Diving The Bonne Terre Mine
by Peter Mikel
Scuba diving in the Midwest can be frustratingly problematic since the nearest saltwater reef is considerably further than a weekend trip. As a result, dive shops and individual divers have created man-made destinations closer to home in various abandoned rock quarries throughout the Midwest. The quarries naturally fill with water, have an optimal water visibility of up to 50’ (much better than area lakes) and, to add some excitement, have “artifacts” submerged in the quarries. The artifacts include: concrete statues and forms, small boats, cars, buses, planes. The website for Mermet Springs, a quarry in Illinois, boasts a 727 Boeing Jet. The quarries are fun for the first few dives, and it may be novel to visit an underwater garden gnome collection, but the quarries lose their excitement quickly. The most exceptional of these man-made sites is located in a small town sixty miles south of St. Louis, Missouri named Bonne Terre. John Gavin, an editor of National Geographic Adventure Magazine lists the Bonne Terre Mine as one of the ten greatest adventures in the United States (89). The mine is actually 160 feet directly below the town of Bonne Terre, Missouri and is the largest deep earth dive site in the world. Diving the mine will be one of the most unusual and memorable trips in any diver’s log book.
Bonne Terre Mine came into existence in 1865 when the St. Joseph Lead Mine Company purchased land and started mining operations. The history of the mine is shown on an episode of the History Channel’s Weird US television series. The “St. Joe Mining Co.” grew to be the largest lead mine in the world by 1950. Operations abruptly stopped in 1962 after nearly a century of digging, drilling and blasting. Once the mine closed (and the pumps were turned off) spring and rainwater began to fill the massive caverns, creating one of the largest known subterranean lakes. The WeirdUS show starts with the hosts walking into the mine with Doug Goergen, owner of the mine, who states that the man-made lake has over 80 square miles of tunnels and caverns, including seventeen miles of shoreline.
Dan Chu of Peoples Magazine told the story of how Doug and Cathy Goergens, also owners of West End Diving Inc., reopened the old mine in 1981 as a dive site and tourist attraction (2). The former mine is 375 feet deep and has 1,500 stadium-sized caverns on five levels interconnected with tunnels, chutes, shafts, and stairways. Massive pillars are fifty feet in diameter and rise 200 feet. West End Diving’s website, mentions twenty-four underwater “trails” and fifty different dive routes, each with new destinations and artifacts to see. Visibility is over 150 feet in the crystal clear water and illuminated by 600,000 watts of sodium lights suspended above the lake. “Typical surface issues that divers encounter on the don’t exist underground,” explains Tara Bradley of Sport Diver Magazine in her review of the mine, meaning there are no currents, updrafts, or thermoclines (temperature changes) and the water is a brisk, but reliable 59° Fahrenheit constant from surface to floor.
This expedition can be compared to diving a shipwreck and a ghost town simultaneously. The entrance to the mine is via an old mule trail. The group then walks a quarter mile underground downward to the first platform. The air is humid and a cool 69º Fahrenheit. Once in the water, a diver will immediately see abandoned ore carts with the tools of the tunneler’s trade: picks, shovels, and hammers, sitting just as when the last miners walked out more than forty years before. The guide leads the team down a stone staircase, then hovering about 10 feet above the steps, turns and swims into a small crevice in the thick walls. This is known as the “The Keyhole” and is shortcut to our first stop, the Ladder Room. Long-unused ladders lean up against the wall; hard hats and lunch pails litter the floor. It is a personal reminder of the men that were here before the water, carving the magnificent caverns. The miners followed the ore deposits through the rock and, as such, created a l abyrinth of crisscrossing tunnels, chambers and levels. Upon passing the first great arched opening and floating 100 feet above the floor of a large cathedral-like chamber, it is easy to understand that “Magnifique!” was the first word famed explorer Jacque Cousteau used to describe the site. Cousteau and his Calypso crew had only scheduled one and half days at Bonne Terre but ended up spending a week diving and filming.
Each turn brings something new to see. Throughout the dive, the artificial lighting casts odd shadows and combined with the old mining equipment, creates a ghostly feel to the dive. Stone walls shimmer in the light, revealing remaining veins of lead as well as quartz, cobalt and snow white calcium deposits. Swimming above the long-abandoned railway there are ore cars, empty dynamite boxes and jack hammers still leaning against the walls, along with larger unidentifiable mining equipment, eventually leading to a steam locomotive lying on its side with smoky rust trails slowly rising toward the surface.
There is a feeling of loneliness and emptiness; divers are used to seeing life around them when they dive. Here there are no fish or other wildlife in the water. The only true life of this place was that of the creators, men now long gone. The guide crosses a fifty foot wide shaft that stretches downward into darkness, makes a turn, and suddenly the group is back to the chamber where they entered the water. They see the first ore car with the picks and shovels and wonder what other treasures are to be seen in the underwater vaults of this vast lake, and what the next dive will bring. The guide will smile and hint about “firefly showers” and “reverse waterfalls” as the group heads back to the surface and out into the day.
The Bonne Terre Mine offers a full dive shop for renting or purchasing equipment. Personal dive lights are not needed (nor allowed), and the recommended suit is a 7mm wet or dry suit, as again the water is a cool 59° Fahrenheit (15º Celsius). The site offers several dive certifications including Mine Diver Specialty (try getting that one in the Keys) and Nitrox Diver Specialty for deep diving among others that are listed on West End Diving’s website. Accommodations in Bonne Terre include the restored 1909 Bonne Terre Train Depot, complete with converted Railcar rooms was given a good review by Diane Daniel of the Boston Globe. It is jokingly said that some divers visit Bonne Terre just for the Barbeque. The Depot also houses the Whistle Stop Saloon, a great place to enjoy a beverage after a hard day at the mine.
The guides are trained and experienced master divers. Safety is prime concern. To date there have not been any divers lost in the mine according to the Diver Alert Network (DAN) website. Each dive team is limited to ten and has two guides, one as lead and the other trails the party. There is a third person in a kayak on the surface following each group. There is a detailed briefing before the dive, as well as a basic abilities check once in the water to insure all divers and their equipment are ready to proceed.
When the Midwest winter is causes cabin fever for scuba divers, or coastal divers tire of their usual dive sites, they should grab their tanks and “blow some bubbles” underground at the Bonne Terre Mine. It is guaranteed to be one of the most unusual dives and doesn’t require a shark watch.
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