Exploring what King Toad Cave is in San Antonio, Texas.

King Toad Cave is one of the lesser known caves of San Antonio, Texas. This news article will explain what King Toad Cave is.

King Toad Cave is a known cave that was originally evaluated by George Veni in 1993. According to an excerpt by George Veni, the cave is a small unclimbable pit in solid rocks, which drops to a total depth of 12 meter to several small passages. The total length of the cave is 33.7 meters. Rhadine infernalis was collected by James Loftin and Marcelino Reyes on June 1, 1993. Rhadine infernalis, Centipedes, Cambala, and Silverfish were the species collected independently in 1993. (Ref: https://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot/get-involved/sat/sh-211/technical-memoranda.pdf)

Additionally, unidentified Cicurina spiders have been collected from S-99, Max and Roberts Cave, Steven’s Ranch Trash Pit, and King Toad Cave. Blind Cicurina adult and immatures specimens collected from S-99, Steven’s Ranch Trash Pit and King Toad Cave morphologically and genetically match the holotype for Cicurina loftini, a non-listed species.  It is a confirmed karst invertebrate habitat.

Rhadine infernalis (ground beetle, G1G2T1T21) subspecies is known to occur in King Toad Cave, and Stevens Ranch Trash Hole Cave. New populations of Rhadine infernalis have been were found in Caracol Creek Coon Cave and King Toad Cave.  It is a confirmed karst invertebrate habitat. [Ref: S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2003. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Part II: Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Critical Habitat for Seven Bexar County, Texas, Invertebrate Species; Final Rule. (50 CFR Part 17). Federal Register 68 (67): 17156-17231.]
 

Rough survey notes in the TSS files illustrate the cave as a 9-m-deep pit leading to passages that total 34 m in length. Most of the length is in a single passage about 20 m long and probably formed along a fracture that bears about 30º. The cave is vadosely developed in the Austin Chalk, just below the contact with the Pecan Gap Chalk. Given the little information available on the cave, its groundwater drainage basin is estimated to extend 60 m from the footprint of the cave in all directions (triple the length of the longest passage). The distance is similar to that of the better studied Austin Chalk caves, and the lack of a preferential direction relates to the uncertainty in the interpretation of the rough survey notes.
(Ref: https://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/Documents/R2ES/Bexar_Cnty_Inverts_Delineation_of_Hydrogeologic_Areas.pdf)

King Toad Cave is located on 292 acres of private land in western Bexar County, west of the end of Louis Agusta Drive in the Culebra Anticline KFR. The unit includes several large tracts of undeveloped woodland. There is a major roadway, Stevens Parkway, in this unit, and is in the process of being extended from the southwestern to western part of the unit. Some of the vegetation has been cleared in the past for ranching. (Ref: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2012-02-14/html/2012-2195.htm)

King Toad Cave is located near Stevens Parkway and Potranco Road, San Antonio, Texas, US.