Field Trip: Spelunking Adventures in Laurel Caverns

In this episode of Wildly Curious (formerly For the Love of Nature), join hosts Katy Reiss and Laura Fawks Lapole as they embark on an exciting field trip to Laurel Caverns in southwestern Pennsylvania. With special guest Lucas, they explore the fascinating underground world of this privately-owned cave system, giving listeners a unique audio tour filled with fun facts, commentary, and laughter. From giant limestone formations to curious petroglyphs, they uncover the geological wonders of Laurel Caverns while keeping things light and entertaining. Perfect for nature lovers, geology enthusiasts, and anyone curious about spelunking adventures.

Tune in for a cave exploration full of discoveries, from the science behind stalactites and stalagmites to the hidden mysteries lurking in the dark.

Transcript

For the Love of Nature, a podcast where we tell you everything about nature and probably more than you wanted to know, I'm Laurel.
And I'm Katy.
And today we're in a cave.
Oh, and Lucas is here with us. Lucas, do you want to say hi? So, several episodes ago, we don't really have to whisper that much, don't follow Luke.
Several episodes ago, we talked about splunking, and Luke came with us, so we couldn't splunk, but we're doing the next best thing, and we're still caving.
We're still caving.
We're still caving in Laurel Caverns in southwestern, south, yeah, it's mostly southwestern, Pennsylvania, where I grew up.
I feel like this is the quintessential field trip location for every...
Back in your neck of the woods, but really it's back in your neck of the mountain?
Yeah, my neck in the mountain. No, that's definitely more accurate. Same ridge line, you know.
All right, Luke, you gotta tell us what you see here. Don't slip.
We're just gonna be going through the cave, giving you some commentary, maybe telling you a few fun facts, but mostly you guys are just along for the ride.
Yeah, right. Hopefully not along for like me falling down and slipping on my butt and just...
And getting attacked by bats.
I wish I got attacked by bats.
Okay, but not like biting.
No, I don't know.
I still feel like I would take...
Ow, that was my back.
Getting there.
What, buddy?
Yeah, we're going down. All right.
Ooh, okay.
Here in a part of the cavern that's all lit up with cool colors and it says 2.5 miles of passage are beyond this point.
Do not enter without a staff.
Oh, this is where you go off-roading.
Yeah, go down. Lucas, when you're a little bit older, we can always bring you down here. And they go down here, and you go into the caves with your hard hat and everything on.
Yeah, down there.
Okay, so I think this is one of the bigger rooms.
Look at those giant chunks of limestone that's falling out. Okay, we're in a rock.
We're surrounded by rock. What?
We're doing the podcast.
We are doing the podcast. We're recording right now.
We're just chit-chatting.
Yeah, just chit-chat.
Uh, well, the cave is limestone, like most caves are, because limestone's pretty, what, dissolvable? Soluble? Dissolvable.
Dissolvable.
I'm failing all geology friends.
We even did a geology episode.
What, Lucas? I think if you go down there, there might be entrance or exit.
Very good, yep.
The more you go down, I see the more it gets harder.
I think you're right.
That is Lucas, everyone, aged six and a half.
Further to the mountain, it gets harder.
Almost into first grade. He made that very clear to the old man at the counter that he's not in kindergarten anymore.
What old man? The dude with the beard.
His name's Bill.
His name's Bill.
Shout out to Bill. All right, so how big do you think this room is right now?
I'm terrible. You know me with distances.
Yeah, you are. You are really bad.
Closer than a racking swim.
Closer than a racking. All right, let's see here.
Maybe, okay, this is probably the limits of how far Laura could throw a baseball.
That's a good estimate.
All right, maybe 25.
Would you stop sticking your feet on the other side of the rope?
25 feet, I-ish?
You can only float up by five feet.
The chunks that have fallen from the ceiling are really square, which is cool. Probably following some different veins, different minerals.
Yeah, buddy, that means it's recording.
No, you're not gonna touch it. I am saying something. No, no, say something about the ceiling.
Say something about the ceiling?
It looks like bats used to be in this cave.
Oh, he wanted to say something about the ceiling.
