Drive 40 miles northeast, and you’ll find an hour and a half’s entertainment. Meramec Caverns, located in Stanton, MO, was used by the Underground Railroad in the American Civil War and as western outlaw Jesse James’ hideout. For a steep $18, you can take an 80 minute tour through the caves, where you’ll walk through 1¼ of the 26 total miles of passageway in the largest cave formation in the world.

Led by a tour guide and told ominously several times to “Not touch anything,” you’ll walk through huge rooms and caverns created thousands of years ago. The huge entrance hall is used for concerts twice a year (holding thousands of people) and has hosted balls and parties since the late 1800’s. You’ll also see the “Jungle Room” – where the cave formations resemble jungle plants, the 35 foot vertical dripstone wall “Stage Curtain” – a 70 million year old, 70 foot tall, and 60 foot wide calcite formation (the largest in the world). “Onyx Mountain” is a colossal onyx formation that measures 500 feet in circumference, 200 feet thick, and 33 feet high – and it’s still growing! They make you laugh by showing you the razor-sharp “Mother-in-Law’s Tongue” formation, and then the “Mirror River” (pictured). It’s only 18 inches deep, but the reflection of the 35 foot hollow dome above creates the illusion of a huge underwater cavern.
It’s even been in the movies. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in the 1970’s and an episode of the Lassie television show in 1966 were both filmed in the caverns. They’ve found tons of evidence proving that the cave was a hideout for Jesse James, including testimony as well as multitudes of physical evidence found within the caves themselves. Among this evidence were “strong boxes traceable to the train robbery at Gadshill, MO, rifles, and shackles”. If that’s the most fascinating part to you, you can visit the Jesse James Wax Museum, less than 3 miles from the caves.
So the next time you have a whole Saturday to blow after conveniently forgetting your term paper due Monday, check out Meramec Caverns – expensive, but worth it.