Choose from sixteen 45-minute sessions for students and youth of all ages. Activities will vary according to grade level. All of your students/youth must participate in the same workshops.
Attention Teachers:
Something to fit most any science curriculum! Choose activities best suited to meet the needs of your students. Let us help you reach your goals!
Documentation provided for all activities relating to PA Dept. of Education’s STEEL Standards will be available January 2025.
Activities:
NEW Fungus Among Us!
Gr. 3+
Invasive Species are everywhere. One of the most devastating came to North America in 2006. White Nose Syndrome spread quickly, killing 9 out of 10 cave dwelling bats. Learn how the disease spreads, what is being done, and how bats are adapting with games and activities.
NEW Sinking Into Karst!
Gr. 6+
Karst makes up 20% of the continental US. 50% of Americans depend on groundwater in karst aquifers for drinking. With games and activities, including ‘Secret Sink’ & ‘Cave Conscious’ learn ways to protect our water.
Definitely a great stop. Two separate caves in one area! The guided tour was awesome and is definitely neat to see. Fine for younger kids, my 3 year old loved it. Awesome gift shop too, with lots of neat items. The kids enjoyed panning for gems too. We’ve gone back again just to visit the gift shop and let the kids pan. Very friendly staff too!
- My troop had a great time. The instructors were very good and extremely knowledgeable about the underground world. It has been one of the best merit badges we have done in years.
We took our two grandsons, ages 11 and 9 on August 24th to tour the caverns. The tour guide was very informative and interesting. Our grandsons enjoyed it very much as well as my husband and myself. The boys also enjoyed panning for gems at the end of the tour. The gift shop also had great gifts.
Love love love Lincoln Caverns, the intimate tours and the fact it is an active cave just makes this place magical. It is even more special when you get into the gift shop and its ran by members of a gem and mineral society so you can get education as well as access to buy raw gems and crystals.
We loved our visit to Lincoln Caverns. The students learned so much and the staff is very knowledgeable and caring!
We did a special which included a tour of the caves and learning about bats. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and the tour was fascinating. Awesome scenery for pictures inside!
The bat education was great! Our family learned a lot and it kept our 9 year old engaged. The gem panning was fun! The bags of dirt with gems were really pretty nice and had a lot of gems in them.
There is a place for picnicking right there for a packed lunch, inside restrooms, and a great gift shop. Plenty of parking as well. We were there during off season, but we’re told the place is packed in the summer.
- I felt that this was one of the best organized and thought out MBs our Troop has taken at Lincoln Caverns and we’ve taken Geology, Geocaching, and now Exploration. The workshops were interesting. The instructors held the Scouts’ interest and engaged them in all the activities. They promoted the Scouts’ participation in all the Workshops. The Scouts were not hesitant about asking questions of the instructors and answering theirs. I would highly recommend the Exploration MB offered at Lincoln Caverns!
Attended Discovery Days, 2022…All the guides were fantastic, extremely knowledgable and attuned to informal education and working with the public, including small children. Warned us of anything that could be triggering, but did not over do it. Informal tourism education is a hard business to be in. Well done! Thank you!!
This place was incredible! There was an informative talk before hand that was very useful and well explained! Our guide was Ann, and she was extremely knowledgable and made the experience very exciting! The caverns themselves were very well maintained and beautiful. Definately will be returning!
An annual favorite
Every summer I choose a couple of my grandchildren (I have 21) to take to see the caves. I am a local, but most of my grandchildren are not. Each grandchild can’t wait until it is his turn. They talk about it years later. I even learn something new with each visit.
Just wanted to drop an email to you! Wanted to report back that we LOVED THE TOUR!!! We took the tour on Sunday, April 23rd and our guide was Sherri! It was our first visit to Lincoln Caverns and the overall experience was EXCELLENT! Sherri, our guide was both Excellent in her knowledge of the Caverns and Friendliness and Courtesy! The Caverns Exceeded my expectations and we will be recommending Lincoln Caverns to others!!! We saw the road signs on our way to Gettysburg which made us stop!
