Tunnel Cave, MO

[Spike]

Yep that's Tunnel Cave. I little bit of the Catacombs in the picture. We fell short of the 2 mile mark on that trip by about 200 feet. But last month James and I went back and surveyed more dusty bellycrawl and passed the 2 mile mark.

Spike

[Caver1402]

Congrats on doing that!

[pull100]

Tom and JC,

No. I was thinking about Skagg's Cave after all. It just is a bit foggy in my mind how I got to it.

Doesn't Bretz mention cave pearls in his description of it?

Oh, my daughter graduated from WHS in 1990 so you likely did not know each other.

Next question: If you cross the river south/west of Waynesville and drive up the valley (this is opposite the R17 side) you can then walk up a pasture on the left. Maybe 500 yds in to the pasture there is a low rise on the left with a cave entrance with a large standing water pool in it. Cows frequent this place in the summer for all the usual reasons. Owls have been known to roost near the entrance and make a very loud noise when they are flying out.

In the back of the cave is a large room with nice formations, but getting there requires a long hands and knees crawl through meadering passage.

I visited it solo on a Xmas Day in 1973 or so. After about 30 min of crawling back and forth I came to a red & white lettered sign placed at face height that said: "How sweet it is!".

I laughed and turned around and went home.

Do you know the cave? It is also likely in Bretz.

[pull100]

Tom and JC,

No. I was thinking about Skagg's Cave after all. It just is a bit foggy in my mind how I got to it.

Doesn't Bretz mention cave pearls in his description of it?

Oh, my daughter graduated from WHS in 1990 so you likely did not know each other.

Next question: If you cross the river south/west of Waynesville and drive up the valley (this is opposite the R17 side) you can then walk up a pasture on the left. Maybe 500 yds in to the pasture there is a low rise on the left with a cave entrance with a large standing water pool in it. Cows frequent this place in the summer for all the usual reasons. Owls have been known to roost near the entrance and make a very loud noise when they are flying out.

In the back of the cave is a large room with nice formations, but getting there requires a long hands and knees crawl through meadering passage.

I visited it solo on a Xmas Day in 1973 or so. After about 30 min of crawling back and forth I came to a red & white lettered sign placed at face height that said: "How sweet it is!".

I laughed and turned around and went home.

Do you know the cave? It is also likely in Bretz.

[Phil Winkler]

Blue Grass Cave doesn't ring any bells. This cave was also in Bretz' book as I recall. That's how I found it, I'm sure.

[Dustin]

I noticed on the MSS Calendar that a survey was going on this weekend. I was thinking about attending, but wasn't for sure if I was experienced enough. I have helped survey only once, and that was a small cave. I am also unsure of exactly where this cave is located. I was thinking Pulaski County was south of St. Louis, yet Waynesville has been mentioned.

[Phil Winkler]

It's quite a bit south of St. Louis and yes, Waynesville is in Pulaski Co.

[Spike]

Dustin,

Yes we are surveying in Tunnel/Spring this weekend. Bob Lerch and Amber Spohn from Columbia should be coming down. If you can catch a ride with them you should. We have lots of work to do and little if any experince is needed for most of what we have planned.

Spike

[pulaskicaver]

Hey Phil-

You were talking about a cave outside Waynesville with standing water in the entrance and a long crawl to a formation room........
That's one of our favorite caves called Rollins Cave #2. A LONG cave that is not completely surveyed though nearly 2 miles are on paper from a map made in the early 60's. The entrance crawl is almost a 1/4 mile long but it eventually intersects a large trunk pasasage with thousands of feet of large walking passage in two directions. Near the end of the right hand passage is an un-mapped lead called the SOB passage which I have heard is an extremely difficult passage to negotiate. Tho it's nice to know there is still the possibility of finding virgin booty in an otherwise well known cave.

[Phil Winkler]

Yep. That's it. Rollins#2.

As I stood in the water in the entrance with the cows that long ago Xmas day I heard a load wooshing from deep within the cave. Being by myself I really felt a few moments of terror, but was relieved when the sound turned out to an owl flying out of the cave. The meandering crawl was one of the finest examples of a stream meander I've seen.

How sweet it is!

Is that sign still there?

[pulaskicaver]

no sign that I'm aware of. At least it wasn't there in the early 90's which is the last time I was there. Rollins has been such a popular cave over the years that I'm sure most debris and non cave friendly stuff has been removed by organized cavers.

If I remember correctly, the MSM boy's had to dig a little cobble out of the cave at point near the "Lemon Squeeze" in the late 50's to access the rest of the cave. All virgin at that point. Now that must have neen one hell of a day!

[Noobiecavin]

wow, waynesville is pretty close..... Would this cave be novice friendly? I mean we have to proper gear and minimals, but we really are not ready for roping down and up. I am desperatly trying to get into caving but gettin locations of good spots and stuff is rather a pain. The people I go with are all Strong enough to lift our own weight, and hold our own. We just dont want to get in over our heads....
we have experiance in walkin the muk and belly crawling.

I would really like it if someone were to PM me with the location of this cave in waynesville. I know I live in the cave state..... BUT they are very well hiden.

[pulaskicaver]

Noobie-

Please do not attempt to find or go into Tunnel Cave. The landowner relations are delicate and the cave harbors two endangered species of bats.

Feel free to contact me offlist at pulaskicaver@yahoo.com if you have any other questions. I'll be happy to talk to you about caving in central Missouri.

Thanks-

James

[Noobiecavin]

will do, and Yes I didnt know that It was private property. I will be going to the maramac gratto meeting this month HOPFULLY i will see some of you there.

[pulaskicaver]

Thanks noobie.
MVG is a fantastic group of cavers. Have a great meeting.

JC