Onondaga Cave State Park, MO

ABOUT THE PARK: 

Onondaga Cave State Park - Missouri Department of Natural Resources

DIRECTIONS: 

GPS Coordinates 38.06107, -91.22609

Visitor Center/Cave Tour Parking - Cave tours are from April through October so this time of year the parking lot is empty.

Vilander Unit Parking a 10-mile drive away:  38.09788, -91.13083

TRAIL MAP: 

Missouri State Parks only has maps by trail online, not a full map showing all trails.  These are usually available at the park although I did not notice any while I was there.  This hike covers all of the trails.

HIKE DISTANCES: 

Onondaga Cave State Park - 9.2 miles

Vilander Unit (10 mile drive) - 1.7 miles with bushwhack

THE HIKE: 

The trees around the parking lot were loaded with vultures.  We would be seeing them again later in the hike.

Starting off on the paved Blue Heron Trail.

A mismatched pair that would still be there at the end of the hike, apparently bonded and staying together.  I am guessing the wild Canada goose did not migrate because the domestic white goose doesn't migrate so he stayed behind.

Grebe

At the end of the Blue Heron Trail, jog right, left then right again into the campground.

The White Oak Trail starts on the right a short distance through the campground.

We stayed right when the trail split to do the outer part first.

It rained overnight and on the drive in but at the edge of those rain clouds, nice blue sky for the rest of the hike.

Sometimes the trail was clear ...

... other times invisible with thick leaf cover but Brodie knew where the trail was.

A bench for a break.

Here we turned right on the while connector trail over to the green trail.  We would be retracing this back later to finish the red loop.

At the green trail we turned right to continue the outer parts of the trails and would loop completely around back to this point.

Coming up on views of the Meramec River.

Here is where those vultures overnighting in the parking lot spend their days.

Back at the campground, we stayed on the green trail to now hike the inner parts of the trail loops.

This looked out of place and I never imagined ...

... this would be Cathedral Cave.  I was expecting a big rock formation where the cave would be underground but instead it's a manmade structure.

A right on white to retrace the connector trail.

Right on red to finish the red loop.

Packed out balloon #24 of the year.

There had been very strong winds over the past few days that apparently blew this cute little nest down.

Coming back to the campground having completed the loop.

A left on the campground road ...

... back to the Blue Heron Trail where we stayed straight on the road.

There is the goose pair.  So sweet.

Back at the parking lot then a 20 minute drive over to ...

Shortly after this bench when the trail makes a sharp left ...

... I had heard you can bushwhack out to the bluffs.  I really did not see anything so we just went back to the trail.

A tiny bit of a countryside view.

Back on the trail.

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