Indian Echo Caverns

On our recent trip to Hershey Pennsylvania, we arrived at our hotel in the late afternoon and while the boys wanted to go swimming we knew we wanted to go check out some limestone caves too.   We let them swim for a bit while we planned our evening.

We went to Indian Echo Caverns, arriving around 4 pm. It was a bit drizzly and we weren't sure if we were going to be too late to catch a tour.  Thankfully we were just in time for the last tour of the day and we ended up being the only ones who signed up so we had a private tour.  


Our tour guide was a fantastic young college student that grew up in the area and began working at the caverns when he was in high school.  We learned a bit about the area and the nearby river.


Then we entered the cavern.


Some of the pictures have some blurry spots since it was pretty dark inside.  I didn't want to use my flash either because the extra light tended to wash out all the features.

Evan is staring at some cave writing; most of which we learned was 50-100+ years old 




Stalactites (like the one shown above) grow down from the ceiling and grow only .0051 inches per year!   Stalagmites (like the one shown below) grow up from the cave floor and grow at a slightly faster rate but they do tend to spread out more and be thicker. 


There were so many interesting shapes, textures, tunnels, and colors formed by the water and the various minerals found throughout the limestone and soil.






We saw several crystal clear lakes inside too; you'd never know they were extremely deep. 


In some places the limestone flows so that it looks almost like a waterfall.  It glistens and sparkles too; that's how you know it's still alive and thriving.


In this photo you can clearly see a few places there stalactites and stalagmites meet to make columns and
it shows the difference in growth rate between the two
This cavern was once home to a hermit.  William Wilson who lived the last year 18 years of his life in this cave after withdrawing from society.



This was the boys' first time in a limestone cave and they were quite taken with it.


Comments

  1. So amazing. We did a caverns trip when I was little and I will never forget it.

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    Replies
    1. It really is amazing! I just loved all the formations.

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  2. Such a cool tour!! Wow! I will have to check this out the next time I am in the area! Have a great week!

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    Replies
    1. It really was neat; they did a great job of answering all our questions too.

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  3. Replies
    1. It's amazing to think how long some parts of it have been there and just how far back explorers began exploring caves.

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  4. We love visiting caves and went recently to The Rock in Gib. These Indian Echo Caverns look amazing inside! #FamilyFunLinky

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    1. I am not a huge cave fan but this was really neat. I almost (almost) forgot I was deep underground.

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  5. Thanks for sharing your pictures. We love cave trips.

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    1. You're welcome! I was amazed that so many of the pictures came out so well since it was not all that bright in there.

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  6. Really cool! Thanks for sharing! Didn't know this place exhisted.

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    Replies
    1. We didn't either until we Googled things to do near Hershey.

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  7. I love exploring caves, this one looks amazing, and plenty of educational opportunities too.
    Thank you for joining the #FamilyFunLinky x

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  8. Caverns are awe inspiring, we have several near here that we still need to visit.

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  9. Wow, these are really fascinating! I didn't know about this place either. I am sure my boys would love it! Thanks for linking up to Take Me Away for July!
    Shelley

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