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Caves In The USA And Canada - Introduction    

Cave Database    

 Bear Cave  |  Bluff Dweller's Cave and Browning Museum  |  Bridal Cave and Thunder Mountain Park  |  Cameron Cave  |  Cherokee Cave  |  Crystal Cave  |  Devil's Icebox  |  Fantastic Caverns  |  Fantasy World Caverns  |  Fisher Cave  |  Honey Branch Cave  |  Jacob's Cave  |  Mark Twain Cave  |  Marvel Cave  |  Meramec Caverns  |  Onondaga Cave and Cathedral Cave  |  Onyx Mountain Caverns  |  Ozark Caverns  |  Round Spring Cavern  |  Talking Rocks Cavern  |  Truitt's Cave 

Missouri is also known as the Cave State almost 5200 surveyed caves including 26 commercial caves open to the public. Kentucky and Missouri are the two States with the largest amount of caves in the United States. Missouri is divided into three parts:

1. the the rolling plains of the prairie in the north,
2. the ridges and deep valleys of the Ozarks in the southwest
3. the flat delta area of the southeast

As the karst with its caves is concentrated to the Ozark area, we will do the same. Part of the Ozarks lies in  Arkansas, so you will find some more caves there.

The Ozarks

The Ozarks are called by geologists the Ozark uplift or Ozark dome. This area is the result of repeated episodes of submergence, deposition, uplift, and erosion. During times when the area was submerged under the ocean, limestone and dolomite were settled.

During the last couple of hundred million years, the area has been mainly in an uplift and erosion mode. The geological center of the uplift is located in the St. Francois Mountains in southeast Missouri. These are the oldest rocks in the Ozarks. Like a huge dartboard, the rocks get younger in irregular bands moving outward from the St. Francois Mountains.

Arkansas Caves    
Arkansas Caves (Google-search)     Arkansas Caves (Yahoo!-search)

Explore the "Other" Arkansas: Go Underground

Those who explore the natural wonders of the Arkansas Ozarks--miles of unspoiled forests, lakes, rivers, and much more--might not realize there is another wilderness just beneath the surface. Below scenic mountains, lush valleys, and clear-running streams is an often dazzling underworld--the limestone caves of the Ozarks.

Visitors who venture beneath the surface will find subterranean lakes and streams, mazes, crystals, fossils, cave creatures such as blind trout and salamanders, and an array of formations with names like flowstone, helictite, stalagmite, and stalactite.

Most of the caves come with a story, usually about how the cave was discovered. Around some swirl legends and ghost tales. Still others recall the days when saber tooth tigers and ancient tribes used the caves for shelter or when desperados used the caves to hide from lawmen and from fellow criminals.

Wild Caving

Blanchard Springs Caverns

In addition to guided tours in show caves, Hurricane River Cave and Blanchard Springs Caverns offer guided wild caving tours for the physically fit. Hikers exploring the mountains near the Buffalo National River may also encounter wild caves such as the Lost Valley Trail Cave that houses a 35 foot waterfall. Some wild caves in the Ozark Mountains require permits or guides for entry. Hikers may also come across cave openings with grated entries. These grates are designed to protect the endangered species whose year-round homes are in the caves. For information and permits, contact: Buffalo National River Harrison, Arkansas (870) 741-5443.

"Living" Caves

All of the Arkansas tour caves are "living." This means the formations, which result when minerals are deposited by dripping water, are still changing. The caves are wet and frequently muddy. Inside temperatures, although varying from cave to cave, remain the same year-round in each cave, usually ranging from the upper 50s to low 60s. In the summers, the coolness inside is a welcome relief from the warm Ozark sun, while in the winter, the cave interior feels warm. Normally, a light jacket is all that is needed for comfort.

Photo Facts Mystic Caverns

Cave Access & Hours of Operation

Of the nearly 2,000 documented caves in north Arkansas, eight are privately-owned, commercial tour caves open to the public. The U. S. Forest Service operates Blanchard Springs Caverns near Mountain View.

