Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Central Asia yurt night stars
Uzbekistan • 15 days, 14 nights
Central Asia Road Trip: Backroads & Bazaars
from
Caucasus - Geghard Monastery, Armenia
Armenia • 15 days, 14 nights
Caucasus Road Trip: Azerbaijan, Georgia & Armenia
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Midas Tümülüsü (Tumulus MM)
The Devil's Column
Weightlifting Hall of Fame
The khao soi at Gedhawa comes with a rich, coconutty broth.
Gedhawa
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The khao soi at Gedhawa comes with a rich, coconutty broth.
Gedhawa
At Nai Mong Hoi Thod, the oyster omelet is worth waiting for.
Nai Mong Hoi Thod
In this deceptively simple dish, top-quality ingredients are paramount.
Kor Panich
Customize your bowl with sliced pork, pork balls, fish cake, and offal.
Rung Rueang
Pasties are an Upper Michigan tradition dating back to mining days.
Lehto’s Pasties
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
For Aguilar-Carrasco, nature is a powerful reminder of the interconnectedness of all life.
How Can National Parks Be Made Accessible to All? AO Wants to Know.
3 days ago
Podcast: Finding ‘The Great Gatsby’ in Louisville
4 days ago
Here’s which treats you can safely lug home without risking a fine.
Dear Atlas: What International Food Can I Legally Bring Into the U.S.?
5 days ago
Cely’s map is not only accurate, but captures the unique characteristics of Congaree’s trees and waterways.
How One Biologist Drew a Hyper-Accurate, Ranger-Approved Map of Congaree National Park
6 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Pennsylvania Spring Mills Penn's Cave

Penn's Cave

Sail through this subterranean show cave that is home to a legend that would go on to name nearly everything around it.

Spring Mills, Pennsylvania

Added By
Thomas Harper
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
Penn’s Cave Exit   Thomas Harper
Penn’s Cave Exit   Thomas Harper
“Garden of the Gods” in Penn’s Cave.   Thomas Harper
Penn’s Cave   Kunal Mukherjee on Flickr
Interior with colored lights   Cali Buckley / Atlas Obscura User
Interior   Cali Buckley / Atlas Obscura User
Interior   Cali Buckley / Atlas Obscura User
Interior with view of tour by boat   Cali Buckley / Atlas Obscura User
  vivalastephie / Atlas Obscura User
  vivalastephie / Atlas Obscura User
  vivalastephie / Atlas Obscura User
Elk   e watch ring / Atlas Obscura User
  vivalastephie / Atlas Obscura User
Tour entrance   e watch ring / Atlas Obscura User
  Cali Buckley / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Boats take visitors through Penn's Cave, a quarter-mile subterranean waterway with ornate limestone formations and a bat colony, all underneath a working farm. It is also said to be the final resting place of the ill-fated suitor of a Lenni-Lenape chief's daughter whose name has been adopted by everything from a lake to college athletics.

Penn's Cave was opened as a show cave in 1885. An inlet of Lake Nitanee runs underground to a wide entrance where boats are moored. Tours use these boats to traverse the waterway into a cave with ceilings that are up to 55 feet above the water. Visitors will have to keep their heads low in some areas and watch for resting bats right above them. The tour highlights limestone formations like "the Statue of Liberty," "Garden of the Gods," and "the Angel's Wing." The tour will also explore Lake Nitanee if weather permits. Aside from the astounding rock formations, the cave is also home to a legend that has spread its name all around the area.

A local legend has a young French trapper, Malachi Boyer, exploring the area until he met Nita-nee, a Native American chief's daughter. Wishing to marry her, Malachi could not get permission from the chief. One night, they tried to escape, but were captured by her seven brothers. Malachi would be thrown into this cave and guarded until he died. The brothers weighted down his corpse and sank it to the bottom of the cave's waters. Nita-nee's name lives on as the namesake of the lake, the nearby Mount Nittany, and Penn State's athletic teams, the Nittany Lions.

Penn's Cave also has a working farm, so tourists can watch the cows graze in a nearby pasture or see blooming sunflower fields once they experience the sights and slightly uncomfortable legend of the watery cave.

Related Tags

Caves Legends Subterranean Subterranean Sites Ecosystems

Community Contributors

Added By

thomasharper

Edited By

Martin, Osage, EricGrundhauser, Cali Buckley...

  • Martin
  • Osage
  • EricGrundhauser
  • Cali Buckley
  • vivalastephie
  • e watch ring

Published

March 12, 2015

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Penn's Cave
222 Penns Cave Road
Spring Mills, Pennsylvania
United States
40.882552, -77.612317
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Pennsylvania Military Museum

Boalsburg, Pennsylvania

miles away

Frost Entomological Museum

State College, Pennsylvania

miles away

The Armsby Calorimeter

College Township, Pennsylvania

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

United States

Places 417
Stories 28

Nearby Places

Pennsylvania Military Museum

Boalsburg, Pennsylvania

miles away

Frost Entomological Museum

State College, Pennsylvania

miles away

The Armsby Calorimeter

College Township, Pennsylvania

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

United States

Places 417
Stories 28

Related Places

  • Castillo Cave, entrance

    Puente Viesgo, Spain

    Caves of Monte Castillo

    The walls of these four caverns are filled with art that dates back to the earliest human presence in Europe.

  • Cricova, Moldova

    Wine Cellars of Cricova

    Seventy-five miles of limestone caves host more than a million bottles of wine beneath a sleepy Moldovan town.

  • Peach Springs, Arizona

    Caverns Grotto

    In a 345-million-year-old cave that's 200 feet underground, dinner awaits.

  • Avshalom Cave.

    Israel

    Avshalom Cave

    This amazing ancient cave was kept secret for seven years to protect it from the public.

  • Pertosa Caves.

    Muraglione, Italy

    Pertosa Caves

    Ride a boat through this magnificent underground world, which now doubles as a theater.

  • Cave of Zeus.

    Kuşadası, Turkey

    Cave of Zeus

    This Turkish cave boasts some rather bizarre associations with the King of Mount Olympus.

  • Chamber with Screaming Monster formation in  Sudwala Caves.

    Dollaaskraal, South Africa

    Sudwala Caves

    These otherworldly caverns form Earth's oldest known cave system.

  • Tunnel with steps cut into a cliff face.

    Nottingham, England

    The Caves of Nottingham

    A labyrinthine underworld of tunnels and caverns hides beneath the city.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.