Cliff Cave Park

Last updated
Cliff Cave County Park
CliffCaveCountyPark.jpg
View of the Mississippi River from the bluffs
Cliff Cave Park
TypeCounty Park
Location806 Cliff Cave Rd, St Louis, Missouri, United States
Coordinates 38°27′39″N90°17′34″W / 38.4609°N 90.2929°W / 38.4609; -90.2929
Area525 acres (2.12 km2)
Created1972 (1972)
Operated by St. Louis County, Missouri
Website http://www.stlouisco.com/ParksandRecreation/ParkPages/CliffCave

Cliff Cave Park is a 525-acre public park located in St. Louis County, Missouri. [1] The park is owned and operated by the St. Louis County Department of Parks and Recreation. [1] [2] It is named after Cliff Cave, a natural cave located in the park that is a historical and archaeologic site. [3] The park contains woodlands, wetlands, and rocky hillsides and is adjacent to the Mississippi River. [4] It has three trails: the Mississippi Trail, the Spring Valley Trail, and the River Bluff Trail. [2] [4] The Riverside Shelter overlooks the Mississippi River. [4] An active train track runs through the park. [5] Cliff Cave Park is part of the Mississippi River Greenway. [6] [7] The park won the "Best View of the Mississippi" award in 2009, which it was granted by The Riverfront Times . [1] [8]

Contents

History

Entrance of Cliff Cave. The walls seen along the stream are remains from the Cliff Cave Wine Company. Cliffcave-21Nov12-07.jpg
Entrance of Cliff Cave. The walls seen along the stream are remains from the Cliff Cave Wine Company.

Native Americans likely were attracted to the area due to the cave, fresh spring water, and the nearby Mississippi River. [4] They regarded the cave as a sacred place. [9]

In 1749, Jean Baptiste Gamache first acquired the land through a land grant from the Spanish government. [10]

In the 1770s, Cliff Cave was used by the French fur trappers and traders as a riverside tavern for travelers of the Mississippi River. [1] [4] [9] [11]

In 1854, Christopher W. Spalding and Henry W. Williams purchased the area. [11] In 1857, they placed boundaries for the Cliff Cave subdivisions, selling lots from 1.7 acres to 24.7 acres. [11]

In the 1860s, during the Civil War, Confederate soldiers were thought to use the cave as a rendezvous point. [10]

After the Civil War, Missouri became a center of winemaking in the Midwest. [12] In 1866, the Cliff Cave Wine Company was established; in 1868, they purchased the area for $36,176 to use the cave as a natural wine cellar. [1] [4] [11] [12] [13] The company planted twenty-five acres of grapes in the area which produced 3,000 gallons of wine in one year. [11] [14] The company itself had 240 acres of vineyard along the Mississippi River, and by 1870, the cave had a storage capacity of 100,000 gallons of wine. [12] Stonework near the cave entrance added in this time still exists today. [4]

In the late 1800s, volunteer soldiers from Jefferson Barracks built a saloon in the cave entrance. [9] [10] In approximately 1910, the cave was leased to Anheuser-Busch to store beer, with the company harvesting ice from the river in the winter to keep the beer cool during the summer. [9] [10]

Caves in Missouri were sometimes used by criminals and outlaws in the 19th and 20th centuries. [13] In the early 1900s, Cliff Cave was known as Jesse James Cave (a name shared with other caves in Missouri). [13] During the 1920s, the Mob used the cave as a place to discard bodies. [9] [15] [16] [17]

A tavern and café called "Girlies" was located in the area. [11] A pool of cold water and a mineral odor, named Sun King Pool, was sourced by a spring, but now is the location of the parking lot. [11]

In 1969, after the success of a St. Louis County Bond Issue, the purchase of the Cliff Cave property was initiated. [6] [11] The land was valued at $400,000. [1] [11] The funding was matched with federal acquisition dollars from the Land and Water Conservation Fund and other agencies. [6] [11] In the fall of 1972, the property was acquired. [1] [6] [11] In the spring of 1977, Cliff Cave Park was officially opened to the public. [6] [11]

In 1986, a referendum was held which designated the park as one of five Natural Heritage Parks in the area, limiting the amount of park construction and development to five percent of the total park area. [6] [18]

Features

A cave gate was installed in 2009 to help preserve the endangered Indiana bat Cliffcave-21Nov12-04.jpg
A cave gate was installed in 2009 to help preserve the endangered Indiana bat

Cliff Cave

Picnic part in front of entrance of Cliff Cave, 1891 Cliff Cave. Picnic party in front of entrance, distant view. 13 June 1891.jpg
Picnic part in front of entrance of Cliff Cave, 1891

