One of the best little outdoor adventures you can have with your kids in NH, and you only need a few hours to do it. Absolutely fun for all ages, and a decent workout too. Lots of stairs and lots of maneuvering your body every which way to get through the caves. Recently they added a new one and it was surprisingly just as great as the rest of them. I figured it would be lame because if it was there all along and if it was that cool it would've opened long ago but I was wrong. Definitely a place we want to go back to once a year, and it is always better than we remembered. The challenge of how to get through the caves without bashing your head on an overhang or scraping your back (guilty on both counts)...the relaxing coolness of the dimly lit caves on a hot and humid summer day (in which you will even see ice in at least one of them)...these are a few of the reasons that draw me back. If you haven't taken your kids here, you must-they will never forget the Lemon Squeeze or Orange Crush...I certainly remember them from when I was young, and it may even be more fun as a neurotic and no longer carefree adult because it seems like you are attempting the impossible and picturing the firefighters being called in to free your wedged-in body. Yes, that is fun for me because of the bit of fear factor involved. You can't see what is on the other side of the Lemon Squeeze, you just have to push through it and hope it is the optical illusion it appears to be and that an adult human body can in fact fit through the narrow slot somehow. All of the caves are named, and they have a good sense of humor about it-I know one of them is Fat Man's Misery, and there is Devil's something or other. There are bypasses for all of the caves for the claustrophobes out there, or those not physically able to complete them, so again this place is great for young and old. They have a nice boardwalk area that meanders through a boulder garden, with lots of informational plaques to bore your kids, they have a how-maple-syrup-is made section with gift shop, and another small trail that gives little nature lessons on what you are looking at, etc.
They also have reindeer and different birds to feed, and a very cool gift shop in the main building which your kids will love-and they should be able to find something in there that makes them happy for just a few bucks. They also sell sacks of dirt with gems hidden in them for a sluice they have set up, similar to what many other places offer-again fun for the kids. We usually go on Mother's Day because Moms gets in free, and it makes for great memories for me and my son that I could never get sitting at some stuffy brunch. I believe they do the same for Father's Day and Veteran's Day, which is an incredible value. Highly recommended! read more