Bridal Cave & Thunder Mountain Park

If you've been through our cave at the Lake of the Ozarks , you know that we have a wishing well along the tour. It's hard to resist not throwing a few coins in as you pass by. What you may not know is that when you make a wish, wishes really do come true! It may not be the wish that you wished for but the coins you throw in our wishing well are used to provide a scholarship for a high school student pursuing higher education! Each spring we pump the well dry to remove all of the coins and use them to give one deserving high school student a college scholarship. All of the money collected goes toward a scholarship fund at Camdenton RIII High School. A massive amount of coins are collected, and even a few hundred dollar bills, filling numerous 5-gallon buckets that are carried out of Bridal Cave by hand. The work doesn't stop after we empty the wishing well because after being underwater for a year, the coins begin to get corroded and must be washed before the b...

If you have not yet had the opportunity to tour Bridal Cave , then you may not be aware that a visit could make your wishes come true. Located inside our scenic mid-Missouri underground cave is a wishing well. Tens of thousands of visitors pass by our wishing well every year, and most of them can't resist throwing in a coin or two.  After that many people make a wish, the amount of coins at the bottom of the well really starts to add up. Each spring we pump the well dry to remove all of the coins and use them to make one deserving student's wish for a better education come true. All of the money collected goes toward a scholarship fund at Camdenton RIII High School.   Over the past few years we have noticed a new trend. People have started to throw paper money into the wishing well. Hundreds of bills are now being collected along with the massive amount of coins, filling numerous 5-gallon buckets that are carried out of Bridal Cave by hand. Simply getting those b...