A Seneca Chief, O-ko-cho his severn sons and beautiful daughter Nita-nee lived on the shores of Spring Creek. An intrepid French trapper, Malachi Boyer befriended the tribe. One day he caught a glimpse of Nita-nee whom the chief kept hidden away and fell hopelessly in love. Alas, the love was not to be as the tribe would not permit their marriage. Desperate to be together, they ran away. The stars did not favor their love and they were captured by the seven brothers and returned to the chief. For his crimes against the tribe, Malachi was thrown into a yawning cavern filled with water. He swam back and forth seeking escape, but every way was barred by the brothers. Vowing that the sons would not see him perish, he crawled into the inner most recess of the cavern and embraced death. To this death, on the summer nights, one can hear his mournful call from the cave, “Nita-nee, Nita-nee, Nita-nee”. 

Or so the legend of Penn’s Cave goes.

In truth, the dry areas were utilized by the Seneca tribe for centuries for shelter and storage. It is doubtful they used it for any sort of executions. The cave like most was formed over millions of years. Flat-laying rocks were compressed and then the pressure buckled the rocks into folds pushing them upwards and downwards. This caused the formation of the cavern. Then as water seeped in from the ceiling beautiful stalactites and stalagmites formed. 

Penn’s Cave is one of nine show caves in the state of Pennsylvania but it claims the title of being the only all-water cavern in the state, and possibly America. It has been a tourist destination since 1885 when Jesse and Samual Long built their hotel and began to guide visitors to the cave. In 1927, they opened the other side of the cave and added a man-made lake. 

The tour lasts about 45 minutes. Like almost any other show cave tour, tour guides point out rock formations that may or may not resemble the items they are named for. There is also the obligatory cave puns and jokes. They do give some of the geological history of the cave throughout the tour. It features a short light show which also helps to highlight various parts of the cave. 

If the cave does not strike your fancy then perhaps the other offerings of Penn’s Cave may entice your interest such as gemstone panning, a maze and the wild-life tour. The wildlife tour is a 90 minute drive through the 1,600 acre grounds which houses many Native North-America animals such as bison, Texas longhorn cattle, foxes, black bears, elk, whitetail deer, big horn sheep, wild burros, mountain lions, wolves and more. Part of the tour allows you to be up close with the animals while the other parts, understandably, have fencing to keep you and the animals safe. Regardless of whether they could come up to the bus, most of the animals had large natural enclosures with plenty of room to roam around.

I went with my sister who invited me along for an outing with her friends. We went on the boat tour first enjoying hearing about the cave system and groaning at the terrible puns. Although, true confession, the worse a pun is, the funnier I find it, so I thoroughly enjoyed them as they were awful. Naturally, we made sure to snap lots of pictures. We avoided getting a nasty headache when we were required to duck as the boat made its way out to the lake. (So if you are a taller person, be warned.) I always enjoy seeing the natural beauty of the cave formations. Nature’s sculptures have their own mystique few artists can truly capture. Some truly rival the beauty of Europe’s cathedrals in terms of their ethereal formations and captivating lighting. 

After the cave tour, we piled into a bus for the wildlife tour. The highlight of the tour for me was when we were able to get out of the bus to get up close to the cows and other herd animals. The animals were clearly accustomed to friendly tourists and calmly stood nearby for pictures. The wolves were also quite friendly coming up to the fence with an eagerness to see their human friends. The large cats were less interested in their human counterparts, but I still enjoyed seeing them in their enclosures. I think I enjoyed seeing the animals that are not often featured in zoos like the longhorns.   

I also tried my hand at gemstone “panning” which was a decidedly canned experience, but I was there for a lark, so why not? It was fun to see what “prizes” turned up among the gemstones. I did not keep any of the stones I found, preferring to give them away since I had little use for them back home. I wandered the gift shop with my sister and was delighted by the man offerings they had. All in all, a pretty good day for a visit to a cave, learn some geological history, see cute animals, and enjoy some local folklore. 

How can you visit a cave and take in these natural wonders?

There are many show caves throughout the country and each will have its own claim to fame. With over 45,000 caves to choose from, I can almost promise you, dear reader, that someone has transformed a cave near you into an easily accessible tourist attraction. Penn’s Cave is unique in that it is a boat tour rather than your typical walking tour, but there are other caves with boat tours. The states east of the Mississippi tend to boast the most caves in the United States with Tennessee, Missouri (outlier), Alabama, Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Georgia, Arkansas, and Pennsylvania topping the list.The US is uniquely situated on top of a sizable amount of limestone that has been easily carved over thousands of years by water giving rise to our numerous caves. This is also why we have so many sinkholes – so it’s not always a good thing to have so much limestone. For most of your caving experiences, I do recommend you bring a sweater or other warm jacket since the majority of these caves are about 50 degrees year round even on the hottest summer days. 

For the extra adventurous, there are caves that you can go spelunking in. However, be warned it can be quite dangerous without proper equipment, preparation and guide to assist you on your first few adventures. It is recommended that you always tell someone when you’re going to explore a cave on your own. It is very easy to get turned around and lost. My strong recommendation is that if you do desire to do this, see if any of the show caves offer caving courses and take them so that you are fully aware of the dangers and how to mitigate them. I cannot stress the dangers of this activity enough. The goal of this blog is for us to have fun and live life to the fullest, not perish alone in the dark. Be safe, dear reader! 

Completed: 

Miles from home:  23

Cost: Cavern + Wildlife Tour $40.50 (cave only $24.50)