Penn's Cave - 7/19/2025
Sarah and I made a second roadside adventure today during our drive back to Ohio. This visit was at Penn's Cave outside
of Centre Hall, Pennsylvania.
Open since 1885, this attraction features a guided tour of a limestone cave. After checking in at the visitor center, we
made our way down the 300 foot pathway and the 48 steep concrete steps to the boat dock at the mouth of the cave hidden under a
canopy of trees. We boarded the flat-bottom motorboat along with approximately twenty other tourists. The fully guided
tour through the all-water limestone cavern took just under an hour. Inside the cavern the temperature remained 52 degrees
as it does year round.
Our knowledgeable guide explained how the dripping water had sculpted magnificent flowstone, curtains, cascades, and draperies
against a background of pillars and gigantic columns.
Several of the formations were highlighted with colored lighting including glittering stalactites and stalagmites.
There was one surprise during the tour which was at the midpoint of the journey the boat exits the cave into a lake where the
boat turns around for the return trip back through the cavern. During this time we could see some of the wildlife at the
site's other attraction, the wildlife park. Who would have guessed that we would see elk during a cave tour.
Penn's Cave is a cool local landmark that transcends a typical tourist trap. It is also the only cave in Pennsylvania
on the National Register of Historic Places.
After your visit Sarah and I were off to finish our long drive home.
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