Two Caverns for the Price of One!
This tour is an amazing value. There are actually two caverns on this tour, and both are very interesting. The guides are well schooled in the geology of the cave and their enthusiasm shows. Our school group has been coming for years, and students who have already been on the tour in prior years were begging to go back this year, if that tells you anything. Fun gift shop and gem-panning available, too!
I toured the cave today with my 6 year old grandson. Took advantage of the grandparent day coupon. Our guide, Sophia, did a wonderful job telling us about the history of the cave and also answering questions. The gift shop has a good selection of products that are reasonably priced. Also, the restrooms are clean. This was my second time touring with a grandchild. I have two more to take. Nice cool place to go on a hot day. Definitely recommend.
The blacklight adventures was alot of fun and very informative! Gift shop items weren’t ridiculously priced and the tour guide/owner was so friendly and likeable! Will definitely be doing a daytime tour soon!
We had a wonderful time – our best time as a troop yet!!! The girls had so much fun learning and bonding with their friends and the leaders and parents were all very impressed by the content and planning of the weekend. Your scout programs are wonderful!
We had an amazing time at Lincoln Caverns. I have been to a lot of badge workshops and these were the most comprehensive I have seen. The kids learned so much (and so did the adults!!). We plan to see what we can do to help bats at home. The blacklight/flashlight tour was phenomenal! We will definitely spread the word. You do a great job. LC is truly a hidden gem!
We took our niece and her family to see this beautiful natural wonder on 4th of July. We realized we were going to be late for our tour so we called and they kindly moved us to a later time. Obviously, this is only possible if they’re not totally booked. I recommend booking the tour ahead of time online – it’s super easy. They do accept walk ins and you can call on your way to find out their availability. Our 8 year old great-niece was enthralled, as were the children (ages about 6-11?) in the other family on the tour. Us adults were impressed as well. All of the staff were very friendly and helpful. Our guide, Zack, was incredibly knowledgeable, patient and kind, especially with the kids. He made the tour fun and interesting, and inspired me to me to write a review, which I don’t usually do! The tour was about 90 minutes, mostly because we took our time and asked lots of questions. I think you can do it in an hour. The store was full of good quality memorabilia and gifts. Our great-niece panned for gems for $6 and got a decent size bag. I hope you enjoy your visit as much as we did!
My family had traveled to Huntingdon for my son’s college visit to Juniata. While out to dinner, we stumbled upon a brochure for Lincoln Caverns . On a whim we decided to add it to our itinerary and I am so thankful. It was so much larger than we had anticipated. The tour lasted for about an hour and a half. Our tour guide knew the history very well and would stop to answer any questions. He was very patient when any guest wanted to stop and take pictures. We decided to do the Friday night tour which inclued the blacklights. I think by chosing Friday night, there were less crowds. We lucked out with only 4 people in our group. The caverns are amazing and would be interesting for children, teenagers, parents and grandparents alike. I would definitely recommend the tour. Happy caving!
Went during thier thier haunt. I had the life scared out of me but it was fun. Actors were GREAT. There was lot of walking but the caverns were amazing and pure beauty. The gift shop was cool with all the trinkets. Highly recommend this place. Kuddos to this place.
Took a spur of the moment trip with my son and landed upon this little gem. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and made it fun and exciting for my son. Learned a lot and had fun doing so. Definitely would recommend for anyone visiting the area. Well worth it!
Beautiful caverns! Our tour guide Mike was informative, entertaining and clearly knew the science around what we were seeing. One member of our party was seeing their first cavern and was a little nervous and Mike quickly put them at ease so they could enjoy the tour. There gift shop was fun to look around and the people inside were very friendly. Highly recommend!
One of those great places that you used to visit as a kid with your parents. The caves were amazing. The tour guide was very knowledgeable. The staff was super friendly. Also as a tip, totally worth it to splurge for the kids to do the panning for gems. Loved it.
