Laurel Caverns State Park - Descend into one of Pennsylvania's natural wonders

There’s no law or policy that requires Pennsylvania to keep creating new state parks. Over the history of the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources – and its various other names through the years – new state parks have been added and subtracted. There have been times when we added dozens of new state parks. Under Dr. Maurice K. Goddard, the Department of Parks and Forests – as it was called then - added 45 new state parks and 130,000 acres of land between 1955 and 1979. Dr. Goddard proposed building a state park within 25 miles of every resident of Pennsylvania.But growth to the state park system slowed down in the 1980s and 90s. The commonwealth entered a phase of improvement – focusing more on upgrading facilities than adding many more parks. We’ve also been in possession of a number of state parks that we eventually relinquished control to another entity. Such as Valley Forge, Independence Mall, Fort Necessity and Brandywine Battlefield. That’s the thing. Depending on state leadership, availability of funds, the economy, political priorities, availability of lands and which governor is in charge, there is no guarantee that we will get new state parks. So when we get a new state park, it’s important that we celebrate. Enter Laural Caverns State Park – Pennsylvania’s 125th state park and its first subterranean park. What started out as a tourist attraction in the southwestern part of the state, is now a state park giving visitors a chance to explore 4 miles of underground passageways. Laurel Caverns is the largest sandstone cave in the world and one of the world’s steepest caves.Guided tours provide visitors with the opportunity to walk or crawl through incredible geologic features. Most of the passage ceilings in the underground labyrinth are between ten and twenty feet high and many as high as 50 feet.  This makes it the largest cave in Pennsylvania.  And it now belongs to the people of Pennsylvania. How amazing is that?! On this episode I speak with Corie Eckman. Carie is the manager Laurel Caverns State Park. Be sure to support our 2026 sponsors:Keystone Trails AssociationPurple Lizard MapsPennsylvania Parks and Forests FoundationSisters' SunflowersDiscover Clarion CountyGo Laurel Highlands Support the showVisit our website to learn more about the podcast, to purchase merch and to find out about our incredible sponsors. Follow us on Instagram and Meta to stay connected. Hosting, production and editing: Christian AlexandersenMusic: Jon SauerGraphics: Matt Davis