Etymology is the account of the history of a particular word or phase. (As opposed to Entomology, which is the study of bugs.) The explorers of Lechuguilla Cave have developed their own language, consisting mostly of regional names and place names. When a new room or passage is discovered, the surveyors are generally considered to have the right to name the area. The names are primarily based on geographic location or significant features (e.g. The North Rift, Rim City), current events (Fawn Hall), movies or songs, literature (Pellucidar, Barsoom), or puns on any of the above.
    Although many names are assigned, only one in ten are in common use. This is because at the time of discovery, it is generally unknown whether a given place will become a major junction or part of a trade route. Sometimes names are used more than once. There are several Echo Chambers in Lechuguilla Cave. Sometimes two places are given the same name at the same time, which is most common for places named after current events. Peer pressure dictates that no room be named after a living person. When egos run out of control, someone often suggests (jokingly) that death of the discoverer could be arranged with a simple push at a strategic passage. Even with this stigma, personal names are occasionally slipped into the name of a room under some disguise.
    The names below are grouped into four sections corresponding to the four major regions of the cave.

Entrance Section

Liberty Bell -- This bell-shaped canopy is located at the top of the Flowstone Slope near the entrance to the Wooden Lettuce Passage. A large crack in the formation reminded the first explorers of the American Liberty Bell located in Philadelphia.

Wooden Lettuce Passage -- This is a side passage that branches off the entrance passage at the top of the flowstone slope. An eight-foot climb across delicate formations leads to the well-decorated passage. Because of the fragile approach, Dave Allured refused to let anyone explore the passage. Ron Kerbo coined the name because Dave “wouldn’t-let-us” survey the area.

The Flowstone Slope -- This remarkably uncreative name refers to a forty-foot slope of flowstone in the entrance passage just above Lake Lechuguilla. It is noteworthy only because a handline has been placed here to aid in crossing the slope.

Lake Lechuguilla -- This was the first significant body of water found in the cave and was therefore named after the cave itself. When first discovered, this lake was twenty feet across and over ten feet deep. The level has steadily decreased over time, and now the lake is barely five feet across and two feet deep. The reason for this loss of water is unknown.

Boulder Falls -- This is the first major pit in the cave and is approximately 150 feet deep. The name comes from the large amount of loose rock that was around the lip of the pit. Almost every descent for the first year of exploration knocked large amounts of loose rubble into the pit. The supply of loose rock appeared to be endless, but after three years the pit had mostly stabilized.

Rim City -- Named for the large number of gypsum rim formations along the floor and walls of this corridor.

Glacier Bay -- This room is named for the appearance of the large gypsum blocks that dominate the center of the room. Two thirds of the volume of this room is occupied by massive gypsum deposits on the floor. Where the deposits end, cliffs are formed along with large blocks of gypsum that have broken off the face and landed at the foot of the cliffs. When viewed from the lower end of the room, the gypsum cliffs appear to be the face of a large glacier complete with blocks of ice that have calved away. This scene of nature mimicking itself prompted the name Glacier Bay. The original name given by Dave Allured, the Inferno Room, has all but been forgotten.

Windy City -- This is a narrowing of the passage which forces the air to flow past with increased velocity. A three-foot long piece of flagging tape hangs from the ceiling to indicate airflow. On high-wind days the tape hangs at forty-five degrees from vertical.

Sugarlands -- The floor and walls of this area consist of white powdery gypsum covered with a crust of gypsum mixed with dirt. This gives the appearance of a one-inch crust of brown sugar covering a bed of white sugar.

C-61 -- This is the sixty-first station in the C-survey. It is a noteworthy location as a common resting spot and as the gateway to the Rift. Most modern-day trips into the cave reach C-61 in about one hour.

The Rift -- This fissure is a major feature in the entrance section of the cave. The fissure is approximately 200 feet tall, 1,000 feet long, and averages 2 to 10 feet wide. It was a major obstacle to early explorers and is still the only route to the back sections of the cave. The origin of the name is from the imposing nature of this fissure.

The North Rift -- This generally refers to the section of the Rift that lies north of its intersection with the main entrance corridor at survey station C-61. The name is also used to refer to the entire area that branches off the North Rift which is approximately two miles of passage (1997). The North Rift area is generally low crawling passage with few places to stand upright. Because of this, the North Rift has the reputation of being a difficult area to explore, and generally undesirable. A sarcastic caver has placed flagging tape at C-61 with an arrow and the words “To the plush, luxurious, and swank North Rift.”

