Pennsylvania just made history. On April 6, 2026, Governor Josh Shapiro officially opened Laurel Caverns State Park, making it the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s 125th state park and the first underground state park in the state’s history. Whether you’re planning a family day trip, a school field trip, or a solo adventure into one of the largest caves on the East Coast, this guide covers everything you need to know before you go.
What Is Laurel Caverns?
Laurel Caverns is the largest cave in Pennsylvania. It sits on Chestnut Ridge in Fayette County, near the small towns of Farmington and Uniontown, about 50 miles southeast of Pittsburgh in the Laurel Highlands region.
The Laurel Caverns cave system stretches over four miles of cave passages and reaches depths of 476 feet. It’s formed from calcareous sandstone, which makes it geologically unusual. Most show caves in the eastern U.S. are limestone, but Laurel Caverns is among the largest calcareous sandstone caves in the world. That means you won’t find stalactites here. Instead, you get massive passage ceilings ranging from 10 to 50 feet high and a maze-like network of corridors that feel genuinely wild.
The cave temperature holds steady at 52°F year-round. Rain doesn’t matter. Snow doesn’t matter. It’s always 52 degrees underground.
How Did Laurel Caverns Become a State Park?
The story starts decades ago. Norman Cale and his brother Roy Cale purchased the land around the caverns in the 1930s. Norman’s grandson, David Cale, gave the first guided tour back in 1964 and renamed the site Laurel Caverns. David and his wife Lillian created the Laurel Caverns Conservancy in 1986 to manage operations and protect the caves from commercialization.
For most of its history, Laurel Caverns was privately owned. The Cale family ran it as a geological preserve, keeping ticket prices low and focusing on education. In 2025, Governor Shapiro proposed turning the site into a state park. The Cales agreed, donating the entire property to the Commonwealth.
On April 6, 2026, Shapiro held a press conference underground to make it official. The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) now manages the 400 acres of surface land, while the Laurel Caverns Conservancy continues to run the cave tours. The park adjoins Forbes State Forest and State Game Lands 138, opening up additional recreational opportunities like hiking, birding, and picnicking on the surface at no cost.
What Tour Options Are Available at Laurel Caverns?
One of the best things about Laurel Caverns is the range of tour options. There are five different ways to experience the cave, and they range from easy walks to serious underground adventures.
The Traditional Guided Tour is the most popular. It lasts about 35 to 40 minutes, covers roughly 800 feet of passage, and requires no special equipment. Tours depart every 20 minutes. Adults pay $18, seniors $16, youth (10-15) $14, and children (5-9) $12. Kids under 3 are just $4, and infants get in free.
The Staff-Monitored Self-Paced Tour lets you explore the upper cave at your own speed with staff positioned throughout. It’s a good option if you want more time to look around without feeling rushed.
For something more adventurous, the Tour and Crawl Program ($25, ages 9+) combines the traditional route with some off-trail crawling sections. The Introduction to Caving Program goes deeper and includes unlit portions of the cave where you use helmets and headlamps. The Deep Depths Caving Program is the most intense, taking participants into the lower branchwork of the cave system for about three hours.
There’s also a Caving for Kids Program designed specifically for younger explorers.
No reservations are needed for individual visitors. Groups of 15 or more from schools, scout troops, summer camps, or similar organizations should call ahead at 724-438-3003 for group rates.
Why Are Laurel Caverns Closed?
Laurel Caverns closes to the public every year from late October through mid-April. The reason is bats.
The cave is the largest natural bat hibernaculum in the northeastern United States. During winter months, thousands of bats enter the cave system for hibernation. Disturbing them during this period can be fatal, especially with white-nose syndrome already devastating bat populations across the country.
To protect the bats, DCNR and the Laurel Caverns Conservancy shut down all cave access during the hibernation season. The aboveground portions of Laurel Caverns State Park remain open year-round for hiking and other activities. But the cave itself stays closed until the bats leave in spring.
For the 2026 season, Laurel Caverns will reopen on Earth Day, April 22, 2026. The underground season runs through the last weekend of October.
How Long Does It Take to Walk Through Laurel Caverns?
It depends on which tour you pick.
The Traditional Guided Tour takes 35 to 40 minutes. You’ll cover about 800 feet of passage on a looped route that brings you back to the entrance. It’s a comfortable pace with plenty of stops for the guide to explain the geology.
The Self-Paced Tour can take longer since you control the speed. Most people spend about 45 minutes to an hour.
The Tour and Crawl Program runs about 90 minutes. The Introduction to Caving takes roughly two hours. And the Deep Depths Caving Program is a full three-hour underground experience.
So you can spend anywhere from 35 minutes to three hours in the cave, depending on your comfort level and how adventurous you feel.
What to Wear to Laurel Caverns?
The cave stays at a constant 52°F, so dress accordingly.