I'm gonna comment on the ceiling. Boy, I wouldn't want to be down here when any more of the ceiling comes down.
Yeah, yeah.
Should be in here.
For once, I actually have to duck. So let's see here. Well, where do you think we need to go, Luke?
Yeah, down to the right.
Holy arrows.
Thankfully, they have made it pretty easy to not get lost in this part of the cave.
Yeah.
This is like an easy, self-guided walking trail.
I know you can either you could do it. There's a couple of different options here at Laurel Caverns. You can go spelunking.
You can do a guided tour. You can do a self-guided tour. And then there's even like the learning grottoes upstairs, which is a man-made cave for kids.
Like a little learning spot.
I think it was a gemstone room too.
This part of the cave is really dry.
There's no stalactites or slag.
No, you're right. That's what I was just looking.
I know in the guided one, there's more of it.
Like this part must have been dry for a really long time.
Yeah, because yeah, it's like dry, dry.
Lucas, do you see the stripes, buddy?
You can see the rocks, like tilted on the 45-degree diagonal.
You've seen a rock like that before?
Where?
You don't remember. Okay.
A giant crack above our heads.
Yeah, there is.
Yeah, we're coming.
Being bossed around by the six-year-old.
Wait up, dude.
There's got to be bats, but I wonder if this cave was...
The lowest part probably.
But I also wonder if this cave was affected by like white-nosed bats in my lap too. It has to have been.
Oh, good question. We have 12 arrows.
Maybe this probably loops back, but they're still there.
Yeah.
Oh, and a trash can native to the caves.
There's also, we're noticing a lot of green algae around the lights where there is the only light in this cave. There is life because there is life.
There is life. Why are people spitting? I remember visiting this as a kid.
Hey, look, come here. I remember visiting this as a kid, and constantly telling us not to spit. Oh, this is the falls.
Lucas, come here. Stay right there.
Do you guys have any questions?
Not right now. I already have questions.
Do we know geologically how old the cave is-ish?
I can tell you about 150 million years.
Okay.
That's when the caverns actually started about 150 million years ago.
But I get questions like when it was discovered.
I have no idea.
Well, right, because we wouldn't have to ask the name of Americans that way.
Before the white men came, the Native Americans used our cavern to store food, we think.
That makes sense.
More out by the entrance where natural sunlight came in.
Not this far down. We found arrowheads, we found pottery, we found beads.
So, yes.
Natural refrigeration?
A definite date.
I could never give you definite dates on anything like here.
Right, and I mean, this part of the cave seems like it's been really dry for a long time because there's no stalactites in there or anything.
Well, you know what? Very little water. When I'll show you how much water we're talking about when we get up top of the steps.
This wasn't filled with water.
We can prove that when we open up a new passage, it's full of sand.
So, it wasn't pushed out by water erosion.
It was more deterioration. What happens? Every place you walk in here, I'm gonna bore you for about three minutes.
That's fine. We're professionals with this stuff, so we like this stuff.
You see the stress fracture?
Yes.
Years ago, violin area, you had earthquakes, you had volcanoes, you had a lot of pressure underground.
You put too much stuff under pressure.
What happens? It cracks.
So, you have a stress fracture. It goes clear to the surface.
Water comes down through there and forms a mild acid.
Doesn't hurt the limestone very much.
But over many, many years, it destroys the sandstone. It takes the calcium out of the sandstone.
And what it does, it goes back to its natural state.
Take the glue out of the sandstone, it goes back into sand, just like on the beach. So, many times we come in here, we have to dig that sand out because the passage is full of sand.
So, really, so what's left is the limestone for the most part.
Just the top.
But that's how the passages are made. Every passage in here, you're going to look up, you're going to either see a joint fracture goes crossed, or you're going to see a stress fracture goes up and down.
Joint and stress.
Cool.
All right.
You want to go see the falls now?
Let's go see the falls.
I'll see you at the top step.
Onward, Lucas. Onwards and upwards.
I can hear water.
That's me and the falls are close.
We're at the top of the cave.
We're not quite at the top, but...
Oh, wow.
At the very top, you can see the steam coming off.
Yeah.
Here, come here, buddy.
