Summer may be ending, but there are still plenty of places to visit in upstate New York, including exploring a cave in Schoharie County.

Howe Caverns has plenty of sights underground, from a winding way to boat rides and even a bridal altar.

“People come down and they talk about going into a cave, they think they're crawling around in this little, tiny spot. But most of the way through here, the ceilings are between 10-30 feet high,” said Brian Garreau, a Howe Caverns tour manager.

What You Need To Know

  •  Howe Caverns is a destination that's both educational and unique

  •  People have been taking tours of the cave since the 1840s

  • The cave is 52 degrees all year

A trip to Howe Caverns is a mix of educational field trip and unique vacation excursion. Lester Howe started giving tours in the 1840s and visitors have been coming back ever since.

“The whole cave itself just kind of speaks for itself when you're going through. It's amazing. And it's always changing over and over and over,” said Garreau.

You can get a science lesson as you see natural formations of stalactites and stalagmites up close.

“Formations take quite a long time to form. This area of the country, it takes about 80-100 years for one cubic inch of calcite to build up,” said Garreau.

One of the largest formations is the Chinese pagoda.

“From the stream bed to the tip, and it's about five feet around, this would represent about a half million years of calcite growth,” said Garreau.

Halfway through the tour, visitors will board a boat and float through the cave. On the way back, you can walk by the spot where there have been more than 700 weddings.

You can also take a stroll through 30 S-turns in the winding way. The cave is 52 degrees all year, so in the summer, it feels cool, and in the winter, it feels warm.