Explore Missouri Caves: Discover 573 Hidden Gems
- Thomas Smugala
- 17 hours ago
- 3 min read
Ok, I never thought these thoughts would ever come into my head. If you had told me that I would someday want to go tromp around in caves, I would have told you to forget it. But like all things in this universe, my opinion on caves has changed—I mean, I didn't even know Missouri had caves, to be honest, until I moved into the 573. Today I know that Southeast Missouri sits atop some of the most dramatic cave landscapes in the United States, where ancient limestone hides vast underground networks of streams, chambers, and formations, and even Saber-tooth tiger tracks set in the hardened mud.
Here are some of the cool caves in the area:
Onondaga Cave in Onondaga Cave State Park is the region’s showpiece. Its massive rooms drip with towering stalagmites, delicate soda straws, and the famous “lily pad” formations. Guided tours walk visitors through passages carved by a still-active underground river, making the cave feel alive. mostateparks.com/park/onondaga-cave-state-park
Onondaga Cave State Park has a super cool area outside of the cave to explore as well.
Nearby, Meramec Caverns (often linked in local talk to the Meramec Spring system) offers a different spectacle. Once a hideout for Jesse James, the cave stretches for miles with rainbow-colored flowstone, the rare “Wine Table,” and a seven-story underground mansion of calcite. It remains one of Missouri’s largest commercial caves and a reliable year-round adventure. americascave.com
Cavers Melissa Meyers and Justin Duncan at Tom Moore Cave under Perryville.
Along the Current River and Jacks Fork, the Ozark National Scenic Riverways hide some of the state’s most scenic cave mouths. Jam-Up Cave on the Jacks Fork boasts an 80-foot-high entrance you can only reach by canoe or kayak; daylight pours through a natural skylight onto a quiet underground lake. Cave Spring on the Current lets paddlers float straight into the mountain.
Round Spring Cave offers lantern-lit ranger tours through long, fossil-rich passages. Note that most wild caves in the Riverways are closed to protect bats from white-nose syndrome, so respect the barriers. Take the tour at Round Spring Cave nps.gov/thingstodo/round-spring-guided-cave-tour.htm
Under and around Perryville lies an entirely different world. Perry County contains more than 700 recorded caves—nearly 10 percent of Missouri’s total—including Crevice Cave (the state’s longest at over 30 miles), the Moore Cave System, Mystery Cave, and Rimstone River Cave. A maze of passages and sinkholes runs beneath the town itself, home to the rare grotto sculpin found nowhere else on Earth. You can gain wild caving training and explore these caves in person at visitperrycounty.com
Gerry Keene is introducing the hobby of caving to the public through a partnership with the Perry Park Center in Perryville.
Entrance to the Berome Moore Cave.
...you can follow the tracks of that long-gone Pleistocene jaguar...
To be in complete darkness, with only the beam of my headlamp shining on prehistoric tiger tracks, is incredible. And it’s not just one track, you can follow the tracks of that long-gone Pleistocene jaguar for quite a few feet. An incredible sight to behold in our own 573 back yard, and open to anyone who dares to take the trip with proper training of course.
Get Out There! Visit somewhere. Sit in a dark cave. Go for a hike. Sing at a spring. Do something. Do anything. Get out there, that sunken sofa won't miss you—time's a-wasting!
—Pics and words by T. Smugala. To learn about private photo tours with the 573 image maker, visit SmugalaPhotography.com
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