Missouri Caves Provide a Cool Retreat from the Summer Heat
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – From Meramec Caverns to Fantastic Caverns, the “Cave State” boasts more than 6,000 surveyed caves, offering naturally air-conditioned underground adventure for travelers wishing to escape the summer heat.
Want-to-be spelunkers can explore geology, anthropology and history at more than 20 Show Caves that honeycomb under Missouri’s surface. These “tamed” caverns, complete with paved walkways, bridges and handrails, make viewing nature’s underground beauty safe and effortless.
Few caves are more famous than Mark Twain Cave in Hannibal. Discovered in 1825 by a hunter, the cave is featured in the The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and once served as a hideout for slaves seeking freedom along the Underground Railroad as well as Jesse James and his gang. Mark Twain Cave is the oldest explored cave in the Show-Me State and is a registered Natural Landmark.
Hannibal is also home to one of the state’s newest show caves, Cameron Cave. The cavern covers nine acres of land with guided lantern tours offering a chance to explore the unique geography of this fascinating cavern.
Meramec Caverns near Stanton is another of Jesse James’ hideouts and the largest commercial cave in the state. Guided tours by trained rangers along wheelchair accessible lighted passageways offer views of some of the rarest and largest cave formations in the world, including a limestone wine table and a seven-story mansion, all carved by Mother Nature over millions of years.
Naturalist-led tours, offered on a seasonal basis, provide an interesting adventure at Fisher Cave, located within Meramec State Park. From low, narrow streamside passages to huge rooms filled with calcite deposits, Fisher Cave offers a vast array of intricate hellectites, massive columns, well-preserved bear claw marks and cave wildlife.
Humans inhabited Graham Cave, a National Historic Landmark located near Montgomery City, as early as 10,000 years ago. Graham Cave State Park features glades, savannas and sandstone bluffs with overhangs and wet-season waterfalls. A small museum offers exhibits describing the area’s prehistoric people.
At Bridal Cave near Camdenton, legend holds that an American-Indian couple wed at the site in the early 1800s. Since then, more than 2,100 couples from around the world have exchanged vows in the stalactite adorned Bridal Chapel. Hour-long tours offer views of giant columns, delicate soda straw configurations and the crystal-clear waters of Mystery Lake.
Located near Leasburg is Onondaga Cave State Park, home to the cave of the same name, which features some of the nation’s best cave formations, including towering columns and intricately woven draperies of rock. Guided tours point out massive stalagmites that rise like peaks from the floor of the Big Room, said to be large enough to hold a football stadium.
Fantastic Caverns in Springfield is America’s only drive-through cave with tours conducted from a vehicle-drawn tram in order to protect the delicate formations. Fragile species of wildlife include gray cavefish and grotto salamanders. View sites and formations carved into Missouri limestone one drop of water at a time.
Located under the famed 1880s Silver Dollar City theme park, Marvel Cave in Branson is one of the deepest caves in the state with tours included in park admission. While the stairs and walkways are strenuous at times, those who venture 500 feet below the surface can rest on a unique cable train ride out of the cavern.
Talking Rocks Cavern near Branson offers guided 50-minute tours of thousands of living crystal cave formations of many different kinds, colors and textures. The main chamber of the cavern is more than 100 feet tall and 600 feet long, and stalactites and stalagmites along the way are a testament to years of water trickling down to shape the brilliant formations.
Other Missouri show caves include:
Bluff Dweller’s Cave and Museum, Noel
Crystal Cave, Springfield
Jacob’s Cave, Versailles
Ozark Caverns, Linn Creek
Round Spring Cavern, Eminence
For more information about Missouri or to get a copy of your 2009 Official Missouri Vacation Planner, log on to www.VisitMO.com or call 800-519-4800.
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