Bridal Cave & Thunder Mountain Park

2016 is coming to a close, which means it's time to celebrate a successful past year and welcome a promising new one. There are a lot of different celebrations going on in the lake area, both family friendly and for adults only. Bridal Cave & Thunder Mountain Park gathered a few of them here for you today. If you'll be going out for New Year's Eve this year, one of these events may be just what you are looking for.  New Year's Eve Party at Get Air Trampoline Park This brand new addition to family fun at the Lake of the Ozarks is hosting a special New Year's Eve party from 10 pm - 1 am. "Jump" into the new year with 3 hours of trampoline action. Tickets also include two slices of pizza and can be pre-purchased for a discount. Quantities are limited, so get yours early.  Timber Falls Family Fun New Year's Eve The entire family can enjoy an evening full of good, clean, indoor waterpark fun. Their packages include one-night deluxe accommodat

Bridal Cave & Thunder Mountain Park are performing a couple of good deeds with one simple action. Your favorite attraction at the Lake of the Ozarks will be taking your Christmas trees once you are done with them, helping you get rid of that large item after the holidays, and at the same time helping to improve fishing at the Lake of the Ozarks.  That glorious, festively decorated Christmas tree is the center of attention throughout your holiday season. Once you are done celebrating and the lights and decorations have been removed, you have the problem of figuring out what to do with the tree.  Most Missouri landfills do not accept Christmas trees.  From Decoration To Habitat We suggest giving it back to nature by recycling that used tree into a habitat for fish at the Lake of the Ozarks.  This is not only a great way to make sure the tree doesn't  go to waste, but it's also a wonderful lesson for children about recycling. Instead of simply becoming trash, this beau

The weather has finally gotten cold enough to really feel like Christmas time around here. Our scenic mid-Missouri cave tour is always an excellent cold-weather activity, but there are a few additional fun things going on around the lake area that are only offered during the holidays. Here are few fun suggestions from Bridal Cave & Thunder Mountain Park .  Christmas Light Displays Enchanted Village of Lights - Laurie Fairgrounds They claim to be one of the largest drive-through holiday light parks in mid-Missouri. It is free to drive through, but donations are welcome. They are open weeknights from 5-9 pm, and on weekends from 5-10 pm.   St. Patrick's Festival of Lights - Mother's Shrine Located in Laurie, this is the oldest light park in the area. It has grown each year since 1981 to now include 4,000 strings of lights, over 60 automatic timers, and more than 350 extension cords. It is open daily from 6-10 pm through January 1 and is free to the public. 

Your favorite Lake of the Ozarks attraction is still open this time of year, but since the crowds are a little smaller than they are mid-summer, we use this slower portion of the year to get the park ready for the 2017 season. Bridal Cave & Thunder Mountain Park will feature some new and exciting things for our returning visitors next year.   New Backup Generator Bridal Cave recently had a brand new backup generator installed. Since our cave is a constant 60° and safe from outdoor elements, we tend to get extremely busy during storms and bad weather. Visitors can always enjoy a natural adventure without worrying about what the weather is doing outdoors.  Before, if the power went out, anyone in the middle of a cave tour was literally left in the dark! A cool experience, but very difficult to get around or enjoy the beauty of the cave. With our brand new backup generator (which has already come in handy this year and works perfectly) we are now even more of an all-weather att

Touring Bridal Cave & Thunder Mountain Park is fun, improves your brain, and makes you better looking! Well, we exaggerated that "good-looking" part, but the other two are really true. Scientists have performed research to prove the benefits of enjoying the outdoors, and the results are extremely favorable. Here are a few ways that you can benefit from a visit to our Lake of the Ozarks scenic attraction .  Nature Is Good For You, Naturally People today spend a lot of time rushing here and there, worrying and stressing over every little detail of their day-to-day existence. A lot of time is spent in front of one type of screen or another (phone, tablet, computer, television, etc...) as much as 12 hours every single day! The more time you spend like that, the more likely you are to be worn out and overwhelmed. Getting outside and away from all of that stuff is good for both your body and your mind.  Improved Mental Health After studying the brain activity, heart r

