Ideas for a day out
Show caves with boat rides and glittering formations, and old coal mines you can ride into.
Photo: Ruhrfisch, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Pennsylvania's limestone valleys are riddled with caves, and a handful have been open to visitors for well over a century, with lighted paths past stalactites, flowstone and still underground pools. Coal country adds a different kind of underground: real mines, long closed, that you ride into in mine cars to see how anthracite was dug with picks and blasting powder. Caves and mines alike stay cool all year, in the low 50s, so bring a jacket even in August. Paths can be wet and uneven, and some tours involve plenty of stairs. Most run guided tours on a schedule, and several close or cut back in winter, so check before you go.
1Show cave · Hellertown, Northampton County
Run by the same family since 1930, this cave near Bethlehem is named for the stream that flows through it and disappears into the rock. Above ground there is a collection of minerals and fossils.
2Show cave · Richmond Township, Berks County
Quarrymen found this cave in the hills near Kutztown in 1871, and it opened to visitors the next year as Pennsylvania's first show cave. It is named for the sparkling crystal formations inside.
Photo: Jtknowles, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
3Show cave · Derry Township, Dauphin County
A cave in the bank of Swatara Creek a few miles from Hershey, with formations, still pools and the story of William Wilson, a hermit who is said to have lived here for almost twenty years in the early 1800s.
4Show cave · Gregg Township, Centre County
The whole tour is by boat. Flat-bottomed boats glide along an underground stream through a limestone cavern near Centre Hall, out onto a small lake at the far end and back. A wildlife park shares the property.
Photo: Ruhrfisch, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
5Show cave · Haines Township, Centre County
A short drive east of Penn's Cave in Penns Valley, with big, open rooms and large formations, and a campground beside it.
6Show cave · Porter Township, Huntingdon County
Near Huntingdon, a single tour takes in two caves, Lincoln Caverns and Whisper Rocks, both rich in formations. Raystown Lake is close by.
7Show cave (state park) · Georges Township, Fayette County
Pennsylvania's largest cave runs under Chestnut Ridge near Uniontown, and in 2026 it became the state's first underground state park. Besides the guided tours there are rugged caving trips for those who don't mind crawling. Bats hibernate here, so the cave closes to visitors in winter.
Photo: David Fulmer from Pittsburgh, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
8Mine tour · Scranton, Lackawanna County
Ride a mine car down a steep slope about 300 feet into a real anthracite mine under McDade Park in Scranton, then walk the tunnels with a guide who explains the work and its dangers. The Anthracite Heritage Museum is next door.
9Mine tour · Lansford, Carbon County
In Lansford, a mine car rolls deep into a mine that worked from 1855 to 1972. Underground you can see the first-aid room cut into the rock where injured miners were treated before they were brought out.
10Mine tour · Ashland, Schuylkill County
A level drift mine running straight into Mahanoy Mountain at Ashland. Open cars take you in, guides show how coal was blasted from the seams, and outside a little steam locomotive pulls cars along the mountainside.
Photo: James St. John, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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