Cave-in-Rock

The cave was cut into a limestone bluff by the Ohio River over long stretches of time, leaving a broad, high-arched opening at the water's edge that reaches back into the rock. Its dramatic mouth made it a landmark for river travelers long before it earned its dark reputation, a shelter visible from far up and down the water.

This is the country of Native nations of the Ohio Valley, including the Shawnee and the peoples of the Illinois Confederacy, whose descendants today are enrolled in the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, who traveled and lived along this stretch of the river long before European settlers arrived. The cave was a known feature of the river to the people of this land for generations.

Cave-in-Rock earned its notoriety in the late 1700s and early 1800s, when it became a den for river pirates, counterfeiters, and highwaymen who preyed on the flatboats and settlers moving down the Ohio toward the western frontier. Some ran a tavern and lure at the cave to draw travelers in before robbing them, and the site became infamous along the whole length of the river.

The most feared outlaws associated with the cave were murderous brigands whose crimes became the stuff of frontier legend. Their reign eventually ended as settlement and law spread down the river, but the cave's dark history stuck to it, and the tales of piracy and ambush are still told to visitors who walk into its shadowed mouth.

The cave and the surrounding bluffs are now a state park, a green and quiet place where the violent past feels very distant. A short trail leads down to the cave, and paths along the top of the bluff give wide views over the Ohio River, with barges and towboats working the current below.

The park has picnic areas and trails through the woods along the river, and its perch above the water makes it a fine place to watch the river life go by. River levels rise and fall with the seasons, changing the look of the cave and the shoreline, so no two visits are quite the same.

At the village of Cave-in-Rock, a small car ferry still crosses the Ohio River to Kentucky, one of the last of its kind on this stretch of water and a memorable way to ride out onto the river. The crossing is short and scenic, a living link to the days when the river was the highway.

The park lies within the wooded hills of the Shawnee National Forest, and it makes a natural stop on a loop through this rugged, uncrowded corner of Illinois. Nearby lie other bluffs, rivers, and the sculpted sandstone of the wider Shawnee country, a landscape that surprises anyone who thought Illinois was only prairie.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.