We really enjoyed learning about the caves and family history. She accommodated our request for a tour even though she’s technically closed for the off season. She also recommended a local restaurant (Dream) which was fantastic. I would give 10 stars if I could.
Great tour. Took my 6 year old son today. He was the youngest in a group of 6. Mike was very knowledgable and patient kept the tour very entertaining and educational. Both my son and I really enjoyed it. The gift shop had a lot of great items in it as well. Highly recommend!
Mike was an awesome tour guide. Our experience was both fun and educational for all ages. The gem shop was great and everyone had a blast sifting for rocks outside after our tour. If you are looking for a great activity check out Lincoln Caverns!
ALWAYS enjoyed our field trips to Lincoln Caverns. I’ve never found another location that provided such an educational, enjoyable and affordable experience for students within reach of our school. The trip also helps meet many of the National Science Standards when tied in with a Science Unit. As a teacher, I made many trips there over the years and believe each one was a special success for the students involved. Job well done, Lincoln Cavern Staff and Management!
This cavern tour was so fun and educational. We have been on many cavern tours. Lincoln caverns and whispering rocks might be our favorite out of all the cavern tours we have taken. It was awesome because it was authentic and not too commercialized. We really felt like we were explorers navigating the narrow passageways. These caverns also have some very cool formations and fossils. The gift shop was great too. There were a lot of really cool rocks and souvenirs there. The staff that I spoke to on the phone and in the gift shop were friendly and helpful. The best part of our tour was Mr. Mike. He was just excellent. He was so good with kids, very funny, informative and friendly. Mr. Mike gave us a fantastic tour and made it very fun. It is very obvious that he loves the caverns and is very passionate about teaching his guests all about the caverns and their history.
We took our homeschoolers for workshop Wednesday and they had a great time. Our guide Zack was very knowledgeable and friendly. Jen did our workshop and made it very fun for the kids to learn about rocks and fossils. Leigh was working in the girftshop and she was also full of knowledge about any mineral or fossil my daughter showed her. Their prices are very reasonable also. I would highly recommend visiting Lincoln Caverns. My daughters can’t wait to go back
We enjoyed our visit to Lincoln Caverns. We had a great time exploring the caves and gained lots of knowledge from our tour guide Mike! After visiting the cave we then panned for gems and other treasures after purchasing’s a bag of pay dirt. I purchased the “Mother Load” and it did not disappoint! We were thrilled with all the awesome things we got!
We had a great time. I am sorry I don’t remember the guides name but he has been there for a long time. I really appreciated he shared a flashlight with my grandson who was a little nervous about it all once we entered. Very informative and learned a lot. We did enjoy it. My grandsons said they are going to bring mommy and daddy back. They really liked the panning for gems too!! Thank you for the great experience for their first time.
I visited here with my daughter and 2 young grandsons, ages 9 and 7. We all thoroughly enjoyed it. Our guide, Zack, was very informative and took the time to explain things about the cave, it’s history, and how it was found, and answer any questions we had. The tour was paced nicely, we had time to stop at the different formations and explore a couple small areas just off the main path.
They have a nice gift shop with items that are pretty reasonably priced, with a large selection of rocks and gemstones as well as other souvenirs. The boys did the sluice and had quite a lot of large as well as smaller gemstones in their bags.
There’s a small snack bar inside and an open, covered pavilion outside with picnic tables. Restrooms were very clean.
The Ghost and Goblins tour was the best Halloween attraction I have been to!! There were decorations everywhere and the staff all wore costumes. The tour guides did an excellent job staying in their spooky characters while interacting with those on the tour. The experience itself included a spooky tour of the caverns, a haunted walk through the forest, and a haunted hayride. For someone like me who loves Halloween and autumn in general, I was happy how long the experience was! It did not feel cheap or fake. It was a great immersive experience. Thanks!
