Karen’s Opinion

We found a terrific way to beat the heat while traveling on our way home from visiting Branson, Missouri. We took a tour of the Meramec Caverns near Stanton Missouri. The temperature of the cave is a constant 58 degrees. Did you know that Missouri is home to more than 6,000 surveyed caves? Well, it is and we visited just one of them.

Meramec Caverns is open every day of the year and is very affordable. We saved a few dollars by using coupons we found in a pamphlet at the hotel. Free kennels are available for your pets.

The paths we walked on were very well lit and our guide was very informative. I wouldn’t recommend this tour if you have trouble walking. There is one part of the tour where we had to climb 57 steps. That part of the tour is optional but I recommend the climb because the prize at the top of the stairs is awesome. The ancient limestone “Wine Table” formation is only found at Meramec Caverns and in Italy. I can’t remember what our guide said that made this formation unusual. Something about being in water and 4 legs. Can anyone fill me in on this?

Artifacts traceable to the infamous Jesse James were found in the cave. It is said that Jesse James used the cave as a hideout when running from the law.

from the official Meramec Caverns website:

In the summer of 1941, Missouri was in the midst of a rather severe drought. A drought so intense, it not only dropped the rivers and streams above ground, but the water table itself also depleted. At that time, the main level of Meramec Caverns seemed to ‘dead end’ at a wall with a small pool of water spilling out below. With the drop of the water table, the pool of water below the wall receded nearly six inches and allowed a cool, breeze to push into the cave between the wall’s bottom and top of the water. Les Dill was alerted of this change by his cave guides, and, being the adventurous man he was, Dill elected to go under the wall, through the water, and see what was on the other side. Once past the wall, Les was opened to yet another large area of branching networks…even more cave. It was here, too, Les found the artifacts traceable to the infamous Jesse James and the cave was dubbed ‘Jesse James Hideout’.

The Meramec website states that evidence of Jesse and Frank James using the cavern as a hideout consists of sheriffs reports, eye witness accounts, and physical material found inside the cave. Among the artifacts found inside the cave (at Loot Rock) were strong boxes traceable to the train robbery at Gadshill, MO, rifles, and shackles. We were able to see some of these artifacts! I don’t know why I am excited over seeing evidence. It makes me uncomfortable that so much hoopla is made over a law breaker.

A nice, albeit cheesy, tribute is given as a slide-projected American flag appears on the limestone curtain in the theatre room and Kate Smith belts out “God Bless America”.

70 feet high, 60 feet wide and 35 feet thick Theatre Room
Meramec Caverns were introduced to the public as a tourist attraction in 1935 by Lester B. Dill. He is the guy who invented the bumper sticker as a means of promoting the caverns!