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Review:
The Riverbluff Cave is a cave and a paleontological site near Springfield, Missouri. The entrance is full of fascinating stalactites, columns, and stalagmites. About 830,000 years old, the cave is the oldest fossil cave in the States. It features Pleistocene fossils, the most significant being that of the short-faced bear, the largest species of bear on Earth coming in at about six feet tall and weighing 1,400 pounds. The cave is part of the karst landscape of the Ozark Mountains’ Springfield Plateau, developed in the Mississippian limestone common in the region. Workers blasting for a new road accidentally discovered the cave in 2001. The cave is not open to the public, but it is wired for virtual tours. The Riverbluff Cave Field House was opened in 2009 to show fossils from Riverbluff Cave and from other sites around the world.
2327 W. Farm Road 190, Springfield, MO 65810
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