What's Inside This Bizarre Missouri Cave Will Leave You Baffled
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Stephanie Butler
Author
Rock Bridge Memorial State Park south of Columbia is home to the Devil’s Icebox, also known as Connor’s Cave, a fascinating cave that stays a cool 56 degrees year-round. It is connected by wooden bridges and pathways, and offers tours for spelunkers from easy to difficult from April to May and August to October.
Karst topography is characterized by sinkholes, water flowing through sinkholes and soil slumping. The cave and surrounding park are excellent examples of this type of landscape. The cave was forced by a slightly acidic water flow that over time collapsed the bedrock and created the canal-type cave.
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The path to the cave is a beautiful, peaceful walk. Devil’s Icebox Boardwalk is a half-mile path that leads visitors over the rock bridge, a prominent karst feature to Devil’s Icebox. You will walk by a sinkhole, past Connor’s Spring and then back through the 125-foot-long natural tunnel.
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The true power of the cave is revealed the day after a rain. Rushing waterfalls crash powerfully into the river. The cave’s watershed of several thousand acres contains hundreds of sinkholes as well as losing streams. A losing stream is a stream that loses water as it flows downstream, penetrating into the ground and reviving the local groundwater. This allows water to drain down cracks in the limestone rock and flow into the cave.
The Devil’s Icebox itself is a double sinkhole that offers a view of the underground stream and features the cool, refreshing air for which it is named. Downstream, the cave can be explored on your own, but upstream it is closed to protect the bats. The park does offer some tours in the summer to see the bats of the cave. For the faint of heart or someone who dislikes creatures, this may not be for you.
The gray bats that call the cave home are endangered and they use the cave as a summer roosting site to give birth to and raise their young. After eating several hundred insects at night above ground, each bat then deposits guano in the cave during the day, thus playing an important role in two ecosystems.
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In the 1800s, the stream that exits Devil’s Icebox Cave and flows through the rock bridge was a source of power for settlers. To help harness the water’s power, a stone dam was built at the rock bridge. This power was used to operate a gristmill. In 1834, the first paper mill west of the Mississippi River was established at the site, followed by a whiskey distillery in 1847.
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Rock Bridge Memorial State Park itself is worth exploring. Besides Connor’s Cave, you can also take in the 750-acre Gans Creek Wild Area. This peaceful haven features small streams flowing into Gans Creek, surrounded by magnificent bluffs. Take a hike through this area and find abundant spring wildflowers, and basswood and walnut trees growing on shaded hillsides. A forested area plays host to scattered white oaks.
The Devil’s Icebox and Rock Bridge Memorial State Park is a marvelous escape from the stresses of everyday life. It is a beautiful place in the middle of nowhere, with hidden natural wonders and magnificent and unique topography.
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