Published April 3, 2026
Experience crawling on your hands and knees through naturally formed underground tunnels in this thrilling adventure.
Spelunking involves discovering underground caves. But it doesn't only include walking through a spacious cavern. I experienced extreme spelunking, crawling on my hands and knees through underground tunnels, and I describe the entire adventure in this article.
Walking through spacious caverns is common for people who don't have the proper training for exploring dangerous passageways through caves.1
My venture was different. It was an intense spelunking experience, crawling on hands and knees through naturally formed underground tunnels.2
Claustrophobia was never an issue for me. I never had a problem with small spaces. So I happily went along for the fun of it, and I quickly discovered that one sure gets a great deal of exercise crawling through tight underground spaces.
I did this at Club Getaway in Kent, Connecticut. The advertising literature indicated that anyone who wanted to go caving that weekend needed to bring old clothes they would dispose of afterward, rather than trying to wash them. I soon discovered why they suggested that.
Crawling on hands and knees through a muddy underground tunnel was undoubtedly an experience that required us to wash up later.
In addition, crawling on rocky, muddy ground made my jeans look like I had lived through a tornado.
After a hearty breakfast in the morning, our leader took seven of us in his minivan to Tory's Cave in New Milford, about 14 miles away.
As we approached an overgrown area in the wilderness, he parked the van near the cave entrance. He brought us just a few feet from the van and pointed to a hole in the ground.
We all looked at that hole in the ground, then at each other, exclaiming, "That's it?"
Two girls in our group said they would wait for the rest of us to come back out. They decided to wait for us in the van because that hole in the ground was intimidating.
Four of us decided to go with our leader. He said he would go first, and we should follow one at a time. He asked who wanted to be last. Then he gave that trusted fellow a bunch of candles and matches.
He told him to light the candles one by one at various points along the path where junctions occurred as we continued through the cave. "Just don't place them where water was dripping," he explained.
Those candles were for us to find our way back—like dropping bread crumbs, but something we could see in the dark in case our flashlights died.
Our knowledgeable leader went in headfirst, upside down, and the others followed.
When it was my turn, I felt more comfortable dropping my legs into the crevice than going upside down.
It was an eight-foot drop before we could turn horizontally, and I found myself going through a wet, muddy cavity with water dripping everywhere.
The fellow with the candles entered right after me. He did it the correct way—head first, like everyone else. But stupid me, I ended up pushing myself along feet first for quite some time, trying to keep up with the three others in front of me. They found it easier to move forward by pulling themselves along, elbow to elbow.
The guy behind me took his time finding dry spots where the water wasn't dripping to position each candle. So, he didn't mind that I was slowing him down.
I finally got to a larger area where I could turn around. It's definitely much easier going in a forward direction.
We finally got to a larger cavity after crawling underground through a tunnel for some time. The leader and two others ahead of me were already standing, giving them a chance to stretch.
I couldn't wait until I worked my way to that space, pulling myself along elbow by elbow. Once I got there, the leader said, "This is the belly of the beast." I truly felt like I was in an animal's stomach.
We all enjoyed looking around with our flashlights. This cave didn't have any stalactites hanging from the ceiling, as one might expect. In that area, the water didn't contain any minerals that would have caused them to develop.
Obviously, no stalagmites formed either, since they develop from the bottom up by minerals dripping from above.
In one corner was a cavity in the wall that went straight up. I went in and pointed my flashlight up into the opening. When I came out, everyone else wanted to check it out, too.
We had lots of fun, but it was time to head back. Our leader said we needed to return before the candles died out. The tunnels branched off in various directions, and there was no other way to be sure we were taking the correct path back.
As we returned to the entrance, I could see the light of day shining in. It had been raining, and the sky was cloudy, but we were so used to the dark that the subdued light of the overcast day still bothered our eyes for a while.
Nevertheless, we were all glad to come out without any mishaps. The girls had waited in the van during the rain and were happy to see us.
When we returned to the camp, some of us jumped in the lake to wash the mud off, clothes and all.
As I walked from the van, I stepped around a muddy patch to avoid it, and a friend said, "You're all full of mud anyway! What does it matter?" That was amusing.
As we laughed at the silliness of it all, I knew we were lucky that nothing had gone wrong. After all, we had a leader who understood the nature of spelunking quite well.
The National Park Service has an interesting article describing how they offer safe spelunking outings. See the references below.3
Two park rangers lead these outings. One in front and one in the rear, so no one gets lost.
Once they arrive at the cave entrance, they make sure everyone is comfortable with the idea, and a trail ranger is available in case anyone wants to remain above.
For those who dare to experience the adventure of a lifetime, search for a location near your area where the park service offers these tours.
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