Fawn Hall -- Fawn Hall was the secretary to Oliver North during the Iran-Contra scandal. She testified before congress that she had been ordered to shred hundreds of documents before the FBI could arrive to confiscate them. The room Fawn Hall is a pun on her name. Cavers also found it hilariously funny that this room is located in the “North” Rift.

The Overpass -- The original route to the back parts of the cave, via the lower Rift, traveled up and down several hills or “passes.” When this shortcut was discovered above the previous route it became known as the Overpass. This word has a double meaning: the new route is much faster than the old lower Rift route, so the shortcut is similar to a modern highway overpass. The new route also travels “over” the old “passes” of the lower Rift. The Overpass was an important discovery because it reduced a four-hour trip through the lower Rift to only twenty minutes.

EF-Junction -- This remarkably uncreative name comes from the junction where the F-survey branches off of the E-survey. It was a common lunch spot in the early exploration of the cave, but is now considered to be only 1 1/2 hours from the entrance. All three of the main arms of the cave split off within 200 yards of this junction.

Snow White's Passage -- An extension of the passage from EF-Junction south. One of the longest horizontal walkways in the cave. Named, presumably, after the fairy tale, though the passage is not particularly whiter than others.

The Great White Way -- This steeply sloping passage is the main entry into the western branch of the cave. Its name stems from its pure white crystalline walls.

Apricot Pit -- When Roy Glaser and Rick Bridges led the first return trip to the cave in August of 1987, Donald G. Davis was unable to attend because he was drying apricots on his farm in Western Colorado. Bridges found it almost unimaginable that drying apricots could take precedence over exploring a new cave in the Guadalupe Mountains. As a friendly jab at Donald, Bridges suggested that the first major feature discovered on the expedition be so named as to remind Donald that he wasn’t there for its discovery. The name “Apricot Pit” was given to the obvious pit that ends the E-survey. It is still the gateway to the entire eastern branch of the cave.

The Western Branch

Deep Secrets -- This large room starts at the base of The Great White Way and ends in a formation area. The name comes from the fact that this was the deepest area of the cave at the time, and the explorers felt that the cave was now giving up its secrets.

Little Lake Lechuguilla -- This was the second significant body of water found in the cave and was particularly important due to its location along a trade route. At the time of discovery, this lake was much smaller than its namesake, but while Lake Lechuguilla has shrunk in size, Little Lake Lechuguilla has maintained its volume. It is now an important water stop on the way to the Western Borehole.

Fortress of Chaos -- This room is named for the large, irregular breakdown that litters the floor.

Pellucidar -- Pellucidar was a subterranean world in several stories written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It first appeared in “At the Earth's Core” (1914). This area became well-known as the site of the of subaqueous helictites discovered by Donald G. Davis. The room is accessed via a steep climb out of the Fortress of Chaos.

Barsoom -- This balcony lies above Pellucidar. The name Barsoom also comes from the fantasies of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and was his name for Mars.

Deep Seas Room -- At the time of its discovery, this room was suspected to be as deep as or deeper than the current low spot in Deep Secrets. The floor of this room is completely covered with calcite rafts and broken mammillary crust shells. As the cavers walked across the room, each step was met with the sound of breaking china as the plates were broken. One caver noted that the noise was similar to the sound of breaking sea shells, hence the name. A taped trail confines modern-day explorers to a single path through the room to prevent further damage. The far end of the room is now the location of Deep Seas Camp, one of the most heavily visited locations in the cave.

White Christmas Tree Room -- This room has dozens of one-foot to two-foot tall calcite raft cones. The cones have been covered with a white layer of calcite that cements them together and gives the appearance of dozens of miniature Christmas trees.

Lake Louise -- The claim is that this room was named after the well-known lake in the Canadian Rockies. It has also been noticed that Louise was the girlfriend of one of the discoverers. This lake is one of the water sources for Deep Seas Camp.

Cornflakes Climb -- This awkward ten-foot climb leaves from a calcite raft area similar to the Deep Seas Room. The cavers that discovered this area were obviously in a different frame of mind when they heard the sound of breaking calcite rafts and decided that it sounded like walking on corn flakes.

The ABCs Room -- Although claimed to be named because the discoverers were following the ABCs of surveying, it did not go unnoticed that it was also the first letter of each of the discoverers’ first names: Art, Bill, Carol, and Steve. This room marks the beginning of the Western Borehole.