Access to the caves varies. Some of the entrances are steep, with stairways or ramps that lead into the interior. Inside there are varying degrees of access, with some level and some uneven walkways, narrow passageways, stairs, and ramps. Visitors with questions about access should check with cave operators or group tour planners before entering a cave.

Some caves are open throughout the year, although days of the week vary by season. Others are open only from spring until fall. Some offer other attractions, such as museums, gift shops, a reconstructed mountain village, and more, right on site. Admission is charged at all the caves.

Arkansas Tour Caves

Blanchard Springs Caverns
Operated by the U.S. Forest Service - offers two guided tours on trails that lead visitors through massive caverns filled with ever-changing formations. Also offering Wild Cave tour for the physically fit. Located in Mountain View.

Bull Shoals Caverns
Offers 45-50 minute tours through magnificent caverns formed 350 million years ago. Located in Bull Shoals.

Cosmic Caverns
The site of the Ozarks' largest underground lake, offers a one-hour guided tour through subterranean rooms and across an underground bridge. Located on Arkansas Highway 21 N., Berryville.

Photo Facts Silent Splendor Room at Cosmic Caverns

Hurricane River Cave
Offers a 45-minute guided tour through water-eroded passageways that are the most unique of their kind among American show caves. Wild Caving Tour by reservation only. Located in Pindall about 50 miles south of Branson, Missouri.

Mystic Caverns
Features guided tours of two spectacular caverns, Mystic and Crystal Dome. 28 foot "pipe organ" Located 8 miles south of Harrison in Marble Falls.

Onyx Cave
Radio headphones guide you through the cave as you pass amazing formations of stalactites and stalagmites. Easy access ramps take you to the cave, and a non-strenuous trail leads you through it. Located six miles east of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and is open daily all year.

Old Spanish Treasure Cave
Guided tour includes fossils of ancient sea. Also provides Adventure Tour for beginning cavers. Located near Sulphur Springs.

War Eagle Cavern
Located on a secluded site used by the Indians hundreds of years before the first European settlers came to the area. Every effort has been made to leave the caverns and ground in their natural state. Offers 40-minute tour. Located in War Eagle near Rogers on Beaver Lake.

<>BLANCHARD SPRINGS CAVERNS
	Fifteen miles northwest of Mountain View, off State Hwy. 14
	see website
	The large, spectacular upper levels of this cave were discovered as recently as 1963. The Ozark National Forest thus began a carefully planned, ten-year project to develop Blanchard Springs Caverns for tourism, and the cave remains as one of the most sensitively developed caves in the country. Two tours are available at Blanchard Springs. The Dripstone Trail explores the Coral Room and the Cathedral Room, offering some of the more breathtaking cave scenery you'll find anywhere. This is the less strenuous of the tours. It is wheelchair-accessible with a strong assistant. The Discovery Trail visits some of the Cathedral Room, passes by the cave's natural entrance and artifacts left by Native Americans some 1700 years ago, then descends to the river passage at the lowermost reaches of the cave. The surrounding Sylamore District of the Ozark National Forest offers camping, hiking, fishing and sightseeing opportunities.
	(501) 757-2211

California

Luray Caverns, Virginia

Virginia

Wyandotte Cave, Indiana

Indiana

Great Basin National Park, Nevada(Lehman Caves National Monument)    

See also

• Commercial Caves in Missouri
• The Ozark Show Caves Page
• Missouri Caves, Karst, and Springs
• Missouri Springs--Jewels in the Ozarks
• W's Ozarks Tourist and Travel Information
• Caves in the Northwest Arkansas Ozarks Area
• Caves in the Southwest Missouri Ozarks Area
• Caves in Southwest Missouri

Literature:

• J.H. Bretz (1956): Caves of Missouri.
• H. Dwight Weaver & P.A. Johnson (1980): Missouri, the Cave State.