Bridal Cave & Thunder Mountain Park

The gorgeous botanical gardens that we added to Bridal Cave & Thunder Mountain Park last year are in full bloom and ready to be enjoyed this season! Along with all of the other natural beauty you will experience walking around the trails of our scenic Lake of the Ozarks attraction , as well as the underground beauty inside the cave, these gardens are certainly quite a sight to behold.  Botanical Garden & Waterfall Just outside of our Lake of the Ozarks gift shop you will find a magnificent botanical garden featuring over 20 different blooming flowers and shrubs. These plants provide lovely, fresh flowers throughout the season until sometime in October. The garden also contains a relaxing waterfall feature, and it's all in perfect view from our lakeside picnic pavilion. While enjoying an afternoon picnic you'll have the beautiful garden on one side and the breathtaking lake view on the other!  Outdoor Weddings Many of the weddings that we host take plac...

For the last three years, staff members at Bridal Cave & Thunder Mountain Park have been conducting historical research on the cave and the surrounding lake area. This information is being put together for a brand new lantern tour of America's most scenic cave tour beginning this summer 2017. (Keep an eye out for more information about that soon!)  Bridal Cave was named after a Native American legend which was detailed in the book "Indian Romances" published by Colonel R.G. Scott. Colonel Scott was once the owner of 5,400 acres of land in the lake area, including parts of what is now Ha Ha Tonka State Park, Bridal Cave, and Thunder Mountain Park. Even though we were in possession of a copy of this Native American legend, in almost 70 years no one at the park had ever seen a copy of the actual book it was included in. It had been searched for over the years, but no one ever had any luck locating a copy of the book anywhere. Some even secretly began wondering i...

"Bridal" Cave isn't just a random name that someone liked the sound of. It is actually a very unique wedding venue at the Lake of the Ozarks . Our cave has a long history of weddings taking place inside of it. It all began with the marriage of two Native Americans from Osage tribes, many, many years ago, and the tradition continues today.  The Weddings Begin By Popular Demand When Bridal Cave first opened to the public on October 16, 1948, the developers only had plans to give tours of the cave due to the abundance of cave formations and vibrant natural colors. Even though they knew about the Native American legend of the wedding in the cave, there were no plans to perform wedding ceremonies.  Shortly after the cave opened for tours, requests to carry on the legend began to come in. O ur modern-day history of weddings began on June 1, 1949 when Mr. & Mrs. Basil Cole of Sedalia, Missouri exchanged vows in the stalactite adorned Lake of the Ozarks underground weddi...