Seneca Caverns was our last stop on our whirlwind northern Ohio family fun trip this summer! For those of you who are following along this is Part 10…I actually will have one more post coming along but I won’t number it in the series. That post will just be sharing our tour of the Flagship Niagara that was docked at Put-In-Bay during the Pyrate Fest in June.

I will share links to all the previous posts in this series at the end of this post. Did you know Ohio has caverns? Have you ever visited underground caverns? Are you wondering if this is something your family would want to do?

I’m going to share our family’s experience touring the Seneca Caverns in Bellevue, Ohio and share my tips for families who are wondering if Seneca Caverns is a good place for their family to visit.

Visit Seneca Caverns in Bellevue, Ohio

The amazing Seneca Caverns in Ohio are also known as “the caviest cave in the USA”. The cave was discovered in 1872 by a couple of boys from Flat Rock, Ohio who were chasing their dog which was chasing a rabbit into a hole and both disappeared! I’ll share a link to the “rest of the story” at the end of this post.

You’ll also notice in the picture below that there is some graffiti on the Seneca Cavern walls. If you’re a history buff you may take much delight in hearing some stories and witnessing some old cave writings/inscriptions by visitors down below. You’ll also see some small fossils in the rock.

Follow your trail guide down to the lowest part of the twelve levels that are reachable during your visit! The level of the water table underground will dictate how low you can go. We were only able to reach level six, I think. We were approximately 95 feet underground. Lake Erie, I’m told is only 200 and some feet deep, itself!

My tips for families visiting these Seneca Caverns:

I recommend wearing safe shoes for walking down rocky paths in these underground Ohio caverns.
I would not recommend taking small children here.

Enjoy shopping in the Seneca Caverns gift shop which you will walk through to begin your cavern tour. We decided to purchase a couple bags of dirt treasures. We bought the arrowhead and the “large gem” bag to sift at the panning trough outside. I plan to use the gems in our homeschool geology studies.

Seneca Caverns
15248 E. Township. Road 178
Bellevue, OH 44811
Phone: 419-483-6711

Visit the website here for more on the history of the caves and other info. Follow them on Facebook here.

2016 Admission costs at time of this post:
Adults (ages 13-61) $17.00
Seniors (ages 62+) $15.00
Child Caveman Package (ages 5-12) Includes Cave Tour & Paydirt Gemstone Bag $13.00
Child (ages 5-12) Cave Tour Only $8.00
Under 5 FREE (with adult supervision)

Be sure to check out the other posts in our trip series!
Pt 1: Lake Erie Shores and Islands will show you where the fun is!
Pt 2: 3 tips before visiting Put-In-Bay with Miller Ferry.
Pt 3: Finding family fun and history on Put-In-Bay, South Bass Island.
Pt 4: My favorite things about the Catawba Island/Port Clinton Holiday Inn Express.
Pt 5: Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial
Pt 6: Our day at Perry’s Cave Family Fun Center on Put-in-Bay
Pt 7: Visiting Lake Erie’s Marblehead Lighthouse
Pt 8: Lake Erie’s Johnson’s Island Confederate Soldier Cemetery
Pt 9: Visiting the Historic Lyme Village and the Firelands History
Pt 10: Touring the underground Seneca Caverns