Help Lincoln Caverns celebrate 90 seasons of underground fun

Ann Dunlavy is inviting visitors to “Come to the Dark Side.”

Dunlavy is president and general manager of Lincoln Caverns in Huntingdon, a tourist attraction that has been a part of her family since it was discovered in 1930 and purchased by her grandfather, Myron Dunlavy Sr. of Buffalo, N.Y.

Lincoln Caverns will celebrate its 90th anniversary this season.

“This is a great place to come for a visit to a rural area,” Ann Dunlavy says. “Hopefully the beauty and serenity of the caves will give our guests a chance to escape from the reality and craziness of the (covid-19) virus.”

Beauty and serenity certainly do sound appealing during these turbulent times.

Her “Come to the Dark Side” promotion actually is one of the featured tours at Lincoln Caverns and Whisper Rocks, which are adjoining caves unearthed as a result of the construction of Route 22.

Glow-in-the-dark tour

Guests that visit Friday evenings through May and Wednesday evenings from June through August can tour the caverns by black light, where Dunlavy says “glowing speleothems and calcite crystals reveal their spectacular phosphorescent beauty.” The glow-in-the-dark tour is for ages 10 and older.

Younger visitors can attend “Find the Easter Bunny Underground” at 1 p.m. March 28-29, a benefit for Huntingdon County Pride, a charity that provides programs to enable developmentally or physically disabled people to function at their optimal level of performance. A $5 donation will benefit the program.

A series of educational day camps scheduled in June will offer students in grades 1-9 an opportunity to learn about caves, bats, rocks and fossils. Also in June will be the 90th anniversary celebration and “Discovery Days,” when historic tours, free workshops and children’s activities will be offered for a reduced admission charge of $9.

Dunlavy didn’t plan on devoting her career to operating the caverns that her father Myron Dunlavy Jr. took over after his father operated the business.

After attending Juniata College, where her father also studied, she worked for a law firm in Harrisburg until she decided to quit her job and return to Huntingdon to manage the caverns in 1977.

“I missed being my own boss,” she says. “I never wanted to work with children — student teaching did me in — and I had no idea how things would evolve. We’re a small business, not in a tourist area.”

Bats endangered

But today, in addition to managing and marketing Lincoln Caverns, she is dedicated to educating students about the geology of caves, the importance of bats — an endangered species and major predator of night-flying insects — and conservation of what she calls “the unique and fragile underground environment.”

She and her staff bring a classroom presentation on caves and cave life to students prior to their field trip to the caves.

Last year, they hosted more than 5,000 students and traveled to more than 60 schools in a dozen counties, she says.

This summer, Lincoln Caverns will host “Fun Day Mondays,” “T-Rex Tuesdays” and Summer Family Fun Nights in July and August, offering interactive themed tours for ages 4 and older, with a pre-program on caves and panning for gems.

Details: 814-643-0268 or lincolncaverns.com