This Thursday, many families will be getting together to celebrate Thanksgiving. Lots of them will be traveling from far away, and you will need something fun to keep everyone entertained while they are in town. There are lots of entertaining Lake of the Ozarks attractions still open this time of year. In addition to Bridal Cave & Thunder Mountain Park , there are lots of things to do in the area that the entire family will enjoy. Get Outside! Don't just sit around munching on leftovers all weekend long. Even if it's too chilly to get outside, there are still lots of warm ways to get the family out of the house and active. Bridal Cave & Thunder Mountain Park - The trails are always open for you if the sun is shining enough to be outdoors. If not, Bridal Cave remains a constant 60° inside, so it's a great nature activity, no matter what the weather! In addition to the exciting cave tour, our gift shop is filled with lots of unique items for everyone on you

The inside of our mid-Missouri scenic underground cave contains a very unique ecosystem. The animals and bugs that live in Bridal Cave have adapted to the climate of this cave system in some very interesting ways. Some of the creatures you are most likely aware of are the tricolor bats, salamanders, and even frogs. What you may not realize is that there is an entirely different ecosystem in addition to those that can only be seen under a microscope. For the first time in the history of Bridal Cave, we are conducting a survey to find out exactly what types of small creatures exist inside the cave.  One of our incredible tour guides, River Wise, has a wonderful fascination with all bugs and animals. When his Science Research Class at Camdenton High School discussed doing a biological inventory, River immediately brought up Bridal Cave as the perfect site to conduct this class project. We are thrilled that his teacher agreed!  With permission from general manager Steve Thomp

Think back to your childhood for a moment. You probably have fond memories of playing outside, enjoying an "unplugged" life. Fewer electronic devices and more one-on-one time with family and friends. Most likely you have loving memories of some family outings or vacations that put a smile on your face. Our family friendly attraction at the Lake of the Ozarks is the perfect spot to make some new memories with your own children.  What are some of those family outings that you remember most? It may be a camping trip, a special fishing trip where you caught a fish that was "this big," or possibly you didn't catch any at all, but still had an amazing time! Some people love thinking back to a time when the whole crew went hiking together, in the forest or up a mountain, while others got to enjoy skiing down mountains full of snow. Another awesome outdoor activity is skiing the lake, or floating down a mid-Missouri river.  Some memories don't involve a big

One tour through Bridal Cave may give you the "caving bug." No, that's not some type of illness, but the desire to see more of the beauty that you have witnessed inside of our Lake of the Ozarks attraction . As long as you have a guide, they will make sure that you stay safe. If you choose to explore a cave on your own, there are things that you need to be aware of so that you do not get lost or hurt.  "Spelunking" is the term that is used to describe the hobby of exploring wild caves. By "wild," we mean non-commercial caves where there is no set trail or guide to take you through it. To make sure that you enjoy your caving experience and get out of it safely, use the following tips. Never Go Alone You should never attempt to explore a cave alone. They are easy to get lost in, and there are lots of ways to get hurt. The buddy system is your best bet. Groups of four or more are ideal. That way if someone does get hurt, one caver can stay with t

Bridal Cave & Thunder Mountain Park have been sending weekly blogs your way for a whole year now. Wow, that's a lot of cool caving topics! Caving isn't the only thing we've discussed over the past months though. There are tons of great things to learn about our scenic Lake of the Ozarks attraction . A look through our last 52 blogs are proof of that.  Today we are going to recap a few of the topics that have been covered over the past year. If you see something you missed, there is a link to every single blog that we've written on the right-hand side of the web version of our blog. If you are browsing from a mobile device, you should see a list of blog links to scroll through when you go to www.BridalCave.Blogspot.com . Bridal Cave & Thunder Mountain Park A lot of our blog topics covered all of the fun and exciting things to do and see at our family friendly Lake of the Ozarks attraction. The History of Bridal Cave was one of our first entries, and it