Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using CavingClub.org (“the Site”), you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms of Service and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these terms, you must discontinue your use of the Site immediately.

2. Informational & Educational Purposes Only

The content, topographical trail descriptions, mountain peak summaries, cave profiles, and ten hiking tools and calculators provided on this platform are for general educational, mathematical, and trip-planning purposes only:

• Calculators: Our duration (Naismith's Rule), pacing, hydration, MET calories, and difficulty ratings are theoretical estimates. Actual trail times and bodily exertion vary significantly based on snowpack, mud, route degradation, personal physiology, and adverse weather.
• Trail & Cave Access: Wilderness regulations, trail closures, bridge washouts, and permit lottery quotas change frequently. Users must verify real-time conditions with official land management agencies before departing.
• AI Cave Explorer Assistant & Automated Tools: Responses generated by the CavingClub AI Explorer chat assistant (whether via our built-in retrieval knowledge base or OpenAI API streaming) and automated route calculators are informational summaries only and may contain omissions or lag behind sudden park closures. Never rely on automated chat responses for life-safety navigation, medical diagnosis, or permit compliance.
• Editorial Independence & No Official Affiliation: CavingClub.org is an independent reference publication compiled by the CavingClub Editorial Team. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), or any government agency, nor do our guides replace instruction from certified wilderness guides or medical professionals. See our Editorial Standards & Corrections Procedure for how we cite sources and process updates.

3. Speleology Conservation & Biosafety Ethics

CavingClub.org promotes the protection of subterranean ecosystems and North American bat populations. When using our caving information resources, visitors should:

• Follow current USFWS / NSS White-Nose Syndrome decontamination standards to help prevent spread of Pseudogymnoascus destructans spores.
• Never enter closed, gated, or seasonal bat hibernacula caves without official scientific permits.
• Observe the 3-Light Rule when entering unlit caves or wild caving passages (every entrant in an unlit cavern should carry at least 2–3+ independent, reliable light sources and wear a dedicated caving helmet; developed electric-lit show cave tours require only standard walking footwear and layers).
• Practice Leave No Trace: never touch cave formations (speleothems), pack out all waste, and leave no markings or graffiti.

4. Intellectual Property & Permitted Use

All original algorithms, text, calculator source code, design elements, graphics, and compilation on CavingClub.org are protected by copyright and intellectual property laws. Destination photographs sourced from Wikimedia Commons are used under their respective Creative Commons or Public Domain licenses as attributed on each page.

• Personal Non-Commercial Use: You are granted a non-exclusive license to use our tools and print trail summaries for personal, non-commercial backcountry trip planning.
• Prohibited Conduct: You may not scrape, frame, reverse engineer, republish, or commercialize our calculator engines or editorial content without explicit written permission from CavingClub.org.

5. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, CavingClub.org, its founders, editors, authors, contributors, and hosting providers shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages resulting from:

• Personal bodily injury, illness, hypothermia, disorientation, or death arising from outdoor recreational activities, hiking, climbing, or caving.
• Reliance on calculator estimates, trail difficulty ratings, elevation charts, or navigational coordinates.
• Inaccuracies, omissions, or outdated regulatory permit information on the Site.
• Interruption, downtime, or technical defects in website availability.

6. External Links & Third-Party Services

The Site contains hyperlinks to external websites, including the National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Leave No Trace, and weather services. We do not endorse or assume responsibility for the content, privacy practices, or availability of any third-party websites.

7. Modifications to the Service and Terms

We reserve the right to modify or discontinue any tool, calculator, or content feature at any time without notice. We may update these Terms of Service periodically; your continued use of the Site following any posted changes constitutes full acceptance of the revised terms.