Olentangy Indian Caverns

Earlier this year I drove up to Delaware County for one of my sons track meets. On my way there I saw signs that read Olentangy Indian Caverns. My daughter was in the car with me. I told her, "Ooh...We have to go there!" She rolled her eyes and said, "Okay, whatever mom." Just a couple of weeks ago I finally managed to drag my kids to go check this place out. I looked up the address online, punched it into my phone, and made the 30 minute drive up there. My children are 13 and 11. They weren't too excited about going. To be perfectly honest, they whined and complained the entire drive up there. Neither of them had ever been in a cave, so I thought that this would be a neat experience for them. I knew that the whining would be worth giving them the opportunity to say that they have been in a cave.

After arriving, I parked the car, and we walked up to a small gift shop to buy our tickets. I was glad to find out that they offer a military discount. The young lady behind the counter told me that it would be about a 20 minute wait for the tour to start. By this time my kids attitudes improved a little. I knew that once I got them there, they would enjoy it. We decided to walk around the grounds. There is plenty to keep people occupied while you wait for the tour to begin. There is a miniature golf coarse. There a some nature trails. They have a troft set up for kids to pan for gold. My kids are too old to search for fake gold. It was too hot and humid to walk on the trails. The miniature golf looked a little lame, so I didn't want to spend the money on it. But the grounds itself are pretty enough to enjoy while you wait, so we decided do just that. We walked around for a little bit before we sat on some big white rocking chairs that were on the gift shop's patio. I was surprised at how many people were there. We saw 4 large day care groups, and there were about 20 people who ended up being in our tour group.

When it was time for our tour to start, we met our group and our guide underneath a flag pole that sits in the middle of the grounds. Our tour guide led us to the museum, which was a one room brick building. The entrance to the cave is underneath this small museum. The cave itself is fairly small. The tour lasted about 40 minutes, but the history of the cave fascinated me. It was inhabited by the Wyandote Indians until the early 1800's. They were known by European settlers as, "A strong and fierce people."

The staircase that leads to the cave.

According to Ohio History Central, they defeated an expedition in 1782 that was led by Colonel William Crawford. He was captured by the Wyandote and burned at the stake. The Wyandote were originally from southern Ontario before they were driven south into Ohio by the Iroquois. They remained in the Ohio region until the mid-1800's. They used this particular cave for shelter. I googled they Wyandote and found out that The Wyandote Nation is still strong in Oklahoma. The small museum that sits above the entrance to the cave houses a number of arrowheads that were found in the cave. The largest room in the cave is named, The Indian Council Room. It has a large flat rock in the middle of the room that looks like a table. It is believed to have been used as a work bench, because that is where most of the arrowheads were found. The first white settler to enter the cave was J.M. Adams. He found the cave in 1821 by accident when his ox fell into it.

The tour begins with a fairly steep descent into a big, dark, damp, hole. The deepest part of the tour is the Indian Council Room, which is 105 feet under the museum. There are many passages and rooms through out the cave, many of them are still unexplored. The idea of unexplored rooms adds mystery and wonder to a place that already holds a lot of historical value. There is a small room in the cave where small, or baby stalactites and stalagmites are beginning to form. They are only an inch or two long. This was interesting for me see. I have been inside of Tucson's Colossal Cave, where the stalagmites and stalactites are anywhere from 2 feet to 6 feet, so I enjoyed seeing them in their beginning stages. The passageways of the cave are tight and narrow. I found myself having to take deep breaths and focus on relaxing, because I felt a little claustrophobic. The floors and stairs are wet and slippery. There was a small boy in our group who did slip and fall, but he wasn't hurt. There are plenty of handrails installed throughout the cave. I would suggest that you use them. There are also lights installed on all of the passages that the tour takes you through. The inside of the cave offers a cool relief from the summer heat and humidity. I can see why the Wyandote used it for shelter in the summer months. Though we were in a dark and muddy hole, it was a refreshing break from the mugginess that waited for us when we got out of the cave.

Descending into the cave.

The Indian Council Room, & my daughter.

Overall we enjoyed it. At the end of the tour I asked my kids what they thought. They both said that they liked it, they were glad that I brought them, and that it was cool. (Yes! Score for mom!) I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't been there. It's not a place that you can go to more than once, but it is worth the trip. If you are looking to get the kids out of the house and do something different, than this is a good place to go.