History

The Missouri Caves and Karst Conservancy’s involvement all started with the Berome Moore cave entrance.  MMV Grotto deserves the credit for facilitating the sale of the cave entrance. The MCKC acquired about 1 acre surrounding the entrance and an easement to traverse all known and unknown portions of the Moore Cave System in 2010 to protect cave resources and ensure that the caving community, cave biologists, archaeologists, geologists and other scientists continue to have access to the cave for exploration, research, surveys, mapping and other activities. The property was designated as the Lloyd & Ethel Hoff Underground Nature Preserve in honor of landowners.

The Berome entrance had been well known by cavers for decades prior to MCKC acquiring it. In 1961, when there were only 44 recorded caves in Perry County in southeastern Missouri, cavers discovered an opening at the bottom of a sinkhole not far from Tom Moore Cave (which was not known to be part of the same cave system at the time).

Lang Brod wrote a cave report in which he credited Tex Yokum with checking sinkholes on Lloyd Hoff’s farm. Tex used some geology, some hydrology and some street smarts to figure out the direction of Tom Moore, which had apparently ended, (although the water passage continued) and traced it into the Hoff’s field.

Brod’s historical report credits Stan Sides with finding the one-foot by six inch breathing hole at the foot of the sink at the conclusion of a Tom Moore mapping trip. Brod says Stan and Tex dug like mad until the hole was big enough to get in. Once underground, according to Brod, Tex was off like a shot into virgin passage. Sides and Brod proceeded at a more measured pace in the cavern so vast their carbide lights could not penetrate the darkness. Thus began the Moore Cave System adventures for wild caving visitors and grotto members and research by the scientific community. The people Brod listed (in alphabetical order) on the discovery dig trip, on October 29, 1961 are: Lang Brod, Dennis Drum, Jack Palmer, Stan Sides, Steve Sabo, Sr. and Tex Yokum.

In April 2022 the MCKC purchased the buried Pot of Gold entrance and about 2 acres around the entrance in order to dig it back open and protect it. About 156 native tree species were planted across the 2 acres to return it to a more natural state This entrance offers a sporty ~1.75 miles through trip from/to the Berome entrance. The Pot of Gold entrance is a low, rocky belly crawl for several body lengths before getting into a slot passage that gradually gets taller as you go.

In 2025, MCKC began managing cave access to the Tom Moore entrance as well as other karst features on behalf of the Ozark Land Trust. The Tom Moore entrance offers about 1 mile of fairly easy caving to/from the Berome Moore entrance.

Perry County now has over 702 known caves, it is neck and neck with Shannon County for having the most caves in the state. The system has a current surveyed length of 26.14 miles with many active leads to map. Other long caves in the county are Crevice Cave, which is Missouri’s longest cave at 31 miles,  Mystery Cave, which is Missouri’s 4th longest cave at 15.7 miles, and the Rimstone River Cave, which is Missouri’s 5th longest cave at 14.3 miles.

Berome Moore Cave contains several unique and/or uncommon species and other cave biota including amphipods, cave salamanders and grotto salamanders. A rarity in the cave, visitors can see extinct Pleistocene jaguar footprints impressed in the mud, still as soft as the day the big cat walked there. There are prints throughout a section of the cave, aptly named Cat Track Passage. Among the speleothems, unusual helictites and other formations found in Berome Moore is an intriguing “volcano,” located on a ledge. The volcano is about 12 inches tall and has a rise tube in the center. During the right conditions, water flows up from the center core and cascades down the sides.

Moore Cave System Resurvey

Berome Moore survey trips are scheduled irregularly based on availability of party leaders. Anyone interested in helping should contact the MCKC via our contact page.

Moore Cave System Visitation Permits

You can request a permit to explore this cave through our online permit system. If you have questions or trouble with your permit, send an email to:

Berome Entrance: beromecm@mocavesandkarst.org

Tom Moore Entrance: tmcm@mocavesandkarst.org

Pot of Gold Entrance: pogcm@mocavesandkarst.org

Trip request must be made at least 2 weeks before the desired trip date.

To request a through trip between any of our owned or managed entrances, you will need to request a permit for each entrance and specify in the notes that you are doing a through trip.