7 things you may not know about Missouri’s caves

Missouri is known as The Cave State, probably because it has over 7,000 documented caves.

Riverbluff Cave in Springfield was discovered on Sept. 11, 2001, when a road construction crew noticed a small opening. It led into the oldest Ice Age fossil cave in North America. Riverbluff isn’t open to the public, but fossils and minerals found in it are displayed nearby at the Missouri Institute of Natural Science. Matt Forir, the geologist who first explored the cave., described his experience this way: “When you’re in a place with such a deep, rich prehistoric history, if you’re not in awe there’s something wrong with you.”