Top Ten U.S. Caves

Enter stage left (Meramec Caverns)

Comment On This Article

Add to My Favorites

This family-friendly show cave located under the Ozarks in the Meramec Valley comes complete with gift shop, restaurant, and 28 flavors of ice cream. Meramec Caverns' seven stories are composed of a series of natural underground openings, with another 26 miles of underground passages. One incredible speleothem, the Stage Curtain, measures 70 feet high, 60 feet wide, and 35 feet thick—the largest single cave formation in the world. Besides this 70-million-year-old, calcium-carbonate curtain, other notable formations in Meramec Caverns include the Wine Table and Onyx Mountain.

The largest cave in the "Cave State"—Missouri is home to nearly 6,000 caves—Meramec Caverns has earned some notoriety for its various historical occupants. Used by local Indian tribes for shelter and, according to legend, used as a station by the Underground Railroad, the caverns also provided the perfect post-heist hideout for Jesse James and his gang.

Just the Facts

Open: All year

Cave temperature: 60° Fahrenheit year-round

Location: Eastern Missouri, on the Illinois border

For more information: Call Meramec Caverns at (800) 676-6105 or visit www.americascave.com