We had three more days of travel before arriving in Springfield, Missouri, on March 25, 2023. Beside the landscape beyond the windshield, the most interesting thing we stopped to look at was the Will Rogers Archway in Vinita, Oklahoma.

Will Rogers Archway

The Will Rogers Archway came along just as we needed a break and a bite to eat. “The Glass House” was its original name when built in 1957.

After a renovation in 2014, it was renamed the Will Rogers Archway. Inside, travelers can enjoy a McDonald’s meal or a Subway sandwich. Or, they can select snacks from the Kum & Go convenience store.

We didn’t dally too long, though. With only 1-1/2 hours of drive time left before we arrived at our campground in Springfield, getting back on the road was our goal.

The vehicles and big rigs driving below and maneuvering in and out of the parking lots entertained us while we ate lunch.

Fantastic Caverns

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources claims there are “approximately 7,500 recorded caves in the state,” which is probably the reason Missouri is considered the Cave State. The department’s website has a list of caves open for tours.

One such tour is Fantastic Caverns. Billboards advertising the Ride-Thru cave tours were a common sight along the freeways and roads throughout Missouri. Was this a hokey tourist trap or the real deal? We met up with our daughter and the grandkids to find out.

Inside the visitor center, we found a gift shop and various displays to keep us busy while we waited for our tour to start. Once aboard, our driver/guide regaled us with the history and geology of the cave.

Credit for the cave’s discovery goes to a dog who went missing in 1862. The dog had slipped through a hole in the ground and its owner followed it, stumbling into the cave. The dog’s owner, John Knox, kept the cave a secret to protect it from the Union and Confederate sides of the Civil War. The armies had seized several other caves to mine the limestone for the production of ammunition.

After the war, the Knox posted a newspaper advertisement requesting someone to explore the cave. The Springfield Women’s Athletic Club obliged and documented their presence on the cave wall on February 27, 1867.

Since then, the cave has had many owners and has served as a meeting place, a speakeasy during prohibition, a concert hall, and a broadcast studio in the 1970s. The Ku Klux Klan is recorded as having been owners from 1924 to 1930.

At one point, our guide stopped the tram in one room. I should have taken better notes, because I don’t recall what she was showing here, but it had something to do with saltpeter or gunpowder.

One hundred years after the cave’s discovery came the first Ride-Thru tour. The Campbell family arrived in 1966 to manage the tours and in 1992, they purchased the property that included the cave. In 2017, LED lighting replaced the early 1970s lighting system.

An ancient underground river created the usual formations common to caves: stalactites, stalagmites, columns, soda straws, flowstones, cave pearls, and draperies. Water still drips from above, a sign the formation of limestone process continues.

So what was the hokey verdict? Not hokey. The visitor center includes a gift shop with cave and geological themed items to purchase. And we had fun riding the tram with an informative and entertaining tour guide. We recommend Fantastic Caverns for anyone, young or old or anywhere in between, to hop aboard the tram and take a ride among the formations.

Bring a sweater or light jacket to ward off the chilly 60-degree temperature. And tall people should sit on the right side because the tram comes close to low-hanging formations on the left side.

Up Next: Top of the Rock Heritage Preserve in Branson, Missouri.