I mean, long tunnel, obviously, because we're in a cave, but then a little bridge, and then there's a huge waterfall.
Do you see it, Luke?
And it's not like a ton of water, but it's tall.
I mean, there's got to be, what, at least three stories?
Oh my gosh.
Yeah, four or five at least. Why are French fries up there?
French fries aren't up there.
No, they're not French fries.
Yeah, what do you see that looks like French fries?
By the rock.
By the rock?
Yeah, by the big rock.
It looks like French fries?
Mm-hmm.
Oh, yeah, I do see what you mean by French fries.
Oh my gosh, kid.
What?
Yeah, yeah, Lucas.
That would be a big French fries.
Look at this, the fracture up top, though, like way, way up top.
You see how huge that is?
I think that it seems, I think that, I think that there used to be a...
Yeah, it does, yeah.
I think it, I think that there, I think on both sides, there used to be a hole, because that looks like a bridge.
It does look like a bridge.
Yeah, we're coming.
Very cool, Calico Falls.
Not much water, but very tall, and there's like way more caves at the back.
Yeah. Yeah, I wonder how far that goes back.
Yep, we see the same, yeah. What did you say it was, Katy?
52 degrees, yeah.
Outside today is like 75.
Yeah, yeah, it's nice Western Pennsylvania summer.
Yeah, man, I thought the weather was going to be like from where I... 91 where I live, and it was supposed to be like 20 degrees less here.
Yeah, which is nice because, I mean, we're coming from Texas, and it's been 100 degrees plus in July. I mean, it's been really hot, though.
Climate change. Whoa.
I actually have to duck.
This is the first time in my grown adult life I had to remember ducking.
I had to bend at the neck.
Oh, yeah, yeah, that's where we're going, baby.
All right.
Up we go.
I can see pockets, I guess, where stuff has been leaching out.
Oh, he wasn't kidding when he said the top of the steps. Hang on, Lucas.
Jeez, there's gotta be like...
This reminds me of one of those Asian temples, where it's like the steps of the step, stairway to heaven or whatever it is.
Hey, Luke, slow down. Yeah, Luke, look how smooth the stone is above your head.
Whoa, we get a demo, demo, demonstration.
Here, stay over here, Lucas.
A lot of this, what you see growing here, we had analyzed.
Right down here by that light, that last light on the top of the steps, if you look on the wall, you'll see green.
Everybody thinks it's lost.
It isn't. It's outside grass.
We bring it in on our shoes, our clothes. For instance, somebody cuts grass yesterday afternoon, and they decide to bring the family up here. The Laurel Caverns, they walk through that grass, get in their unloads, they'll bring it up.
We bring it in.
The only way we can eliminate it is quit having tourists.
The interesting fact about that grass is two things.
The stone has enough nutrients to support it.
The second thing, it only grows with white lights.
It doesn't grow with the red, the blue, the yellow, it just grows with the natural white light.
And the closer that light is to where it starts to grow, the better it does.
If you go down the top of the stairs, you'll see it does well up there.
So a lot of that is nothing but what we bring in from the outside.
Hitchhiker grass.
We had one spot analyzed, it was nothing but alfalfa.
You must have a farm right here.
You're welcome.
Okay, you just walked up a 20% grade, pretty steep, huh? This is why we have it here, we give you a rest.
Watch what this grave does to my golf ball.
Watch, Luke.
We are watching a golf ball go uphill.
I'm going to ask you a question nobody wants to answer. Does it appear that ball is rolling up the opening?
It does.
Yes, it appears that way.
But it doesn't.
It's an optical illusion.
Because this gray is so thin, it makes it an optical illusion.
This side is actually a little half inches higher than this side.
Wow. That's a way to fool your brain.
I told one guy, I told one guy, and I told some of you down at the our biggest attraction is the waterfall.
I got him up here and showed him this.
He said, you told me a lie.
He said, this is the biggest attraction.
He should be using his hand like the force.
How do you like that? It's going down.
Yes.
Okay, you'll see a sign here.
It says, please be the auditor. 45 foot drop.
Oh, I was right.
How long has the cave been open for public exploration?
Since 1963.
1963, it's private owned. I want you to know that. It's not state owned.
