in 1536. Guided tours began more tha…"
Greg Brick reviewed Eisriesenwelt Ice Cave in Salzburg Province, Austria
This is one of the world’s premiere ice caves open to the general public, as its name, which means “World of the Ice Giants,” would suggest. It is located in the Calcareous Alps of Austria, near the town of Werfen, 40 km south of Salzburg. The entrance …"
Greg Brick reviewed Exploring Surtshellir Lava Tube in Iceland
Iceland formed atop a hotspot on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge as a mass of congealed lava flows over millions of years. One fairly recent lava flow, in a geological sense, contains Iceland’s best know cave, an enormous lava tube, which can easily be explored w…"
