photo by Lina Walz-Salvador
Illinois Caverns State Natural Area, formerly Burksville Cave, Mammoth Cave of Illinois, Egyptian Cave and Eckert’s Cave, is the largest cave in Illinois open for public tours. This showstopper was originally thought to be larger than Mammoth Cave in Kentucky and features a variety of features inside.
photo by Jennifer Sarti
photo by James Palmour
photo by Jason Gray
photo by Lina Walz-Salvador
photo by Jason Gray
Though Missouri may be better known as the “Show-Me State”, its unique karst topography provides it with an additional moniker, the “Cave State” (it is second only to Tennessee in its number of caves). This topography does not end at the State border though, and several counties in Southern Illinois share this feature. One in particular, Monroe County–about 35 miles southeast of St. Louis, possesses more than 100 caves in an area known as the Sinkhole Plain.
Lidar (light detection and ranging) image of Monroe County, Illinois, revealing thousands of sinkholes; image: Aaron Addison / Washington University (WashU is leading a team mapping nearby Fogelpole Cave, Illinois’ largest)
The Sinkhole Plain is characterized by its namesake and includes thousands of sinkholes concentrated across a relatively small area. In fact, there are so many sinkholes in this region (approximately 10,000) that falling rainwater disappears underground instead of through surface run-off. This is because, unlike most of Illinois, the Sinkhole Plain possesses sheets of limestone just under the landscapes’ surface, which are more susceptible to water action than other types of rock. Over time, this water erosion contributes to underground streams that are responsible for the miles of caves that exist today, including Illinois Caverns.
photo by Lina Walz-Salvador
photo by Jennifer Sarti
photo by James Palmour
photo by Lina Walz-Salvador
Illinois Caverns entered into the spotlight (through the St. Louis Post-Dispatch article pictured above) upon its rediscovery in 1901, shortly after it was leased by a man from East St. Louis with the intentions of turning it into a commercial venture. The article features a stirring account of the cave, if hyperbolic and inaccurate:
A river full of blind fish was discovered five miles from the mouth. Stalactites and stalagmites abound, flashing with crystals that resemble precious jewels. At one point, there are a hundred waterfalls, which blend in a peculiar melody. In this cave, there are many large rooms, some of them with ceilings too high to be revealed by a torch.
Half a hundred of them have been explored. Originally this great cavern was probably the path of a subterranean river. The end of the cave has never been reached.
It’s no wonder, following such a description, that the cave would become a popular side-trek for visitors to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904. During this time, the cave was outfitted with kerosene lamps to illuminate the path of these Victorian-era explorers. However, after the World’s Fair, visitor-ship declined and the early commercial prospects of the cave (fortunately) ended. There was a later attempt to develop the cave into a show cave, but this was short-lived as well, and ultimately, far less successful. Shortly thereafter, Armin Krueger became the cave’s caretaker. Armin had grown up nearby and new the caves of the area well. His caving experience helped to usher in a new era of scientific study for Illinois Caverns. The cave was eventually sold to the State of Illinois in 1985.
photo by Lina Walz-Salvador
photo by James Palmour
photo by Jason Gray
Since 1985, several efforts have been made to expand preservation of the cave and its surrounding region. Both Illinois Caverns and Fogelpole Cave are protected and monitored by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and large portions of the Sinkhole Plain are owned and managed by either the Illinois Audobon Society or the preservation-oriented Clifftop NFP. These efforts not only ensure that the Monroe County’s groundwater remains clean, but serves to protect a number of animal species that are either endangered or found nowhere else in the world, such as the Illinois cave amphipod. Today, most of the elements of Illinois Caverns’ past as a commercial cave have been erased and the cave is a fully functioning ecosystem.
photo by Jason Gray
photo by James Palmour
photo by Lina Walz-Salvador
St. Louis has had a long fascination with its subterranean environment. In fact, if questioned, most city residents have a story about someone they know, or are related to, that owned a building with a cellar access to a mysterious cave. While most accounts are fictional, they resonate from a place in reality–there are over 40 documented caves within the city of St. Louis, including the lost and found English Cave. Perhaps our obsession with these underground places stems from the imagination of Missouri’s own Mark Twain, or maybe it’s a Goonies-style spirit of adventure that motivates us to look below; what’s for certain is that most of these places are sealed up or off-limits to visitors. One place that you can go to though, and we highly recommend that you do, is Illinois Caverns State Natural Area. From the moment that you plunge into its enveloping darkness, the curious cave explorer inside you will be glad you did.
photo by James Palmour
photo by Jennifer Sarti
photo by Lina Walz-Salvador
photo by Jason Gray
