Exploring Laurel Caverns | PA’s Largest Cave

Exploring Laurel Caverns in Fayette County, PA

Laurel Caverns is billed as “Pennsylvania’s Largest Cave”, and is a great way to spend an hour or two BENEATH the Laurel Highlands!

Pillar Rock inside Laurel Caverns.
Pillar Rock inside the caverns.

First discovered by Native Americans thousands of years ago, Laurel Caverns has been a popular “show cave” for many decades now.

The original entrance to Laurel Caverns in Fayette County, PA.
The original entrance to Laurel Caverns in Fayette County.

How to Find Laurel Caverns

Laurel Caverns is located just off of Route 40 (the original National Road for you history buffs) in Fayette County, approximately 50 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

A map to Laurel Caverns and surrounding attractions in Fayette County, PA.
A map to Laurel Caverns and surrounding attractions in Fayette County, PA.

The entrance along Skyline Drive is well marked and easy to find.

Laurel Caverns entrance along Skyline Drive in Fayette County.
Entrance along Skyline Drive.

Stay alert for wildlife as you drive along Skyline Drive!

Sasquatch sign along Skyline Drive near Laurel Caverns.
Sasquatch sign along Skyline Drive.

If navigating by GPS, use 1065 Skyline Drive, Farmington, PA 15437 as the address – this will take you to the Visitors Center parking lot.

The Visitors Center at Laurel Caverns in the PA Laurel Highlands.
The Visitors Center.

Exploring Laurel Caverns

The tour of Laurel Caverns takes approximately an hour.

Facts and figures about the Laurel Caverns tour.
Facts and figures about the tour.

The passageways are well-lit, narrow in some places, but certainly easily navigated if you are in average physical condition.

Steps descending into Laurel Caverns.
Steps descending into the caverns.

Laurel Caverns is a sandstone cave (possibly the largest in the world), and therefore you won’t see any stalactites here, as you would in a limestone cave.

One of the wider passages through Laurel Caverns in Fayette County.
One of the wider passages through the caverns.

Instead, the rock formations are the main attraction.

The overhead Grand Canyon of Laurel Caverns.

Calico Falls is an beautiful underground waterfall along the cavern tour, and this was probably the highlight of the tour for me.

Calico Falls inside Laurel Caverns.
Calico Falls.

As this is a “show cave” there are lots of colorful lights throughout Laurel Caverns, which cast interesting reflections off the walls.

A pond inside Laurel Caverns.
A pond inside the caverns.

Hours and Admission Prices

Laurel Caverns is open May 1 through October 31, and you can check on current admission prices and practices at their official website.

Chandelier Hall at Laurel Caverns.
Chandelier Hall.

And as if you need to ask – of course there’s a gift shop!

Laurel Caverns gift shop.
Gift shop.

Coral Caverns is home to the remains of a 420 million year old coral reef that formed off the coast of modern-day Virginia and migrated (via plate tectonics and continental drift) to Bedford County over the eons.

Exploring Coral Caverns in Bedford County Pennsylvania.
Coral Caverns in Bedford County.

Lincoln Caverns gives visitors the opportunity to explore an incredibly beautiful world far below the surface of Huntingdon County!

Visiting Lincoln Caverns in Huntingdon County Pennsylvania.
Lincoln Caverns in Huntingdon County.

Tytoona Cave in Blair County  is owned by the National Speleological Society and is maintained as a “natural cave”, with no lights or staircases.

Exploring Tytoona Cave in Blair County Pennsylvania.
Entrance to Tytoona Cave in Blair County.

Woodward Cave in Centre County contains 5 large rooms, hundreds of yards of tunnels and passageways, and the largest stalagmite in Pennsylvania!

Exploring Woodward Cave in Centre County PA
Woodward Cave is home to the largest stalagmite in Pennsylvania.

Penn’s Cave in Centre County offers the only cavern tour in the United States that is conducted completely by boat!

Entering Penn's Cave through the back entrance on Lake Nitanee.
Entering Penn’s Cave through the back entrance on Lake Nitanee.

Lost River Caverns near Allentown gets its name from an entirely underground river system that passes through the cave.

Lost River Caverns tours near Allentown Pennsylvania
Lost River Caverns near Allentown.

Indian Echo Caverns is a beautiful “show cave” located 3 miles west of Hershey in Dauphin County.

Exploring Indian Echo Caverns near Hershey Pennsylvania.
Indian Echo Caverns near Hershey.

Crystal Cave in Berks County was the first “show cave” to open in Pennsylvania, with official tours beginning shortly after it was discovered in 1871!

Exploring Crystal Cave in Berks County Pennsylvania
Crystal Cave in Berks County.

Nearby Attractions

Fort Necessity National Battlefield and Museum is located just 10 minutes east of Laurel Caverns, along Route 40.

Fort Necessity as viewed from the treeline where the French and their Native American allies attacked from.
Fort Necessity as viewed from the treeline where the French and their Native American allies attacked from.

Fallingwater, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and known as  “the best all-time work of American architecture”, is located nearby as well.

The "classic view" of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater in the PA Laurel Highlands.
The “classic view” of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater in the PA Laurel Highlands.

Kentuck Knob in Fayette County is a another Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home built in 1954 for Isaac and Bernardine Hagan, founders of the Hagan Ice Cream company in nearby Uniontown, PA.

The sandstone walls and cantilevered roof over the patio surrounding Kentuck Knob.
The sandstone walls and cantilevered roof over the patio at Kentuck Knob in Fayette County.

Friendship Hill National Historic Site preserves the western PA home and estate of Albert Gallatin, often described as “America’s Swiss Founding Father”.

Exploring Friendship Hill National Historic Site in Fayette County Pennsylvania
Friendship Hill National Historic Site in southern Fayette County.

The Jumonville Cross in Fayette County is the second-tallest cross in Pennsylvania!

A man standing next to the Jumonville Cross gives a sense of scale to the 60 foot-tall structure.
A man standing next to the Jumonville Cross gives a sense of scale to the 60 foot-tall structure.

10 Must-See Waterfalls at Ohiopyle State Park is your guide to Fayette County’s biggest and best falls.

Selfie at Lower Jonathan Run Falls, Ohiopyle State Park
The author at Lower Jonathan Run Falls at Ohiopyle State Park.

The 10 Best Hiking Trails at Ohiopyle State Park is your insider’s guide to the best hiking in Fayette County.

The author photographing an autumn sunrise at Baughman Rock Overlook.
The author at Baughman Rock Overlook, Ohiopyle State Park.

The nearby haunted Quaker Church in Fayette County was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

Cemetery gates at the historic (and supposedly haunted) Quaker Church in Fayette County, PA.
Cemetery gates at the historic (and supposedly haunted) Quaker Church in Fayette County, PA.

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Rusty Glessner
Rusty Glessner is a professional photographer, lifelong Pennsylvanian, and a frequently-cited authority on PA's best travel destinations.