Western Borehole -- The word borehole is generally attributed to any passage of large dimension that travels in a straight line. The original name The Great Western Borehole was coined by Rick Bridges when this large passage was found to be headed almost due west. Over time the name became shortened to Western Borehole. This passage is more than 1 1/4 miles long and averages 120 feet wide. Modern use of the name refers both to the borehole itself and the many miles of passage branching off.

Reason Room -- This chamber was named as a setup for a pun. The only reason for the name was so that the next room could be named Beyond Reason. The Reason Room has made a name in history as the site where Emily Davis Mobley broke her leg in April of 1991, prompting a four-day rescue effort.

The Three Amigos -- A set of three gypsum stalagmites along the main trail through the Western Borehole. The formations are approximately six feet tall and stand six feet apart. The phrase comes from the 1986 movie of the same name starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Chevy Chase.

Manifest Destiny -- A room-like enlargement part way along the Western Borehole. A play on a slogan used to justify the western expansion of the United States in the 19th century.

Chandelier Graveyard -- The large crystalline gypsum stalagmites in this area reminded cavers of gypsum chandeliers in the Chandelier Ballroom that had fallen to the floor. They whimsically surmised that this room was where gypsum chandeliers go when they die. The term Chandelier Graveyard now refers to the entire maze located above the Western Borehole.

The Leaning Tower of Lechuguilla -- This prominent twenty-foot tall tower stands in the middle of the Western Borehole. The peculiar lean of this popcorn-covered stalagmite reminded explorers of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Peter Jones broke his ankle near here in 1993. Not wanting to duplicate the large-scale rescue effort required for Emily Davis Mobley, he decided to self-rescue with the help of his teammates. It took two days for Peter to crawl the almost two miles back to the entrance.

Hard Daze Night Hall -- A pun on the popular Beatles song, this room was also named because it was a long, hard day to get there.

Huapache Highway -- This name is given to a segment of the Western Borehole just before the Oasis Pool. The name comes from the Huapache monocline, a geologic flexure that elevates the limestone not far west of Lechuguilla Cave.

Oasis Pool Room -- This area is also known as just “The Oasis.” This is one of the most beautiful rooms in the cave, and is often featured in photographs of Lechuguilla Cave. The name comes from the fact that this pool lies at the far end of the Western Borehole, which has no water along its entire length. The attractive formations also lend credibility to the notion that this is an oasis in an underground desert.

The Eastern Branch

Ghost Town -- A huge room, located in the upper level of the Eastern Branch, so called because its central feature is a group of smoothly-corroded stalagmites suggesting white-draped spirits.

Ghostbusters Hall -- A room beyond Ghost Town, named after the 1984 movie Ghostbusters, starring Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, and Harold Ramis.

The Mega Maze -- This term is used to describe the general area at the base of Apricot Pit. The region consists of many large rooms connected by walking passages. Both the size and the complexity of the area lent the name Mega Maze.

The Emperors Throne Room -- In the corner of this room is a beautiful six-foot tall white stalagmite surrounded by blood-red flowstone. This often-photographed formation is called the Emperor of Lechuguilla, and lends its name to the surrounding room.

Nirvana -- This room was considered to be one of the best decorated rooms in the cave at the time of its discovery. The first explorers were convinced they had reached a place of serenity free from the distractions of the external world, hence the name Nirvana.

The Great Beyond -- The first really large room found beyond Nirvana. Named in hopes that it would be the start of a Great Eastern Borehole. It wasn't.

Another Room -- The discoverers of this chamber found it to be a thirty-foot by fifty-foot room with a twenty-foot ceiling. Although notable in most other caves, these rooms are plentiful in the Mega Maze area of Lechuguilla. When asked what he had found, the leader replied “just another room.”

The Rusticles -- These oddly shaped stalactites are stained shades of brown and black. Donald G. Davis was the first to notice the resemblance between these formations and the “rusticles” that were found on the recently discovered wreck of the Titanic. The Rusticles is also generally used to refer the entire passage that contains them, including the nearby Rusticles Camp.

Stud Lake -- Neeld Messler was the first person to strip down, swim the length of the lake and attempt a climb at the far end. The name comes from the slang usage of the word “stud” which refers to a notably virile man.

Lake of the Blue Giants -- The giants are six large submerged stalagmites. The depth of the lake gives them an emerald-blue appearance. Dave Bunnell dived here with scuba gear in 1989 but found the lake to end at a depth of ninety feet.

Giant Chiclets Room -- This room is littered with large boulders which have been covered with a layer of white calcite. The calcite serves to round the corners of the boulders and make them appear like overgrown versions of the popular chewing gum called Chiclets.

