Marengo Cave in Marengo, Indiana: Take a Tour and Explore

Fifteen-year-old Blanche Heistand was working as a cook in at Marengo Academy in Marengo, Indiana, when she heard several school boys discussing they had found a sinkhole nearby, which they believed led to a cave. Intrigued, and wanting to beat the boys to the discovery of the cave, she rushed home that afternoon on September 6, 1883, to find her brother, eleven-year-old Orris Heistand. The pair set off into the woods, armed with candles, determined to find the cave the boys were sure was there.

They indeed, found the passageway that led into what is now known as Marengo Cave, being the first known humans to enter the cave they were awed by what they believed were diamonds inside the cave, but turned out to be sparkling flowstone formations. Scared of the dark they decided to turn around, and a few days later they notified Samuel Stewart, the owner of the land where the cave was located, of their discovery. Soon after the discovery of Marengo Cave Stewart began giving guided tours of the cave for only one quarter per person.

While the cost of a guided tour of the cave is now much more than a quarter per person visitors to Marengo, Indiana can still visit the very same cave that Blanche and Orris discovered on that fall day in 1883. The cave and the land surrounding it is now a United States National Landmark.

Marengo Caves now offers several walking tours of the cave that range in length from thirty-five minutes to two hours and range in price from $6.75 to $10 per child, and $12.75 to $20 per adult. The caves constant year-round temperature of 52.1 degrees makes touring the cave easy anytime of the year.

If a walking tour is too slow paced for you, and you are ready for an adventure there is a full line of cave explorations available for you to choose from. The Beginner’s Challenge is a new addition to Marengo Caves, and is suitable for children age’s seven to twelve. The package includes a climb through “The Crawl”, Marengo Cave’s dry cave simulator. The tour lasts approximately three hours, and is $15 per person. It is available November through March.

The Underground Adventure and Waterfall Crawl are two exploration tours that are available year round at Marengo Cave, and both allow visitors to wade in the underground stream. Two hours each, The Underground Adventure is $22 per person, and the Waterfall Crawl is $25 per person.

For a full lineup of cave explorations available at Marengo Caves you can visit Go Cave Exploring!

After a day of cave exploration you can visit Cave Café for a snack, or if you wish to make your trip an overnight trip you can rent a camping cabin. The camping cabins sleep four to fourteen people, and cost $9 per person, but there is no charge for children six and under. The cabin includes electricity, grill, and nearby restrooms and showers, there are no modern appliances or bedding available in the cabins. Advance reservations are required for the cabins.

For more information on Marengo Caves you can visit their Web site.