Wonderland Cave

Wonderland Cave, in the community of Bella Vista about 9 miles west of Pea Ridge, is the largest cave in northwestern Arkansas. It's a show cave in the traditional sense — guided tours, formations with whimsical names, theatrical lighting — but the cave itself is genuinely large and the formations are good. Tours run about an hour and cover around half a mile of developed passage.

The cave's unusual history as a Jazz Age dance hall gives it a more interesting backstory than most similar attractions. The entrance building dates from the 1920s and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This is a reasonable addition to a day at Pea Ridge battlefield for visitors who want variety.

things to do sight
A story
Wonderland Cave had a second life in the 1920s and 1930s as a jazz club and dance hall. The cave's constant 58°F temperature made it ideal for summer events, and a big-band dance floor was installed inside the main chamber. At its peak it attracted musicians from Kansas City and St. Louis. The dance hall is long gone, but the cave retains its Art Deco entrance building from that era, a strange artifact in the Ozark foothills.