Take a hike underground

It's a cool way to spend a hot summer afternoon

WESTSIDE - If you're looking for a way to escape the heat and have some truly cool fun, why not go underground and visit the passageways of the Bluff Dwellers' Cavern just across the state line in Missouri? The constant 56-degree temperature of the cave is a great way to beat the heat, and seeing the underground rooms and caverns cut through the rock by ancient rivers is an unforgettable experience.

The show cave has been a family operation for more than 85 years. Arthur Browning discovered the cave on his property back in 1925 when, while hunting, he felt cool air coming out of a small opening in the ground on a bluff near his home. Widening the opening, he was able to let himself down inside the cavern.

With the help of John Truitt, known as the caveman of the Ozarks, and two surveyors employed by the highway department, Bob Ford and Bryan Gilmore, Browning explored the caverns and cleared out the clay and dirt which had filled in much of the cave. He opened it for tourists in 1927. And the cave has been open and shown to visitors by members of the Browning family ever since. And for a time, during the Cold War, a part of the cave also served as a fallout shelter in the event of a nuclear attack.

During excavation, artifacts were discovered, including arrowheads, grinding stones, tools made of bone, and skeletal remains of early native American inhabitants dating back several thousand years.

Great care has been taken to preserve the integrity of the cave, but a number of improvements have been made over the years to make a portion of the cave easily accessible to visitors and pleasant to tour - no walking in mud, steep climbs or crawling through narrow passageways.

It is as a sign says on the steps leading up to the cave's entrance, these steps are the most difficult part of the tour. Though the tour takes visitors more than 100 feet underground, it is because the caverns lead deep into a huge bluff and not because visitors must descend deep into the underground.

Only about 50 percent of the cave is developed, with the remaining areas preserved for native wildlife - animals such as bats, salamanders and albino cave crayfish.

Cave formations include stalactites, stalagmites, sawtooth drapes, soda straws and flowstone. In pools of water, rock and mineral formations such as cave coral, sponges, lily pads, popcorn and rimstone dams can be seen. A special feature in the cave is a 10-ton balancing rock which can be moved with one hand.

Tours of the cave last an hour or more, and additional artifacts collected by the Browning family can be viewed in the adjoining Browning Museum.

Tour guides explain the cave's formation, point out features and tell interesting stories to make a visit enjoyable for all. Those attending may even gain a new understanding of the origins of hard-rock music as tour guides lightly tap on different-sized stalactite formations to play a tune.

Bluff Dwellers' Cavern is located at 954 Highway 59 South in Noel, Mo. The phone number there is 417-475-3666. More information is also available at bluffdwellerscavern.com. The cave is open to visitors daily, year-round. Hours from March through October are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A visit to Bluff Dwellers' Cavern, or to the closer Spanish Treasure Cave (only 6 miles apart along Highway 59), is indeed a cool way to spend a day, in more ways than one.

News, Pages 16 on 06/12/2013