Secret Caverns: Secret Treasure Chamber

Cobleskill, New York

We're not supposed to show anyone, but.... On our last visit to Secret Caverns, the Roadside America Team was granted entry to the inner sanctum of the Guides Guild, deep in the caverns. It's in a hard-to-reach side passage off the tour route, behind a formation sometimes known as "the Holy Family."

The Treasure Chamber is reached by climbing up a muddy jumble of rocks to a small chimney, about 8 feet wide. There are several minor relics, including a procession of crushed beer cans ascending the hollowed spire wall.

Here guides commune in the dark and relative quiet with Iggy's sneakers, or ponder other mysteries of Secret Guidedom. It was cold and wet, but some of its charms are evident in the photo.