Penn’s Cave and Wildlife Park
Penn’s Cave is one of those unique day trips that is sure to please everyone. There is minimal walking involved so kids will be onboard, and there is lots of interesting things to see while your floating in a boat through a cave!
Penn's Cave Exit
Tour Info:
Parking: There is lots of free parking near the visitor’s center.
Fees: $23 for adults, $13 for children from 2-12 years.
Hours: Tours 10am-5pm daily, but buy your tickets in advance. We had to wait 2 hours because we didn’t!
Website: Penn’s Cave and Wildlife Park
Directions on PCs: Locate the Google map below the search box on the right-hand side of this webpage. Click “Get Directions” on the map pin details.
Directions on Tablets and Mobile Phones: Locate the Google map near the bottom of this page, just below the search box. Click “Get Directions” on the map pin details.
Penn’s Cave is one of those unique day trips that is sure to please everyone. There is minimal walking involved so kids will be onboard, and there is lots of interesting things to see while your floating in a boat through a cave!
The boats sit about 15 people with a thin walkway separating the boat down the middle and a small area up front for the tour guide / boat operator.
The very cold water has a few large fish in it, that seem to be attracted when you place your finger in the water. I wouldn’t let them get to close as they may assume it’s a worm and latch on.
The boats are very quite, powered by electric motors, so there isn’t much noise.
The tour guides are full of lots of facts about the origins and discovery of the cavern. I can’t be sure, but they must also minor in corny jokes, as they have an extensive library.
As usual, the photos do absolutely no justice when compared to the real thing, but you can get an idea of the dimensions of the caves and the shape of the features. Here the cave roof is about 35 to 50 feet above.
There are a few places where the cave extends to the left or right of the main water way, and the stalagmites and stalactites form interesting patterns, many of which the tour guides have named.
One area is decorated with three different colored lights that the tour guide can toggle, creating more of a three dimensional display then simply having lights shown upon rocks. I noted that the lights are switched on by the tour guide with a standard light switch found in any home. That’s when the devil on my shoulder whispered in my ear to flip the switch as we floated by, but it was just a few inches out of reach….
At the end of the tour, the cave opens up to a man made lake complete with ducks and deer nearby.
After turning the boat around the tour operates in reverse. The boat seems to barely squeeze back into cave as shown above.
The entrance to Penn’s cave looks completely different and also very bright after spending so much time in the dark.
Apart from the wildlife park that you may wish to view, the other very minor item of note is the original entrance to the cave. Out front of the entrance to the visitors center there is a soda/pop vending machine in the parking lot. Just behind that in a small field where the ground divots down, there is a small fenced in area where the electrical lines enter into the mine. This is the original place where the cave was discovered.
