Meramec Caverns is about an hour west of St. Louis off of I-44. Ticket prices are $12.50 for adults and $6 for kids ages 5-11. If you enjoy hiking through caves, don't miss this one.
There's a lot of historic significance to this cave. The legendary Jesse James and his gang was said to use this cave as a hideout on several occasions. The cave was also used in conjunction with the Underground Railroad as a hideout for slaves. Even earlier in the cave's history, it was used as housing for the Indians in the area. Another fun part of history for this cave is ballroom dances were held in a large open area now near the gift store and main entrance to the underground. These dances took place 100 years ago. Before the invention of air conditioning by Willis Carrier in 1902, a cave was a nice cool place to visit to get out of the heat of the day in the summer time. The elite of Missouri would plan these dances and could entertain in cool splendor regardless of the temperatures outdoors. This area can still be rented today for special events, receptions or meetings.
When you arrive at the cave and may have just missed the tour, don't fret, tours leave the gift shop area approximately every 20-30 minutes. Have on good walking shoes because you will be hiking through the cave for about 1 1/2 hours. Think twice before bringing very small children because the rangers will not allow strollers in the cave.
The cave is amazing with what they tout as the 'largest and rarest cave formations in the world'. There are many passages and levels to this cave that tourists are not allowed to travel in. But the views are still astounding in the commercial tourist area. It was just in the 1930's that 7 more levels were found and 26 more miles of passages that they weren't even aware of. With that in mind, there are probably miles and miles of untapped tunnels in this large cavern.
At the end of your journey, you are entertained with a light show in the cavern. Our ranger even turned the lights off at one point so we could view total darkness of the cave...VERY, VERY dark! It's amazing that you can't even see your hand directly in front of your face. Afterwards, you make your way out of the cave and probably on to the gift store so you can purchase a momento or two.
Very educating and entertaining. It gets chilly inside - don't forget your jacket!