Cliff Cave, also known as Indian Cave, is a natural cave that is considered the second longest cave in St. Louis County, with 4723 ft (1514 m) of cave passage surveyed. [3] [9] It is found at the head of a ravine, with a stream flowing from the entrance. [19] It is developed in Mississippian Period St. Louis limestone. [3] The cave maintains a temperature of 57 °F (14 °C) all year round. [4] The cave was created from the karst plateau in the area forming many sinkholes, dissolving the dolomite/limestone bedrock over time. [4] The cave is connected to a number of these sinkholes, causing the cave to be susceptible to flash flooding. [4]

In October 2009, a cave gate was installed at the cave entrance to preserve the endangered Indiana bat which resided in the cave, as a joint effort between Saint Louis County Department of Parks, Missouri Department of Conservation, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Bat Conservation International, the Missouri Karst and Cave Conservancy, and the Meramec Valley Spelunkers. [1] [3] [4] [9] Other fauna of the cave include big brown bats, little brown bats, eastern pipistrelles, cave salamanders, and isopods. [4] After the gate was installed, the population of bats has increased. [4]

Mississippi Trail

A panorama of the Mississippi River from the park Cliff Cave Co Park Mississippi panorama.jpg
A panorama of the Mississippi River from the park

The Mississippi Trail is a 5.1-mile, flat, paved trail loop accessible to hikers and bikers. [4] It is located in the floodplain bottoms, and goes through bottomland woodlands and wetlands. [1] [4] It occasionally can undergo periodic flooding from the Mississippi River. [4] The flora include wild grasses and wildflowers, silver maple, sycamore, cottonwood, black willow and box elder. [4] The fauna include beavers, migratory waterfowl, great blue herons, and egrets. [4]

Spring Valley Trail

Hiker exploring the wetlands off of the Spring Valley Trail CliffCaveCountyPark3.jpg
Hiker exploring the wetlands off of the Spring Valley Trail

The Spring Valley Trail is a 3-mile natural treadway trail accessible to equestrians, hikers, and mountain bikers. [1] [4] Cliff Cave can be accessed from this trail. [4] The trail goes up a valley, then reaches a karst plateau and forms a loop in the woodlands. [4] The flora include hickory and oak trees. [4]

River Bluff Trail

A view of the bluffs, railroad tracks, and local fauna CliffCaveCountyPark2.jpg
A view of the bluffs, railroad tracks, and local fauna

The River Bluff Trail is a 1-mile flat, natural treadway trail accessible to equestrians, hikers, and mountain bikers. [4] This trail affords a scenic vantage point to see the Mississippi River from the bluffs. [4] [5] Flora include prairie grasses including the native side-oats grama and little bluestem, wildflowers, and chinkapin oak trees. [4] The fauna is being threatened by invasive species such as honeysuckle. [4]

Incidents

On July 23, 1993, six people were killed while exploring the cave due to a flash flood. [20] [21] [22] Four counselors and 12 boys from the St. Joseph's Home for Boys, a residential treatment center for abused or troubled youth, were exploring the area. [20] [21] [22] Seven were trapped in the cave when rain caused flash flooding. [22] The bodies of four youths and two adult counselors were later found. [22] One boy survived and was found 18 hours after the flood with mild head trauma and hypothermia. [22]

On October 5, 2008, an eighteen-year-old high school student slipped and fatally fell from a steep bluff. [11]

On November 7, 2016, during a dispute with his wife, a man drove his four- and five-year-old sons to the park, and an AMBER Alert was issued. [23] [24] As law enforcement were approaching, the man fatally shot his two children and then himself. [23] [24]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gateway Arch National Park</span> National park in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.

Gateway Arch National Park is a national park of the United States located in St. Louis, Missouri, near the starting point of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scouting in Missouri</span>

Scouting in Missouri has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arnold, Missouri</span> City in Missouri, United States

Arnold is a city in northeastern Jefferson County, Missouri, situated near the confluence of the Meramec and Mississippi rivers. A suburb of St. Louis, the city lies within the Greater St. Louis metropolitan statistical area. The population was 20,858 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the most populous community in the county.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valley Park, Missouri</span> City in Missouri, United States

Valley Park is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 6,885 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maquoketa River</span> River in Iowa, United States

The Maquoketa River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 150 miles (240 km) long, in northeastern Iowa in the United States. Its watershed covers 1,694 square miles (4,387 km2) within a rural region of rolling hills and farmland southwest of Dubuque. It is not to be confused with the Little Maquoketa River, another distinct direct tributary of the Upper Mississippi River meeting the Big River north of Dubuque. The river and its tributaries mark the border of the Driftless Area of Iowa, with the areas east of it not having been covered by ice during the last ice age. Its name derives from Maquaw-Autaw, which means "Bear River" in Meskwaki.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Driftless Area</span> Geological region in the Midwestern US

The Driftless Area, also known as Bluff Country and the Paleozoic Plateau, is a topographical and cultural region in the Midwestern United States that comprises southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois. The Driftless Area is a USDA Level III Ecoregion: Ecoregion 52. The Driftless Area takes up a large portion of the Upper Midwest forest–savanna transition. The eastern section of the Driftless Area in Minnesota is called the Blufflands, due to the steep bluffs and cliffs around the river valleys. The western half is known as the Rochester Plateau, which is flatter than the Blufflands. The Coulee Region is the southwestern part of the Driftless Area in Wisconsin. It is named for its numerous ravines.

