Very little has changed at Cave Hollow Park over the past million or so years. Erosion continues the slow and steady work it set out to accomplish. Trees live and die. People come and go. Some changes appear long-lived, but most in the last century are but a blink in the eye of the geology timeline.
Little is known about the prehistoric history of the park. It is first noted as far back as 1880, when the Grand Army of the Republic set up the Colonel Grover Post nearby. The location quickly became a popular spot for adventurers, young lovers and later, more commercial enterprises. A spring supplied water for the old town of Warrensburg, and later a hospital leveraged the space for a “pest house” to rid themselves of those plagued by Small Pox. Then it filled with trash as a dumping ground. It returned as a playground sometime in the 1970s, after increasing pressure from the community.
Accessing the park is easy enough, but finding the trail that leads to the more interesting aspects requires some insider knowledge; or, only a little poking around. An partially hidden paved path next to the playground leads into a deep wooded ravine. Various branches split off in different directions, most of which lead nowhere.
One diversion offers a glimpse of a massive rock shelter cave, visible from the main path, similar in scope and size to that at Graham Cave State Park. This one seems a bit larger, though not as deep. A few more digressions on either end of the structure lead to the top, and smaller adjacent, shallow caves.
The main paved path abruptly ends at a park bench shortly thereafter. At first glance, it appears to open only on a small hollow, containing several smaller rock shelter caves. Closer inspection reveals other oddities.
A face or two, animals, names and symbols appear etched in the rock at every turn, along with more modern painted additions, decidedly less attractive and equally abundant. These petroglyphs seem as though they could have been chiseled by some long forgotten tribe, but are of unknown, somewhat modern origin. It is a tradition understood to traverse the history of the space, and an intriguing display of the desire of man to be remembered.
The brief 300 meter ramble through this wooded geologic time capsule is peaceful, beguiling, and thought-provoking. It is difficult to imagine this place as anything other than it is now, much less the dumping ground it was throughout half of the 20th century.
Certain individuals have not entirely given up on the effort either, in spite of years of citizenry calling for restoration of this environment. At the opposite end of the park, not all that far away, space appears used for disposal of a variety of waste products. It is likely the most surprising aspect of the situation, since run-off could easily poison either stream or cave structure.
