Caving for Kids Program

For Walk-ins: 11:00 am – 1:00 pm & 3:00 pm        $9 per participant – ages 3 & up

For school and scout groups, start times will fit their tour schedule

Because Laurel Caverns is not wheelchair accessible, in the 1990s, David Cale designed and built the largest simulated cave in world to serve children in wheelchairs, and to study the growth-rates, and growth-stages, of stalactites and stalagmites. He called it: The Grottoes of Learning. It covers 10,000 square feet, and is larger than most natural caves in Pennsylvania and all caves in Ohio. Today, it serves children, especially ages three through eight, accompanied by at least one adult personally responsible for them. It does not require special equipment or clothing. It can be toured in a wheelchair.

This program takes participants back in time, to the year 1794, when Laurel Caverns was discovered by John Delaney, the farmer who owned the property, at that time. The discovery of this cave immediately attracted cave explorers whose primary source of light was an oil lamp. Candles are difficult to keep lit while caving. The first thing to be learned in this activity is what it was like to explore a cave using only oil lamps. 

The second thing to be learned is the meaning of: archeology. Archeology is that division of science that looks for evidence of past human existence in a particular place. When a cave is discovered, they look for paintings on the wall. Participants are invited to find animal paintings made in the Grottoes by humans living in the late Holocene Epoch of geologic time (The present time period). The third thing to be learned are four basic words for calcite formations found in caves. 

The fourth thing to be learned is the meaning of: paleontology. Paleontology is the study of life, as it was millions of years ago. The limestone of Laurel Caverns is at least 320 million years old. At that time, even the dinosaurs were millions of years into the future. So, for the rock beds at Laurel Caverns, paleontologists look for sea-shell and coral fossils. To find these fossils, paleontologists set up screens, like those used in the Grottoes’ fossil pit. Participants then become paleontologists as they sift sand from the cave floor to find real fossils they can keep. Yes, the adults also receive a bucket of cave sand and their own sifting screen.

  

Duration: 30 – 45 minutes Walking Distance: 880 feet – 268 meters

Number of Steps: 0 Steepest Slope: 12.5%     Deepest point: 0 feet