Edward "Ted" and Pat Jones-Confluence Point State Park is a public recreation area located on the north side of the Missouri River at its confluence with the Mississippi River in St. Charles County, Missouri. The state park encompasses 1,121 acres (454 ha) of shoreline and bottomland and is managed by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, which "plans to restore a natural floodplain reminiscent of what Lewis and Clark might have seen along the lower Missouri River." The park is part of the Mississippi Greenway and sits opposite the Columbia Bottom Conservation Area on the south bank of the Missouri River. Park trails will eventually connect with the statewide Katy Trail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ha Ha Tonka State Park</span> State park in Missouri, United States

Ha Ha Tonka State Park is a public recreation area encompassing over 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) on the Niangua arm of the Lake of the Ozarks, about five miles south of Camdenton, Missouri, in the United States. The state park's most notable feature is the ruins of Ha Ha Tonka, an early 20th-century stone mansion that was modeled after European castles of the 16th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three Rivers Park District</span> Park district in the Twin Cities

Three Rivers Park District is a special park district serving the suburban areas of the Twin Cities including suburban Hennepin, Carver, Dakota, Scott, and Ramsey counties. Three Rivers's mission is "To promote environmental stewardship through recreation and education in a natural resources-based park system." Three Rivers operates twenty parks and ten regional trails, with at least two more regional trails planned. Nearly seven million people visit Three Rivers facilities each year. It has over 27,000 acres (11,000 ha) of parks and trails.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pere Marquette State Park</span> State park in Jersey County, Illinois

Pere Marquette State Park is an 8,050-acre (3,260 ha) protected area in southwestern Jersey County, Illinois, United States. It is located near the city of Grafton, Illinois, at the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Illinois River. The park is located on Illinois Route 100, which at this location is also part of both the Great River Road and the Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Byway. The park is operated and maintained by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The park is also part of the Confluence Greenway and is at the northwestern end of the 21.5-mile (34.6 km) Sam Vadalabene Bike Trail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of St. Louis</span>

St. Louis is located at 38°38′53″N90°12′44″W.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation in St. Louis</span>

Transportation in Greater St. Louis, Missouri includes road, rail, ship, and air transportation modes connecting the bi-state St. Louis metropolitan area with surrounding communities throughout the Midwest, national transportation networks, and international locations. The Greater St. Louis region also supports a multi-modal transportation network that includes bus, paratransit, and light rail service in addition to shared-use paths, bike lanes and greenways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Onondaga Cave State Park</span> State park in Missouri, United States

Onondaga Cave State Park is a Missouri state park located on the Meramec River approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) southeast of the village of Leasburg. The park was established in 1982. Park activities include cave tours, camping, fishing, hiking, picnicking, and swimming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fountain Bluff</span> Range of hills in the United States

Fountain Bluff is a large, isolated range of hills located in the floodplain of the Mississippi River, on the river's east bank in Fountain Bluff Township, Illinois. Its unusual geographic location was a result of glaciation during the previous Ice Age. It is known for its high steep sandstone cliffs along the river, its biodiversity and abundant Native American rock art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Great Rivers Greenway District</span> Government agency for creating a greenway network in metro St. Louis, USA

The Great Rivers Greenway District is a public agency created in 2000 to develop a regional network of greenways. Great Rivers Greenway engages citizens and community partners to plan, build and care for the greenways. In its first 20 years the agency built more than 128 miles of greenways connecting parks, rivers, schools, neighborhoods, business districts and transit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rock Bridge Memorial State Park</span> State park in Missouri, United States

Rock Bridge Memorial State Park is a geological preserve and public recreation area encompassing 2,273 acres (920 ha), five miles (8.0 km) south of Columbia in Boone County, Missouri off of Missouri Route 163.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Robinson State Park</span> State park in Missouri, United States

Don Robinson State Park is a public recreation area covering more than 800 acres (320 ha) in Jefferson County, Missouri. Located in the upper LaBarque Creek watershed, the state park's rugged landscape includes sandstone box canyons, shelter caves, cliffs, glades and upland and bottomland forests. The land was bequeathed to the state by businessman Don Robinson following his death in 2012. Robinson started acquiring parcels in the 1960s and stopped when he realized his ambition of amassing a holding the same size as New York City's Central Park. The park opened to the public in 2017. It features the stone house where Robinson began living in 1978 as well as two hiking trails and a picnicking area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Echo Bluff State Park</span> State park in Missouri, United States

Echo Bluff State Park is a public recreation area comprising 476 acres (193 ha) of land in Newton Township, Shannon County, Missouri, United States. The state park occupies the site of former Camp Zoe, a summer camp for children that opened in 1929. The park was named for the massive cliff that towers over one side of Sinking Creek.

