Could Penn’s Cave become a state park? Local officials support designation efforts

For more than a century, Penn’s Cave and Wildlife Park has been a Centre County tourism attraction and a beloved central Pennsylvania landmark, and local officials would like to see it next become a state park.

The Centre County Commissioners unanimously approved a letter of support Tuesday for Penn’s Cave to pursue the transfer of the attraction’s roughly 1,400 acres of land across 15 deeds to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for it to be designated as the commonwealth’s 126th state park.

State Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Bellefonte, Penn’s Cave CEO Russ Schleiden and Schleiden’s daughter and cave Executive Business Director Jeanine Watson were also in attendance at Tuesday’s commissioners meeting. Schleiden and Watson jointly own the cavern’s land, and said that it has been in their family for about four generations.

“We’ve been working with the state for around three years now,” Watson said. “We want it to be preserved and taken care of. We’ve always felt like we were the stewards of that, and we would hate to see this go into development, and unfortunately, that would be the alternative.”

According to Benninghoff, several investors have offered to purchase the land, break it into several different parcels and develop it, which he said would “be a real shame.”

“I can’t think of a better time in our country and our county’s history, with the semiquincentennial, to make this a reality,” Benninghoff said. “If you want to look at Americana at its best, look at the park, and I think it exemplifies that.”

Watson added that Benninghoff has been spearheading the state park designation efforts in Harrisburg, and noted that the DCNR has “wonderful plans and visions for enhancing” the cave and wildlife park — such as a public campsite — that would take it “to the next level,” beyond what she and Schleiden could do on their own.

Penn’s Cave’s rich history started centuries ago when members of the Seneca Native American tribe discovered it. In the late 1800s, the cave opened up as a commercial show cavern, along with the Penn’s Cave Hotel, and in 1976, the property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The attraction has since become a major driver for outdoor tourism in Centre County, with its half-mile, 40-50 minute guided cave tour and wildlife park bus tour, where a guide drives visitors around the park’s 1,500 acres to see North American animals like white-tailed deer, elk, wolves, a bear, a bobcat, a mountain lion, foxes, horses, bison, Texas longhorn cattle, donkeys and bighorn sheep.

Aside from the tourism aspect of things, Schleiden said that the cave has high ecological importance too, which is the other driving force behind his mission to make it a state park.

The underground spring feeding the cave — one of several springs on the land — serves as the headwaters of Penns Creek, which winds through 67 miles of rural Pennsylvania before feeding the Susquehanna River. Eventually, the river empties into the Chesapeake Bay, making the cave a part of the Chesapeake Watershed.

“It’s a great brown trout stream,” Schleiden said. “Its tributaries also support native brook trout, Little Poe and Big Poe [creeks] — all those streams in Centre County.”

Currently, legislation has been drafted in the state House of Representatives to transfer Penn’s Cave’s land over to DCNR, but it must be approved by the state legislature and signed by Governor Josh Shapiro. Bennginghoff hopes that the process will move forward at a pace quick enough to see it included in this year’s budget discussions.

“It would basically be a purchase under the umbrella of DCNR,” Benninghoff said. “I just think that part of this endorsement by the county, business bureau and other people helps to emphasize that we’d really like to get this done, and time is of the essence. ... I think the state would be remiss to not take deep consideration, but everything at this tenuous time in the budget is a horse trade.”

There’s also some precedent for the transition. Laurel Caverns State Park in Fayette County became the 125th state park this spring, after the family who opened the park donated it to the commonwealth.

The commissioners offered their full support to Benninghoff, Schleiden and Watson’s mission, and strongly urged the state to include it in their budget talks.

“Thank you for the opportunity for us to support your efforts,” Commissioner Steve Dershem said. “This is an amazing opportunity for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to invest in a property that is literally irreplaceable, iconic to our region and unique — I don’t know that you’ll find anything quite like it.”