Vilander Bluff Natural Area
CRAWFORD 163 Vilander Bluff
Vilander Bluff Natural Area
A 206-acre portion of Onondaga Cave State Park southeast of Bourbon on the Meramec River in Sections 15 and 16, T39N, R2W, Onondaga Cave 7.5 min. topographic map. Access is by gravel road off Hwy N. Designated December 17, 1993.
Natural Features
A dry cliff composed of Gasconade dolomite, in the Upper Ozarks Section of the Ozark Natural Division. The bluff has eastern red cedars aged at more than 300 years. Two rare lichens, Flavoparmelia rutidota and Punctelia missouriensis, occur on the cliff. Nine caves are associated with the community. Limestone and dolomite forest, chert forest and savanna, bottomland forest and a one-mile stretch of the Meramec River are within the natural area boundaries. Vilander Bluff is owned and managed by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. For further information contact the Park Superintendent, Onondaga Cave State Park, Leasburg, MO 65531, phone 573/245-6417.
