Author: Joel Matheson

Joel Matheson is the founder of The Foodscapes Collective and is passionate about sustainable agriculture, food security, and climate resilience. He holds an MA in Global Studies and a BA in Environmental Studies. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Jamaica from 2018-2020.

Kuna Caves

19 May 2020

Kuna, Idaho

Kuna Caves is a fun day trip that is only 30 minutes drive from downtown Meridian. It is a common destination for Idahoans. My friend told me that growing up, he and his scout troop spent the night down there! Even though I grew up less than an hour drive away, I have never been. So my friend Kateri and I decided to go. We packed up into her Ford Explorer to go explore the Kuna Caves. Check out the video here. This is my first travel video and it was fun to make. I used iMovie on my iPhone to put together this quick edit.

This cave turned out to be awesome! There was so much graffiti in the cave which added to its mystery. We climbed down the ladder, which was surprisingly sturdy. There is a little light shining down the entrance, but as soon as you start walking it gets pitch black. So flashlights are necessary if you are trying to explore this cave. After walking for a few minutes and enjoying the rocks and art, we came to a ledge that I climbed up and there was even more graffiti on top. Be prepared for some narrow tunnels. We had to squat down and crawl through a few places. Its not tight enough that I was worried, but if you had claustrophobia then you might be worried. The caverns seemed to be endless with a wide open area that would narrow to a small tunnel and then open up to another large cavity. We walked back until the narrow tunnel got to small and turned around.

Directions to get there:

Drive South down Meridian Road until it turns West into E. Kuna Road (which turns into E Avalon St.). Drive through Kuna and turn left on Swan Falls Rd. Drive South for about 7 minutes. Turn right to go West down W. Kuna Cave Rd for about 3 minutes. Then you want to turn left down the unpaved Black Cat Rd. (Note- this road isnt marked on the maps, but the road leads directly south to Black Cat Rd.) Then you will cross over a cattle guard and the Kuna Cave entrance will be on your left. It is just a little hole in the ground and is easy to miss.

The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining me!

My name is Joel Matheson and I love to travel. I love seeing new things, trying new foods, and meeting new people. I would always be fascinated by the trinkets my Dad would bring home to us when he was traveling in the Navy. I would day dream about all the far away lands that he visited. We visited a few countries when I was younger and we even lived in Guam for a while. This started my wanderlust.

My brother and I atop Storm Castle Peak in Gallatin National Forest, Montana

Fast forward to 2017 and I went on my first trip. I went with a few of my friends to an ultimate frisbee tournament in The Netherlands. After meeting some amazing people from other countries and playing my favorite sport in the world, I hopped on a train to Germany. I did my first solo travel for a little less than a month. I did WWOOFing with an awesome German couple that I still talk with today. They taught me a lot about German culture and organic farming, and my friend Tini has an awesome Instagram page where she posts pictures from her garden.

From 2018 to 2020 I was in Jamaica as a Peace Corps Volunteer. It was an awesome experience where I have made some amazing friends. I was evacuated due to Covid, but I can’t wait to go back. I write about some of my experiences in my blog jamaicajoel.wordpress.com.

I am currently working on a vineyard and traveling around the United States while I experiment with blogging and video editing. So please leave comments I would love to hear some feedback. Subscribe to this blog or my YouTube channel if you like my content.