When I first walked into Silver Dollar City, in Branson, Missouri, I knew I was in for a treat. My morning started with a breakfast of biscuits and house-made apple butter (plus all of the other traditional American breakfast fare) at Molly’s Mill Restaurant. Roller coasters, fried delights on a stick, live craftsmen, and the hordes of people lining up for the park’s iconic “Fire in the Hole” attraction were all vying for my attention. But little did I know that just below me was an entire natural cave system waiting to be explored.
Silver Dollar City is theme park built on top of a giant cave
Silver Dollar City has a unique history for a theme park, and it all revolves around the discovery of a natural cave dubbed Marvel Cave. Its history as a tourist attraction began in 1894 through the efforts of a Canadian entrepreneur named William Henry Lynch and his two daughters. For more than five decades, the cave was a “show cave” for tourists. In 1950, Hugo Herschend leased the cave, and in 1960 the Hershchend family built a replica 1880s Ozark Mountain Village around the entrance to the cave. This is the start of what we know today as Silver Dollar City.
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Fast forward to today, and a tour of Marvel Cave is actually part of your entry fee at Silver Dollar City. The wet limestone cave has incredible rock formations, waterfalls, and plenty of history to tell as expert guides lead curious visitors like me into the cave.
Spelunking at Silver Dollar City
To say I was nervous about going nearly 500 below the surface of the Ozarks is an understatement. I’d never been in a cave before. What made me most apprehensive was “The Tallmans Headache,” a narrow pass about four feet high, seven feet long, and two feet wide.
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Still, I wasn’t going to let my fear of tiny spaces get the best of me. Heck, earlier in the day I rode a rollercoaster where individual ride cars spin as you go upside down and whizz across the track. If I could do that, I figured, I could make it through a few small passageways in a cave below the theme park.
The check-in desk is inside the gift shop near the front of the park. After registering, you pass through a simulated opening for the “Tallmans Headache” to ensure you and your things will fill in the smallest part of the cave. My mind was already calming down after ensuring both I and my backpack would fit through the small opening.
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Groups for the tour are relatively large. Mine maxed out at 45 people, ranging from pre-schoolers to older adults, and you don’t need special equipment. Tours often last about 60 minutes, though mine was closer to 90 because the group had a lot of questions for our spelunking guide, who was happy to answer just about anything.
Getting into the cave
After getting all of the safety details out of the way, we were on our way. The walk to the cave’s entrance was short, and our guide warned us that once we started to descend into the cave there was no opting out. We were given one last chance to ditch the tour, but I pressed on.
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We went down nearly 300 feet below the surface into the Cathedral Room. This is the largest cave entrance room in the United States. Once we reached the bottom of the room, we had our photos taken by Silver Dollar City staff. (These souvenir pictures can be bought after the tour.) In the Cathedral Room, we learned about the history of the Marvel Cave, plus spotted a few bats flying around.
The tour continued past incredible rock formations, which are still alive and growing. Because of that, you aren’t allowed to touch the sides of the cave. One of the most unusual sites was a wall of formations that hung from the top of the cave and looked like hanging bacon when a light shined through.
Then I came to the underground waterfall, in what’s aptly named the Waterfall Room. I was 505 feet below the entrance to the cave but in complete awe of the colorfully backlit waterfall in front of me. The falls cascade 40 feet to the ground. According to the cave guide, divers have tried to find where the massive amounts of water from the cave end up. A finish line to the maze of underground waterways hasn’t been found yet.
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My tour was coming to a close after more than an hour in Marvel Cave. The return to civilization above was easy thanks to a cable train. Everyone in the group piled into one of the train cars to begin the 1,070-foot-ascent back to the surface.
Is the Marvel Cave tour worth it at Silver Dollar City?
I’m glad I did the cave tour. It’s a unique offering at Silver Dollar City. And even more so, it’s the heart of the park with a deeply rooted history. There are also plenty of Instagram-worthy cave rooms to show off to people back home. It’s worth the time commitment, especially if it’s your first time at the park and you want to learn some of the history behind Silver Dollar City.
Even though Silver Dollar City sees up to two million guests per year, only about 10 to 15 percent of those people do the cave tours. So, now I feel like I’m part of a cool cave diving club, and you can be part of the club too on your next visit to Silver Dollar City.
