Missouri

Want to take your caving to the next level? These Missouri clubs can help get you there

By Randy Mason

Updated May 25, 2022 3:19 PM

Exploring Missouri, The Cave State

Missouri has more than 7,000 caves under its ground, though fewer than 20 are easily accessible to most people. We’re highlighting some of the wonders inside.

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Missouri’s show caves share a common trait: accessibility. At Fantastic Caverns, where propane-powered Jeeps pull visitors through, Hubert Heck likes to tell them, “The only step you’ll have to take is the one that gets you onto the tram.”

But for the roughly 1,000 serious cavers or “spelunkers” across the state, the real fun lies in crawling, climbing and getting seriously wet in pursuit of the unknown. The problem is that most of Missouri’s wild caves are on property owned by folks who don’t necessarily welcome strangers dropping in.

That’s where caving clubs come in. Groups like the Kansas City Area Grotto forge relationships with the gatekeepers at sites where members can learn, train and decide whether they truly have (as the club’s motto proclaims) “mud in the blood.”

Bill Gee has been with the club for over 20 years. An avid bicyclist, he’s drawn to the kind of activities that physically push his limits, and the opportunity to “find what’s out there.” Gee notes that caving “requires the right skills, the right equipment and trust in the people you’re caving with,” since life-threatening situations can quickly arise.

He lists Carroll Cave in southern Missouri as one of his favorites. Getting into and out of it requires a 120-foot climb. He’s also led the grotto’s efforts to make new maps for Stark Caverns, including some previously unexplored sections — a good example of trading services for access, a win-win for both parties.

Seth Colston is the group’s new president. A high school math teacher by day, he admits to “geeking out” on the tech side of mapping activities. Colston unexpectedly stepped into the world of wetsuits and belly crawls after taking the “adventure tour” at Cameron Cave in Hannibal.

He hasn’t looked back.

Dan Lamping, president of the Missouri Speleological Survey, a nonprofit cave research group, negotiates a water crawl during a survey project of a Missouri cave. It’s not for the inexperienced. Derik Holtmann dholtmann@bnd.com

There are very few ways for beginners to easily “dip their toes” into caving. One can be found across the state in Perryville, where Joshua Cooper has been teaching a class on wild caving through the city’s Parks & Recreation Department for several years.

For a small fee that covers equipment rental, kids as young as 7 can begin to see if spelunking is something they’d like to pursue. “There are so many caves around here. People need to be educated,” he says. “If they’re going to be in them, we want them to do it safely.”

The class helps Cooper vet potential recruits for the Southeast Missouri Grotto. He’s now in charge of that too.

As the group’s members have aged out or moved on to other interests, new men and women have started joining the ranks.

What’s the lure of something so, well … intense? It’s simple, he says. “Unless you’re in the rainforest, or maybe the bottom of the ocean or out in space, caves are about the only place left you can still discover something.”