Articles > Caves

Graham Cave

THE ICE AGE was just ending, and the woolly mammoths were becoming extinct as early inhabitants of what would become Missouri used spears to hunt food. Some of those early hunters gathered at Graham Cave.

“Just beyond the entrance to the large sheltered bluff is one of the best records of early human occupation in the state,” says Debra Ray, park superintendent at Missouri’s Graham Cave State Park. When the University of Missouri an…... Read more >

Onondaga Cave

Beauty Beyond Measure By Rebecca Smith

Over millions of years, the Lost River meandered through dolomite bedrock, creating some of the most spectacular speleothems, or deposits, in the country, in Onondaga Cave. The origin of the Lost River is unknown, but ultimately, it emerges from the rock and joins the Meramec River just south of Leasburg. It was this spring that caught the attention of the locals.

Diving into the dark requires …... Read more >

The Cave State

By Danita Allen Wood

In addition to “The Show-Me State,” Missouri has also earned the moniker, “The Cave State,” because of the more than six thousand caves on record here.

Missouri became known as “The Cave State,” even though Tennessee has more caves recorded than we do. Most of our caves are formed in dolomite or limestone, but some are in sandstone or other non-soluble rocks. Scott House, the cave database manager for the Missouri …... Read more >

Fantastic Caverns

By Gerry and George Watkins

A farmer’s dog discovered Fantastic Caverns just north of Springfield in 1862 after crawling through a hole. Five years later, a local newspaper advertised for explorers. Surprisingly, only twelve Springfield women responded. Dressed in long skirts, they used ropes and ladders to enter the uncharted cave.

The adventurous women carved their names into a wall, marking a significant tour stop. In America’s only…... Read more >