It's not a state park.
It's not a federal park. It's private owned from a guy out of Uniontown. He started giving tours, 20-minute tours, up by the entrance.
As the years went by, the tours got better, longer. Now we're giving up to three miles in, three miles out.
So, yeah, 1963 was the first tour.
To have that happen, you need different temperatures.
The water is actually colder than what it is in here.
It makes us steam.
You know, in the wintertime, when you go your body's warmer than the outside air, it makes, what do you call it, fog coming out of your mouth, steam.
That's the same way it does there. The water temperature is colder than what the temperature is inside the caverns.
Right, chilly.
Any more questions?
Anything else?
Did you see the waterfall?
Yeah.
Okay, you see this sign right here, bud?
It says, do not enter, 45 foot drop.
That is the top of the waterfall.
What?
So we're up at the top.
Oh, well, you're right.
Can you walk now? Valenorin. That one I can sound out because it's not Latin.
Yeah, right?
Because I remember whenever we were kids, like I said, we would come in here and they would constantly be like, don't spit, don't spit, don't spit. Don't spit.
Yeah.
You're right.
All the DNA in this gate.
Hey, Luke, hold on.
Oh, this is cool.
Yeah, it's like a tiny, tiny crevasse. What, like, not here?
Narrow, beautiful and full of different colored lights.
Like we're walking through the aurora.
Walking through the what? America? We are walking through America.
You have to go hiking this and bring a bunch of water.
Can you imagine being a bat in here, Lincoln, trying to fly through without hitting the lulls?
You don't be good at echolocation.
Yeah, that's stairs up there. That's where the stairs are that we came down. Luke, come here.
Do you see the water?
It's like coming down the walls, like rain.
I see the sparkles.
It's pretty neat.
It's probably got minerals in it.
It's definitely a well lit cave, but not to the point where it ruins the cave experience.
Because I've been into some that are like the touristy track ones, and they're just so lit up and kind of ruins it.
Man, it would be a pain to lug all the sand down.
I guess if you just shove it to the side.
Just keep shoving it, packing it, stomping it down. And everyone, this is going to be the last episode of For the Love of Nature.
Because that would be our luck too.
Yeah, thermometer.
I draw the limit at aquatic caves.
Oh, it's a bit, it's a bit warm in here.
Looks like 61. There's a big...
Wait, no, no, no.
60 is right there. 70, 80, 60, 50. 50, yeah, 50, 51, 51.
51?
Yeah.
All right, let's go this way.
Oh, it doesn't keep going. I wonder if that's what they're showing.
It's this way.
It's this way.
Yeah, we just gotta keep following the arrow so Katy and Laurel don't get lost.
This is a five-foot repelling cliff.
Oh, neat. Do not put children on railing.
Oh, God. Just look.
Yeah, just peek. Go climbing. She's a peek.
Repelling, yeah.
You like have harnesses and ropes and everything, you just go down safely. Oh, this is like a history. Laurel Caverns is located within a 325 million year old rock bed called the Laurel Hannah Limestone.
Oh, look at all that. This is the calcium? There's like a whole bunch of like white deposit on the rock that must be calcium.
I wonder how far that goes.
I don't know, but it's pitch black down there.
Probably not, probably not go down.
It's like the sand and then iron or something. Or maybe...
Oh, no.
But it's something like, look how hard...
Is it hard?
Well, I don't know.
Kinda.
It's like a orangey color, which is making me think iron. But maybe it just looks more orange because there's the white calcium all around it.
I hope some of this, at least some of this episode makes sense to people that would not just...
We have learned some cave geology.
Yeah. As you just wander through here.
For anyone who's never been in a cave, it's so muffled, like it feels... It doesn't feel oppressive because it's so open, but like the sound feels... It's like your sound just ends as soon as it comes out of your mouth.
Yeah. Let it be known, we're like... Let's see, 30 minutes into this thing, and I have yet to make one inappropriate joke.
I mean, my son is here, but you know.
I'm doing pretty good. 30 minutes in. 30 minutes in and I haven't giggled at anything.
Thank.
