Bridal Cave & Thunder Mountain Park

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 St...

When you visit our Lake of the Ozarks family attraction , the memories that you take home with you will be treasured forever. In addition to those memories, you may want to take home a physical souvenir to remember the day by too. Our Bridal Cave gift shop is filled with many unique and amazing items. One extremely fun one that you can not only purchase, but actually make yourself, is a geode.  What is a geode? The name geode is derived from the Greek word Geoides which means earthlike. They are mysterious, spherical rocks. We say mysterious because geologists have long debated just how they are formed. These round rocks have a hollow cavity in the center that may or may not contain crystals. If yours turns out to be solid, it is called a nodule.    How to break a geode. The rock shop at Thunder Mountain Park has one of the few geode crackers in the country. This custom built high pressure cracker is housed in a stainless steel metal containment with...

Caves in Missouri , as well as around the world, are filled with stalactites and stalagmites.  Everyone has heard of these, but most people have trouble remembering which is which.  Today's Bridal Cave blog will hopefully help you to remember once and for all which one hangs from the ceiling and which one hangs from the floor.  We'll even teach you some interesting facts about how both are formed.   There are a couple of different ways that people use to help them keep these two types of formations straight.  Stalactites are fixed "tight" to the ceiling, and stalagmites "might" trip you when you walk.  Another trick is to use the spelling. StalaCtite has a "C" like the Ceiling from which it hangs, and stalaGmites have a "G" like the Ground they grow on.  You may think these ideas sound corny, but we bet at least one of them will stick with you and you will always remember! Speleothem Now to get a little more technical.  The wor...