Last month we took a road trip with the kids up to Huntingdon in Pennsylvania. It was approximately a 2 hour car ride each way. Huntingdon is located not far from Raystown Lake. Our road trip specifically was to visit Lincoln Caverns and it was our first visit to see them.
The caverns were first discovered in 1930 and 1941. They’re not handicap accesible, so if you can’t go up and down a lot of stairs…the tour is not for you. With that said, there is a gift shop, picnic pavilions, walking & hiking trails on the property too.
Open 7-days a week it makes for a nice little road trip with the family. You can purchase tour tickets online or in the gift shop. I recommend doing it online so you can reserve your specific day and time. You will be required to do a lot of “leisurely” walking to participate in the guided tour. They recommend wearing a light jacket because the temperature inside the caverns is a chilly 53 degrees year-round.
A tour guide will take your group down into the caverns and while you’re in there will give you all kinds of educational information on how they were discovered, the formations, etc. It’s really interesting and fun! From start to finish the tour lasts approximately an hour. You can take your cameras in with you to grab pictures.
After the tour we enjoyed a picnic brown bag lunch that I brought along with us. We then headed to the Sluice where the kids were able to pan for real gems. (the mining area). This activity will cost an additional fee which you can pay when you order tickets online or at the door. They really enjoyed mining for gems!
It was a really nice little adventure for my family to enjoy. If you live in the area or going to be passing through…it’s a fun thing to do that doesn’t cost a lot of money. You can learn more about the Lincoln Caverns by visiting their website online.
I have visited a cavern in New York State, and it was fascinating. I would love to see this one and do the search for gems at the sluice. Fun Activity.
In my younger days, would not happen today I have visited several caverns. One in KY , TN and WV and they were fun and learned a lot.
I went to a similar place in north Georgia. The kids panned for gold. Each got a flake in a bottle.
This looks like a fun place to visit. I also like to visit places like this in our area that are only a few hours away.