Onondaga Cave State Park RV & Campground Guide

The Meramec River is a great place to go fishing. While shore fishing is popular, anglers can also angle from their boats. Meramac is the American Indian word for catfish, the most popular fish caught at this location. In addition, anglers catch bluegill, crappie, drum, and smallmouth bass. For a different experience, try spearfishing for hogsuckers in the fall.

While they can be hard to see, at least four classes of animals live in Onondaga Cave. Trogloxenes, such as bats and aquatic pyroxenes, live in the cave but must leave regularly to search for food. You may also see troglophiles, like the slimy salamander, and aquatic logophiles that live in the cave but can survive near its entrance. You may also see troglobites, like the grotto salamander, and aquatic stygobites with particular adaptations, such as no skin pigment or eyes, that require them to spend their entire lives underground. Finally, you might see phreatobites, like the Onondaga Cave amphipod, living in the porous spaces in rocks within the cave.

One unique place many visitors miss seeing is the Vilander Bluff Natural Area, located down a gravel road about seven miles northeast of the main park. This is a dry limestone and dolomite cliff with over 144 cedar trees over 200 years old and 70 cedar trees over 300 years old. Except for one other Missouri location, this is the farthest north where Flavoparmelia rutidota, an endangered lichen, grows. You may also see 69 other lichen species at this location, including Punctelia missouriensis, which scientists have only found at this location.

The Blue Heron Trail, running from the park's visitors center to the campground, is a fantastic place for a hike. Near the beginning of the trail, it passes by a spillway. Experts believe workers constructed it in 1886 to slow down water before it enters Spring Lake. This short trail is open to hikers and bikers.

While visitors will not find boats or canoes to rent at Onondaga Cave State Park, there are launching facilities near the Meramec Bridge. At this point, The river flattens out and becomes calmer, making it an excellent place for novice paddlers to disembark. There is also a canoe launch area near the picnic area.

There are five bike trails at Onondaga Cave State Park. A favorite ride is the Oak Ridge Trail, which allows riders to see waterfalls. This trail passes through a dolomite glade, a fantastic place to see wildflowers blooming in the spring and summer. The wooded area along this trail provides shade for riders on hot summer days.