Yeah, chill, Luke. It cracked off, look at this one. Could you imagine, though, like being in here as like a Native American, and then like you just crack, like what would you, right?
Look at this, this piece can't have broken off long ago.
It's really-
Yeah. It looks like it just snapped off. Yeah, I mean, for sure, if you found a cave, it would be great for refrigeration and like getting out of the shelter, like if rain, but I would not go in without.
Oh gosh.
Like a torch?
Yeah, heck no. That's such a bad idea.
I only could like fall into an abyss.
And that's what I've like been in to caves, cause there's a cave near right near where I grew up.
And I mean, you can't.
Ew.
Okay, this is not grass.
No, that's something else.
Like, it's beautiful though.
Yeah.
It's like, gross though.
But yeah, that, well buddy.
Why wouldn't you touch it?
Nothing, probably.
It's just moss. But that cave by our house, like that we used to go to, like with groups and stuff that I would leave there. And that is one where it does have like nooks and crannies that like kids have gotten lost down there and stuff.
I remember going to Mammoth Cave when I was younger, which is an epic cave. But yeah, they explored in there and there are just like crevasses.
You could just fall into it.
Oh my gosh, yeah.
We're getting closer to the surface.
Yeah, you can feel it. Not as cold, getting warmer. Well.
We'll do other parts of the recording, but that was our self-guided run through.
To be continued.
To be continued.
All right, we are in the woody bottoms.
All right. So this is the largest simulated cave in the world.
Wow.
It not only simulates the image of a cave, it also simulates how stalactites and stalagmites are formed. It allows scientists to measure the rate of a formation in terms of centimeters per year, and also observe how soda straws, quote unquote, transition into stalactites. What?
Yeah, stalactites. He's pointing them out. Yeah, and the soda straws, that's calcium, right?
I think so. Yeah. All right.
So we got to where so in here, what we're doing, a whole petroglyph thing is we got to look for like animals. It's like a scavenger hunt. So we're looking for a rabbit, a bat, a goat, a wooly mammoth, a bird, a dog, a bear, a turtle, fish, monkey, tiger, deer.
And also very diverse for Western Pennsylvania.
So this is a manmade cave, but it is made from limestone.
And so it is actually forming real cave formations over the years because it is humid in here. So there are stalactites.
We've got stalactites, which is the ceiling, right?
I think.
Hold on. There's a-
I was always getting confused.
I don't remember. It doesn't say on here either. It's stalactite on the ceiling, stalactite.
Might, might.
On the ground.
Ground, yeah.
What?
Okay, we have the deer.
That's a good petroglyph.
I was gonna say that's very visible.
I feel like this person had been more than me.
Hey Luke, come here.
Yeah, right. I think, yeah, I think it's a little bit more.
So, petroglyphs would have been made by ancient peoples using natural, you know, muds and dyes and plants.
Not Corolla paint here. This is still really neat though.
Oh yeah, that's right.
Yeah, that's right, I forgot about that.
Which one?
We're getting the real cave experience here. It is dark, and all we are armed with are tiny little lanterns in a completely pitch black cave.
It's so cool, this is the largest one in the world.
That's impressive.
I mean, seriously. And so they were saying, I guess, that this is how scientists can study the rate.
Yeah, the rate of everything, the rate of growth.
Geological time scale. You think they have to come back every week, or you think they wait a few years?
They're like, yeah, I can wait. Oh, wait, there's one of those sort of straws.
You see the straws?
The straws, the sort of straws.
There's water coming down through it, just like a straw.
What if we run into bats in here?
Again, I wish we ran into bats.
This is pretty cool. Some bat just comes out and is like, all right, I'm going to steal some.
Look at the straws in here.
Look at that, Luke. You gotta look all around.
I found some straws coming out of the ceiling.
And they're dyed different colors.
So the straws are completely hollow. It looks so cool.
Look at the, oh, look at these. Look at these cool things.
They're all pale and coarsely.
We're looking at big rock formations from the ground up now.
And they're painted white so you can see these.
So this learning grotto did cost a little bit extra. Hey, Luke, look over here. This did cost a little bit extra, but I would say it's worth it.
Seven bucks for a kid and, yeah, and adults get in for free.
Ah, the bat.
