Entry No. 71 — the New York City file — filed under: roadside-oddity
Secret Caverns
This limestone cave is famous less for geology than for its gleefully deranged hand-painted folk-art billboards, scattered across Schoharie County by a muralist and a tour guide who were fired from the slicker Howe Caverns nearby. The tour itself descends 103 steps (the 'petrified escalator') to a 100-foot underground waterfall. It runs cash-only and leans hard into its psychedelic, kitschy, anti-corporate roadside identity.
The story
If you follow the polished state signs in Schoharie County, you’ll wind up at Howe Caverns—a sleek, well-lit, corporate operation where you ride an elevator down to a sanitized gravel walkway. But if you watch the back roads, you'll see hand-painted, manic billboards declaring a different destination entirely: Secret Caverns, self-proclaimed "Speleological Center of the Universe!" The story goes that after a muralist and a tour guide were fired from the squeaky-clean operation down the road, they channeled their spite into painting Schoharie County with bright, psychedelic folk art and establishing an unvarnished anti-corporate rival.
Instead of an elevator, your journey down into Secret Caverns begins with the "petrified escalator"—a damp, narrow staircase of 103 concrete steps descending into raw limestone carved by subterranean water. At the bottom lies a chilling 100-foot underground waterfall. There are no paved walkways or pristine lighting rigs here; the cave remains dark, cold, dripping, and unapologetically strange, preserved as a middle finger to modern tourist-trap homogenization.
What it's like
Drive down Caverns Road and you can't miss the hallucinatory entrance building. Cash is non-negotiable—bring $20 per adult ($10 for kids) and leave your credit cards in the car, because there is no ATM on site. Tours depart hourly on the hour between 10 AM and 5 PM without reservations, so you'll likely spend twenty minutes soaking in the cluttered, kitschy lobby art before heading down. Slip into closed-toe shoes with good tread and bring a jacket; the 103 steps down are slick, cold, and dripping wet, and the tour guides lean heavily into unscripted, chaotic humor as they lead you through the limestone down to the roaring waterfall.
The move: Take the hourly guided walk down to the 100-foot underground waterfall, then hunt the back roads for the cave's deranged hand-painted billboards on the way out.
📍 Before you go Cash only, no ATM on site. Seasonal operation; tours leave hourly on the hour with no reservation. Cool and damp underground, wear closed shoes.
- 📍 Howes Cave / Cobleskill
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: 671 Caverns Rd, Howes Cave, NY 12092
Hours: Added 2026-06-23 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- The Cardiff Giant — Pair two of Upstate New York's greatest subversions—a subterranean anti-corporate cave and the legendary ten-foot petrified man hoax housed down the road in Cooperstown.
- World's Largest Kaleidoscope — Keep the high-contrast trip going by pairing Secret Caverns' psychedelic roadside folk art with a 56-foot visual sensory immersion inside a Catskill grain silo.
- Taconic Sculpture Park — If you appreciate idiosyncratic artists commandeering rural landscapes with wild visions, head east after the cave to see Roy Kanwit's towering mythic heads rising from a hillside yard.
Good to know
How much is admission, and do I need a reservation?
Admission is $20 for adults and $10 for children. No reservations are taken; tours leave hourly on the hour from 10 AM to 5 PM.
Can I pay with a credit card?
No. Secret Caverns is strictly cash-only and there is no ATM on site, so stop at a bank before arriving.
What should I wear for the cave walk?
Wear sturdy, closed-toe shoes with solid traction and bring a light layer or jacket. The temperature underground stays consistently cool and damp, and you'll be negotiating 103 slick concrete steps.
How does this differ from Howe Caverns nearby?
Howe Caverns is a paved, commercialized operation with an elevator and gift shops, while Secret Caverns is a gritty, hand-painted, folk-art-filled counterculture alternative accessed by 103 stairs.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Wikipedia · Official site · Atlas Obscura · Roadside America · uncoveringnewyork.com
last checked: 2026-06-23