For the Traditional Guided Tour, you’ll want a light jacket or sweater, even in summer. Wear closed-toe shoes with decent tread. The cave floor is natural and uneven in spots, so sandals and flip-flops are a bad idea. Sneakers or hiking boots work best.
For the adventure caving programs, the dress code is more specific. Long pants are a must. You’ll be crawling, climbing, and squeezing through tight spaces. Wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty. Helmets and headlamps are provided for the caving programs that enter the unlit sections.
Leave the nice clothes at home. This is a working cave, not a museum walkway.
Are Laurel Caverns Worth It?
Absolutely. Here’s why.
Laurel Caverns is not your typical show cave. Most commercial caves in Pennsylvania feature narrow walkways with colored lights and recorded narration. Laurel Caverns keeps its passages in a more natural state. The rock is raw. The passages are wide. The scale of some rooms is genuinely impressive.
The variety of tour options also sets it apart. You can bring a five-year-old on the traditional tour or bring a group of teenagers for a three-hour caving expedition. Very few caves in the region offer that kind of range.
Now that it’s a state park, the surface area is free to visit. You can hike the trails on top of Chestnut Ridge, enjoy views from the family lookout terrace, and explore miles of surrounding Forbes State Forest without paying a cent. Only the cave tours carry a fee.
At roughly 50,000 visitors per year, Laurel Caverns draws a solid crowd but doesn’t feel overcrowded. And its location near Fort Necessity National Park, Ohiopyle State Park, Fallingwater, and Kentuck Knob makes it easy to combine with other Laurel Highlands attractions for a full day or weekend trip.
For the price of admission, this is one of the best outdoor experiences in Pennsylvania.
The Geology Behind Laurel Caverns Cave
Most caves form in limestone. Laurel Caverns is different. It formed in calcareous sandstone, a rock type that contains calcium carbonate but is primarily sandstone. Water erosion over millions of years carved out the passages, creating a cave system that’s both unusually steep and unusually wide.
The cave sits at the top of Chestnut Ridge, which means all water entering the system is clean rainwater. There are no surface pollutants flowing in. The passage network is split into two distinct sections: the upper cave features an interconnecting grid of maze-like corridors, while the lower cave consists of unlit branchwork passages with subterranean watercourses.
One interesting feature is the gravity hill optical illusion on the traditional tour. The slope of certain passages tricks your brain into thinking a ball is rolling uphill. Kids love it. Adults find it surprisingly disorienting.
How to Get to Laurel Caverns State Park
The physical address for GPS is 1065 Skyline Drive, Farmington, PA 15437. The cave is located off Route 40, east of Uniontown in Fayette County.
From Uniontown heading east on US 40, turn right onto Skyline Drive and continue about five miles. Then turn right onto Caverns Park Road for half a mile and right again into the parking area.
Cell service is unreliable in the area and nonexistent inside the cave. Download any maps you need before you arrive. The visitors center is your first stop for tickets and information.
The park is open daily, sunrise to sunset, year-round for surface activities. Cave tours run 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, seven days a week during the underground season (mid-April through late October).
What’s Next for Pennsylvania’s First Underground State Park?
DCNR has already started making improvements to the surface facilities. Upgrades include better parking accessibility, improved entryways and bathrooms, and structural updates to the visitors center. The Laurel Caverns Conservancy will continue managing the cave tours while the state focuses on expanding aboveground recreational opportunities.
The park’s designation as Pennsylvania’s 125th state park is expected to boost tourism in Fayette County significantly. The area already draws visitors to nearby attractions, and the state park status gives Laurel Caverns more visibility on the pennsylvania.gov parks directory and in DCNR promotional materials.
For school field trips and educational groups, the Laurel Caverns Conservancy still offers group rates and specialized programming. The cave’s 10,000-square-foot Grottoes of Learning provides hands-on education in geology, paleontology, and archaeology. It’s one of the largest simulated cave environments in the world and is a popular stop for school field trips.
Quick-Reference: Key Facts About Laurel Caverns State Park
- Location: 1065 Skyline Drive, Farmington, PA 15437 (Fayette County, near Uniontown)
- Designation: Pennsylvania’s 125th state park, first underground state park
- Cave size: Over four miles of passages, depths to 476 feet
- Cave type: Calcareous sandstone (no stalactites)
- Temperature: Constant 52°F underground
- Cave season: Earth Day (April 22) through the last weekend of October
- Surface access: Free, year-round, sunrise to sunset
- Tour options: Five options ranging from 35-minute guided walks to 3-hour deep caving
- Tour prices: $12 to $25 depending on age and program
- Bat conservation: Largest natural bat hibernaculum in the northeastern U.S.; cave closes in winter for bat hibernation
- Managed by: DCNR (surface) and Laurel Caverns Conservancy (cave tours)
- Nearby: Forbes State Forest, State Game Lands 138, Ohiopyle State Park, Fort Necessity, Fallingwater
- Contact: 724-438-3003 for tour information and group reservations
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