Cliff Cave County Park, County park in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States
Cliff Cave County Park is a 525-acre county park in St. Louis County, Missouri, with woodlands, wetlands, and rocky hillsides beside the Mississippi River. Its three trails include the 5.1-mile paved Mississippi Trail and the 1-mile River Bluff Trail. Cliff Cave, a 4,723-foot passage in St. Louis limestone, opens at the head of a ravine.
The land was granted to Jean Baptiste Gamache in 1749 and later served as a riverside tavern for French fur trappers during the 1770s. The site remained an important stop for river travelers and traders for generations.
Cliff Cave, also called Indian Cave, was a sacred site for Native Americans drawn by its spring and the nearby Mississippi. In the 1770s French fur traders ran a riverside tavern at the entrance, and in the late 1800s Jefferson Barracks volunteers built a saloon there. The cave was later known as Jesse James Cave.
The park has marked trails, rest areas, and restrooms accessible to visitors of various abilities. Wear sturdy footwear since paths cross hilly and uneven terrain.
Cliff Cave, also called Indian Cave, holds 4,723 feet of surveyed passage, making it St. Louis County's second-longest cave. It formed in Mississippian Period St. Louis limestone and stays at 57 °F year-round. A gate installed in October 2009 protects the endangered Indiana bat; bat numbers rose afterward.
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