Sorry.
Sorry.
I got excited.
We got excited.
Yeah, this is insane. I do not remember this last time, but I mean, we were in a field trip, so there's no way they would bring a dozen, like, you know, a hundred kids through here. Some kid gets their head stuck.
Laura's like looking through like windows into like a next door.
Yeah, I don't know.
But there's one touching right there. Several, or a couple at least. All right, come on, like, don't lose that lantern, man.
Probably have to pay $30 for it, or we lose it.
No, it's actually been reasonably priced here.
Yeah, seven bucks plus, it's just for the kids.
We're in here for free.
Do not feed the Sasquatch? I mean, that sounds about accurate.
Who's Sasquatch?
Bigfoot, buddy.
Bigfoot, don't feed the Sasquatch.
That's a joke.
Yeah.
That's a joke.
That's a joke. Thanks, Luke.
I hope so.
Well, don't turn off your light.
Luke, I think it's that way.
Yeah.
And Katy and Laurel get lost.
In the fake cave.
We can handle a real cave in a fake cave.
This is really neat, though.
Oh yeah. This is really cool, though. Very cool.
If anybody wants to drive to the middle of nowhere, southwestern Pennsylvania, it is pretty far out here, but it's up on the ridge, and there is, I mean, having grown up in this area-ish.
Oh yeah. Having grown up in this area-ish, there's so much to do. If you guys like hiking and everything, anything outdoors, this ridge area is amazing.
Passport necessity, which is bringing a revolution.
I mean, like I said, this was the place to come for field trips as a kid, the Laurel Caverns. And it is just as neat, because it is privately owned.
I don't know, hopefully you guys can hear the gentleman talking about it, but it is privately owned, and it is really neat. You gonna hold all that? Here, I don't know.
We walked every bit as far as we just did in the real cave.
You know, it felt like it. Let's see, hold on, Lucas. I know it's 15 minutes, yeah.
Alrighty.
The learning grotto.
I keep wanting to say cave of learning.
The cave of learning, which sounds way cooler.
I'm like an old voice, dude.
Alright, folks.
Well, that was Laura Kavans, and as promised, we want semi-splonking.
Semi-splunking.
Semi-splunking.
It was worth it, though.
I feel like this episode is way more entertaining for us than everybody else.
Probably. Why are we listening to them talk about a cave that we literally cannot see?
I was, and I don't know what I was hoping for, if we were actually once-splunking, like maybe more like grunting, and eww!
Yeah, I can't fit.
And in our break between the cave of learning and the history room, we picked up the simplest possible universe, the presentation of a physical system having only one kind of particle-antiparticle pair, AKA research done here at the caves. It's free. I'll read it like the nerd that I am.
This is a newspaper clipping from 1833 talking about Laurel Hill Caverns, or Laurel Hill Mountain with caves in it. So they've at least known about it since then.
Okay, hold on.
A person's visiting is one of a curiosity cannot be too careful of their lives as it would certainly prove an utter impossibility to get out without the assistance of life. We were informed in the neighborhood by an eyewitness to the fact that two young men, Crane and Maryfield, had went into a considerable death and, returning, lost their course and wandered about till their candles were all burnt out. They were found two days after.
They were excited to their fate and one of them was not able to speak.
In two days they lost their light.
We saw the name of Crane written on the rocks in very remote parts of the cave, dated 1802. That's creepy. As we proceeded homewards, we discovered that one of our hats had been furiously attacked by an unknown enemy, and some half a dozen pieces taken entirely off the rim.
We were not able to recognize him from amongst his teeth.
Attacked by what?
A bat?
All right, folks.
That was Laurel Caverns.
Thanks for joining us on our first ever field trip.
Hopefully it was at least somewhat entertaining, even though there wasn't as much grunting and groaning as I was hoping for.
Our guest speaker Luke was probably pretty entertained.
Yeah, right?
All right, guys. Well, until next week, then.
Thank you for joining us.
Laurel Caverns, thank you so much, Laurel Caverns, for letting us be able to record and do this podcast inside.
Yeah, we appreciate it. Yeah, they paid for us and everything.
Come and visit.
Bye.
Bye.