Moby Dick Room -- There appears to be no particular reason for the name of this room other than the fact it is very large.

Aragonitemare -- Bryan Becker was the first to attempt this climb which was exposed, difficult, and full of razor-sharp aragonite crystals. The name is a concatenation of the words for the cave mineral, aragonite, and an unpleasant dream, nightmare. All of the original participants thought this was a very appropriate name. Today it is the only access to the Far East area of the cave.

The China Shop -- This is one of the first rooms found at the top of the Aragonitemare. It is well decorated and so delicate that the first explorers heard only the tinkling of aragonite being crushed underfoot as they passed through. Originally named the China Closet, the name was later changed to China Shop in reference to the colloquial phrase “like a bull in a china shop.”

Silver Bullet Passage -- This passage was named for a gray-colored stalagmite that had fallen over and been re-cemented to the floor. The thought was probably suggested by a series of Coors Lite commercials in the late 1980s that centered about a silver bullet theme.

Grand Guadalupe Junction -- The hub where three routes join in a spacious void.

Lost Pecos River -- North from Grand Guadalupe Junction, a small stream cascades from a flowstone wall into a lake which is the water source for the normal Far East campsite. Named for the main river course in Eddy County, where Carlsbad Caverns National Park is located.

The Ruby Chamber -- A large room, antechamber to the deepest region of Lechuguilla. Named for pockets of iron-oxide-crusted calcite spar crystals.

The Outback -- This reference stems from the Australian Outback, the remote central desert section of that country. Lechuguilla's Outback is a ten- to twelve-hour journey from the entrance, and is austere and poorly decorated.

Lake of the White Roses -- This is the deepest point in Lechuguilla Cave and is named for the calcite folia on the walls that vaguely resemble white rose petals. This lake was dived by Peter Bolt in 1992 to a depth of ninety-two feet.

The South Branch

Gulf of California -- This small pool is long and skinny, reminding the California cavers who discovered it of the Gulf of California.

Shoestring Traverse -- The cavers who first crossed this traverse did so with very little gear. They concluded that they had achieved the impossible with little more than a shoestring and a prayer.

Lake Lebarge -- This was named after the lake in Canada mentioned in the Robert Service poem The Cremation of Sam McGee. This was prompted when the discoverers remembered a caver’s version of the poem that goes “The caver’s lights have seen strange sights. . .” Although the first parties were forced to strip down and cross the lake, later explorers found a clever route around the perimeter of the lake using slightly submerged footholds.

Lake Chandelar -- This was named for another Canadian lake shortly after Lake Lebarge was named. This lake is more photogenic than nearby Lake Lebarge. This funnel-shaped pool is twenty feet across with deep blue water rimmed with orange flowstone.

The Lebarge Borehole -- This sixty-foot diameter passage starts at Lake Lebarge and heads deeper into the cave. Although it remains this size for only six hundred feet, it is the only access into the southern branch of the cave.

Yellow Brick Road -- This long stoopway follows a yellowish coralloid and flowstone floor in a white-walled passage. This area is best known for the incredible number and variety of gypsum flowers found here.

Tinseltown Maze -- This maze starts abruptly at the end of the Yellow Brick Road. All of the rocks are covered with a plate-form of calcite that reflects light like mica flakes do. This sparkly appearance inspired the name for this area. The first explorers found their way through this disorienting maze by following the airflow. Tinseltown is an old name for Hollywood, California.

Chandelier Ballroom -- This is one of the best-known chambers in Lechuguilla Cave. It was named for the world-class gypsum crystal “chandeliers” that grow from the ceiling. Many of the chandeliers are more than twenty feet long. Previous examples of these crystal displays in other caves rarely exceeded six feet in length. Subsequent to this discovery, many one- and two-foot crystals were found in other rooms of the cave. These are often referred to as “nightlights.” The complex of passages surrounding the ballroom is called the Chandelier Maze.

Land of the Lost -- This is another area named after a science fiction TV series (1974-76). The name is particularly appropriate since the main room has at least seven passages that lead away in different directions.

The Voids -- When this area was first entered in 1988, cavers found a large fissure where they could see neither the bottom nor the far side. They were unable to descend because there were no places to anchor a rope: the chamber has a soft dirt floor with no rocks. This fissure was called the Void. Subsequent exploration of the area discovered ways across this fissure and found several more like it. Over time the name became plural -- The Voids -- to refer to this region of the cave.

