Rock Bridge Memorial State Park

Rock Bridge Memorial State Park
Rock Bridge in 2006
Map showing the location of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park
Map showing the location of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park
Location in Missouri
Map showing the location of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park
Map showing the location of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park
Rock Bridge Memorial State Park (the United States)
LocationBoone County, Missouri, United States
Coordinates38°52′44″N 92°18′12″W / 38.87889°N 92.30333°W / 38.87889; -92.30333[1]
Area2,273 acres (9.20 km2)[2]
Elevation696 ft (212 m)[1]
Established1967[3]
Visitors714,187 (in 2022)[4]
Governing bodyMissouri Department of Natural Resources
WebsiteRock Bridge Memorial State Park

Rock Bridge Memorial State Park is a geological preserve and public recreation area encompassing 2,273 acres (920 ha), five miles (8.0 km) south of Columbia in Boone County, Missouri off of Missouri Route 163.

The park is home to 12 caves.[5]

The state park is noted for its excellent examples of karst landforms including the rock bridge, sinkholes, and an underground stream at the cave known as Devil's Icebox. The rock bridge was created by the collapse of a section of a cave which resulted in a small arch of rock being left to form a natural bridge over the creek.[6] The park is the only known home of Kenkia glandulosa, more commonly known as the pink planarian.[7]

  1. ^ a b "Rock Bridge Memorial State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference parkdata was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference acquisition was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Missouri State Park Attendance For January - December, 2022" (PDF). Missouri State Parks. February 3, 2023.
  5. ^ "Getaway to Rock Bridge Memorial State Park | Inside Columbia". insidecolumbia.net/. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference parks was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Elliott, WR (2007). "Zoogeography and biodiversity of Missouri caves and karst". Journal of Cave and Karst Studies. 69 (1): 135–162.