The first owners of Onyx cave, Dan Broady; Ford Smith; TJ Adams; and Otis Edwards, also owned Guntown Mountain a local Wild West town attraction that also featured a petting zoo, various amusement rides, a haunted house, a train that circled the hill, and a chairlift.

Onyx Cave was found in 1971 during the construction of a parking lot for this larger attraction and opened as a show cave for the public in 1973. The cave was developed and managed by Cleon Turner who is the same person that developed and managed nearby Crystal Onyx Cave which is why the two caves share similar names. Dan Broady subsequently bought out the other owners to become sole owner.

We currently offer a 30-35 minute tour with roughly 60 steps down into the cave that are negotiated about 30 at a time. Come see our Waterfall Wall; Drippy Room; Big Column; as well as our signature cave coral, which has a stunning three-dimensional look that resembles ocean coral that can be found in abundance throughout our main cave.

Onyx Cave Rock Shop opened as an outgrowth of the cave business and was originally housed inside the hill near the entrance to the cave. The rock shop initially offered Kentucky geodes, agates, and a few fossils. In 2005, the current stand-alone building opened just outside of the cave entrance to house our rock shop that showcases a vast selection of rocks from around the globe and a few that are literally out of this world. We are more than happy to tell you what we know about our rocks, minerals, and fossils as well as sell them to you at very reasonable prices. Please note: None of our rocks for sale came from our cave or any other cave as the sale of formations from caves is illegal in Kentucky and unethical in the eyes of cavers.

Missy Sies

Owner

Missy Shields-Sies has worked at Onyx Cave since she was 16 years old. She started as a guide, moved up to the position of manager, and then to became a co-owner in 2016. In January of 2021, she became the sole owner of Onyx Cave & Rock Shop. The only other job she has worked was as co-owner of another local shop, Big Mike’s Rock Shop, for five years previous to becoming sole owner of Onyx Cave & Rock Shop. Missy has also been very active in the caving community and started caving by getting involved with cave conservation. She started volunteering for the American Cave Conservation Association (based at Hidden River Cave in Horse Cave, KY) in 2004 and maintains a membership with the ACCA up to the present. She is also a member of the Louisville Grotto, a lifetime member of the National Speleological Society, and has spent hundreds of volunteer hours helping the Mammoth Cave Restoration group. Missy has been an integral part of organizing two cleanups, the first in 2012 with a friend from Michigan that cleaned more than 500 tires out of a Barren County sinkhole in a single day and the second in 2013 as a part of a team that spent the summer cleaning more than 40 tons of garbage from a 130’ deep pit in Hart County. Missy has worked with survey projects for a number of caves in Kentucky. The two largest caves are Big Bat Cave in Breckenridge County, which is currently mapped to more than 15 miles in length, and Mammoth Cave, which is presently mapped to an astonishing 426 miles in length. In short, Missy loves caves and caving. She also enjoys sharing that passion with the public by exhibiting Onyx Cave for their education and enjoyment.