The Lakes of Castrovalva -- Ron DeLano was the first person to cross the main lake and explore the passage on the far side. He named these lakes after an episode of the TV series Dr. Who where the doctor visits a planet named Castrovalva that was serene and restful. The largest lake is often referred to as Lake Castrovalva, and one of the smaller ones is called Lake Margaret.

Sulfur Shores -- Where a team, pushing deeper than had yet been reached, found a window on the water table in a narrow, folia-lined crevice. It was Lechuguilla's deepest known point for some time. Some there thought they smelled hydrogen sulfide, which is believed to have been a major agent in developing the cave. It has yet to be confirmed, however, that any water in the cave today contains this compound.

Land of Awes -- This is a pun on the “Land of Oz” which was Dorothy’s destination in the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz.

Darktown -- A chamber beyond Land of Awes, in which dark-crusted walls are backdrops for almost-invisible gypsum hairs up to perhaps twenty feet long. From the old song The Darktown Strutters Ball (1917).

Big Sky Country -- The phrase “big sky country” is a nickname for the state of Montana in reference to its wide open spaces and low population density. The size of this room, with its unusually high ceiling, made the same phrase appropriate here. The upper end of the room is the location of Big Sky Camp, one of only two camps established in the southern branch of the cave.

Pearlsian Gulf -- This phrase is a concatenation of the words “Persian Gulf”, in reference to the many pools found here; and “pearl,” in reference to the large collection of cave pearls found in these pools.

YO Acres -- On the long drive from Colorado to Carlsbad Caverns there is a turnoff near Roswell labeled “YO Acres.” This is in reference to the YO (read “why-oh”) Ranch. Cavers commonly pronounce it as “yoh” -- an interjection to get someone’s attention. The name on this familiar sign was attached to this room.

High Hopes Climb -- This ascent is the only route to the High Hopes area of the cave. The discoverers named it because they had high hopes that the climb would lead to a significant new area. It did. The term High Hopes is commonly applied to the climb itself, the room at the top of the climb, and the region of the cave accessed by the climb.

Shangri-La -- This large walking passage leaves from the top of the High Hopes climb, and was considered a suitable reward for a successful ascent. The word Shangri-La comes from the fictional Tibetan land of eternal youth in the novel The Lost Horizon (1933) by James Hilton.

Conniption Pit -- This is a pun on the phase “conniption fit” which means to have a fit of hysterical excitement or anger.

Tower Place -- This room is named for its abundance of stalagmites and columns that vary from twenty to forty feet tall--the largest ones in the cave. Southern cavers discovered and named it after an upscale high-rise restaurant and shopping complex in Atlanta, Georgia.

Prickly Ice Cube Room -- This large chamber is floored with gypsum breakdown blocks that have dozens of small spires dissolved into their surfaces. The breakdown blocks look just like the name of the room: prickly ice cubes.

Little Shop of Horrors -- A small room reached by a technical climb up a nasty fissure in the Prickly Ice Cube Room area. The team members were horrified when they learned they had passed up a chance to be on the Grand Guadalupe Junction breakthrough in the Far East to do this climb instead.

Seesaw Canyon -- This fissure was named after the children’s playground toy because of the way it leads steeply up and then back down again.

Chicken Little Room -- The floor of this room is strewn with broken rock and loose sand, giving the appearance of a recent ceiling collapse. The name comes from a character in nursery tales, Chicken Little, who panics when hit on the head with an object and believes that the sky is falling.

Powdered Donut Room -- The floor of this room is over one foot deep in powdery rock flour reminiscent of the powdered sugar often sprinkled on doughnuts.

Ultra Primo -- The name for this well-decorated room comes from the modifier “ultra,” meaning beyond what is usual or ordinary; and “primo” which is slang for first-class or first-rate.

Sewing Room -- This room is filled with delicate gypsum crystals of dimensions similar to common sewing needles, except that some are up to two feet long. With that many needles, someone obviously was doing a lot of sewing.

Atlantis -- The far end of this room has a pool with numerous stalagmites at the bottom. The first explorers thought the stalagmites looked like a miniature submerged city. The most famous submerged city is the fabled lost city of Atlantis, and so the room was named.

Vesuvius -- The southwestern most end of the Southwestern Branch, and one of the most superlatively-decorated areas in Lechuguilla Cave. At its entrance is a big, splitting bulge in old flowstone, as if something is trying to erupt there. (The swelling is probably caused by a buried boulder surrounded by drying, shrinking clay under the flowstone.)

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