TennGreen Land Conservancy, formerly the Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation, is a non-profit land trust, established in 1998 to protect natural and scenic land in Tennessee. It is accredited by the Land Trust Alliance's Land Trust Accreditation Commission. The foundation is supported by membership donations, individual philanthropy, and gifts of land from private landowners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mississippi Gorge Regional Park</span> Urban park in Minnesota, United States

Mississippi Gorge Regional Park is a regional park along the east and west bluffs of the Mississippi River in the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The two-city park area is between Mississippi river miles 848 and 852, from just south of Northern Pacific Bridge Number 9 to just north of Minnehaha Regional Park, and lies within the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. The park area protects scenic and natural areas of the Mississippi River gorge, the only true gorge along the entire length of the 2,320-mile (3,730 km) river.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ressler-Tanner, E. (2012). Best Hikes Near St. Louis. Best Hikes Near Series. Falcon Guides. p. 98. ISBN   978-0-7627-8379-3 . Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  2. 1 2 "Cliff Cave Trails". St.Louis County Government. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Cliff Cave". St.Louis County Government. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 "Cliff Cave Park Trail Guide" (PDF). St.Louis County Government. 2013-10-15. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  5. 1 2 Vonk, L. Missouri Trailblazing 2016 (in Italian). p. 18. ISBN   978-1-365-12274-3 . Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Cliff Cave Park:Park History" (PDF). St.Louis County Government. 2013-10-15. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  7. ↑ "Mississippi Greenway - Cliff Cave Park". Great Rivers Greenway. 2015-06-09. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  8. ↑ "Best View of the Mississippi - People & Places". Riverfront Times. 2009-09-30. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Wilson, Andrea (2010-07-08). "Not Your Ordinary Day in the Park". STLParent.com. Archived from the original on 2016-11-21. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Leeming Jr., Frank (1963-05-28). "Old Cliff Cave, Popular Rendezvous Of Outlaws, May Soon Be Extinct". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Birmingham, Steve (2008-10-13). "County officials say Cliff Cave park still safe". stltoday.com. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  12. 1 2 3 Pinney, T. (1989). A History of Wine in America: From the Beginnings to Prohibition. A History of wine in America. University of California Press. p. 390. ISBN   978-0-520-06224-5 . Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  13. 1 2 3 Weaver, H.D. (2008). Missouri Caves in History and Legend. EBL-Schweitzer. University of Missouri Press. p. 48. ISBN   978-0-8262-6645-3 . Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  14. ↑ "Saint Louis: The Future Great City of the World. by L. U. Reavis". Making of America Books. 1871. p. 81. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  15. ↑ Geocaching (2016-11-19). "Cliff Cave". Geocaching. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  16. ↑ "Cliff Cave". STLCC.edu. 1993-07-23. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  17. ↑ "Strange Stories". Missouri History & Hauntings. 1900-07-29. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  18. ↑ Raletz, Alyson E. (2004-08-04). "Residents, councilman have concerns about new proposal for Cliff Cave Park". Call Newspapers. Archived from the original on 2016-11-22. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  19. ↑ Bretz, J.H. (1956). Caves of Missouri. Caves of Missouri. State of Missouri, Department of Business and Administration, Division of Geological Survey and Water Resources. p. 436–7.
  20. 1 2 Post-Dispatch, The (2014-07-23). "From the archives: Cave flood drowns 4, 3 missing". stltoday.com. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  21. 1 2 "Flash Flood Kills 4 in Missouri Cave : Disaster: Three other spelunkers are presumed dead in underground tragedy. Region's death toll now at 38. Crews work to plug leak under St. Louis flood wall". latimes. 1993-07-24. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 Smothers, Ronald (1993-07-25). "THE MIDWEST FLOODING; Stranded Boy Is Rescued After Flood in Cave Killed 4 Youths and 2 Adults". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  23. 1 2 "Mo. man kills 4- and 5-year-old sons and then himself in murder-suicide, police say". Washington Post. 2016-11-07. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  24. 1 2 Gallagher, Jim (2016-11-06). "Father kills two children, then fatally shoots self in St. Louis County standoff with police". stltoday.com. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.