Mile 166.7 - RBD Cliff Cave County Park

John Ruskey

20 Apr 2026 � 2 min read

166.7 RBD Cliff Cave County Park

Leaving St. Louis behind the river rolls along the base of the Missouri bluffs and the limestone cliffs seem to rise higher and higher. At mile 166.7 a spectacular cave opens its mouth to the river below. Cliff Cave (also known as Indian Cave) was used during the Archaic Period (ca. 7000 to 1000 BC) like other caves and rockshelters in Missouri and Illinois. The cave is thought to contain an Osage Waukon, which is a kind of spirit being that inhabits mysterious places like this cave. The cave has 4 entrances and literally "breathes" during extremely cold winter days. It is very likely that the Osage and Illini people believed it to be inhabited by a Waukon (Osage, spirit being) during the days when the mist issues from the mouth of the cave. The cave is used by bats during certain months and some Native American traditions linked bats with the supernatural world. It is possible that Native American rock art once decorated the walls, but it has been defaced by modern graffiti. A 3 foot water fall cascades into a pool of water which is located approximately 200 ft. from the entrance of the cave where the passageway turns and total darkness is encountered. Historically this pool would have supported albino crayfish (Cambarus sp.), albino salamanders (Typhlotriton spelaeus) and blind fish (Typhlichthys subterraneus) before urban pollution destroyed the fragile habitat of the cave. The albino and eyeless lifeforms in the cave stream would have thrived in the 3 ft. deep pool; their eerie features would have been seen by the Osage as supernatural manifestations.

Cliff Cave was also the site of a horrific drowning following torrential rainfall and a flash flood in 1993. Seven hikers died, all young men and their chaperones from the St. Joseph's Home for Boys in St. Louis. The bodies of two boys and a man in his 30s were found in a twisted knot just outside the cave. After being drowned they were pushed out by water that poured through several holes in the cavern ceiling. The body of another boy, about 10 years old, was recovered hours later 500 yards inside the cavern. A missing woman and two missing boys were swept out of the cave and into the Mississippi and were presumed drowned.

You can make landing at Cliff Cave. Even though the banks are collapsing into the river, paddlers can find a good place to stop and stretch your legs. You will find bathrooms in season (April-Oct). Paddlers can pull out anywhere along the bank here at low/medium water and enjoy a walk up through the heavily wooded park to the mouth of the cave. The cave has about a mile of caverns to explore, but it’s only open by special permission. At high water, you can paddle right into the park and find a grassy landing to disembark.

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