Secret Caverns — Attraction in Town of Cobleskill

So I was with brother and my neice Mya on a Sunday afternoon trying to figure out something we could do that would be both fun and different from a normal Sunday routine. I first thought of Howe Caverns because that's a place I can remember going during my childhood. Once on a field trip and once with my family and I can remember how cool I thought the place was.. only issue was I called them and found out tours have to be scheduled days in advanced and you also have to pay in advanced over the phone. Since it's something we wanted to do that day I figured my idea was ruined. I decided to type "Caverns in upstate NY" on Google not knowing if anything would come up besides Howe Caverns. To my suprise Secret Caverns popped up and I seen it was very close to Howe caverns. I called them and they had one last tour running that day at 3PM. So we got ready quick and made it for the 3PM tour. It's $18 and kids under 4 years old are free, which I thought was more than reasonable. We all really enjoyed it. My three year old niece loved it. I was just as amazed now as I was when I was kid going into howe caverns the first time. The only difference I think is "Secret caverns" doesn't have an elevator to take you down into the cavern and they don't have the boat ride that "Howe Caverns" does. There is a staircase. So really young kids might have issues with the stairs. I took my neice and she is three years old and was able to walk up and down most of the stairs. When she felt tired we carried her, but it wasn't an issue. They have a really cool gift shop that you can check out before and after the tour. The people who run "Secret Caverns" are really nice and supposedly it's family owned or Operated. I was Talking with the nice guy who runs the cavern and he explained some of the story behind the lady who owns the cavern and how his kids grew up with the cavern basically being there back yard. He also told me how supposedly there over 200 caverns and caves in the area that can be explored by anyone (if you have a hard hat and flashlight) and also trails and cliffs if you wanted to do more exploring in that area after you leave the cavern or on another day. I give the place 5 stars. Im really fascinated with anything science or having to do with the earth and I consider myself spiritual. And the fact that when you go into the cavern your going inside the planet. I just find the whole experience to be fascinating and almost spiritual at the same time because of the energy of the rocks. I think most people of any age...

Cool experience but definitely fake. The waterfall is 100% fake. It just happens to be at the end of the cave/ the owner's property line. As we approached the waterfall, at about halfway point of the cave, there was mist visible as it filled the cave. There was a tour ahead of us so they had the falls turned on for them which caused the mist. We heard the falls as well as we approached. We got to see the falls which was a consistent thin stream which comes from the surface through the rock. We took pictures and were satisfied. The tour guide told us this was the end of the owner's property so the rest of the cave in unexplored. Curious, there just happened to be a waterfall there? That is some serious luck. We begin to exit. At the first stop, where they shut power off for the section before (they turn off power and lights along the way behind the tour claiming to preserve energy, money, and so the walls don't grow moss. At this first stop I noticed something odd. The waterfall was SILENT. I know I heard it at this point on the way in! Also, the mist in the air that was so obvious on the way in, had suddenly vanished. It was then that my friends and I realized that the falls must have been fake. A shut off fall that turns on as tours approach and off when they leave. The guide claimed we couldn't hear it anymore because of the direction of the wind blowing in the cave which changes direction. Yea right lol. The cave also claims to be 145 feet underground. There is no way that is true either. We ascended 3 flights of steps. The cave is maximum 60 feet down. They are trying to compete with howe caverns I guess. I know we decided between the two caves based on the waterfalls in this one. Sad to be deceived...

GO TO SECRET CAVERNS. Just go, especially if you have a family with kids. I'm so happy we found this place. We were thinking about Howe Caverns, and I can't really compare them because I've never been to Howe, but I'm thrilled with our choice because we loved this place.

Just one caveat - there are a lot of stairs - wet stone stairs and a little steep in places. It's the only way to get into and out of a cave that's like 100 ft deep. So if you aren't sure you can handle that, consider going to Howe Caverns which has an elevator.

They are very friendly and fun. They encourage touching the cave and climbing on the rocks (they advised us which ones were safe) which really made it more enjoyable and stress-free for my active kids as well as other kids who were in our tour.

The length of the tour was perfect. We enjoyed it, and were not yet tired and bored when it was time to turn back but I think we would have been tired and bored if it were longer. That's another reason I'm happy we went here instead of the 90 minute Howe tour.

The gift shop is fun to browse with entertaining signs while you wait for your tour.

They were not busy when we went, which is good because we had no reservation. On a weekend you might need one, I don't know.

There was a comfortable picnic area and surrounding grounds to refresh and stretch our legs after a long drive (this place is kind of in middle of nowhere)

I didn't love the bathrooms but they worked and I was able to convince the family to use them before we left.

Most of all, we got to experience an awesome work of nature. You can look up and see you're literally standing in a crack deep in the Earth. It was fabulous.

Overall I cannot recommend this place...