Owned by Jim and Bob Gurley, who constructed a wooden ladder down into the sinkhole and leveled the floor for trails, the tours were guided by the use of kerosene lanterns for illumination.

In 1930 the cave was purchased by a man named Singer who continued to operate it commercially, and issued each visitor a pair of coveralls and a kerosene lantern.

During this period the cave was damaged to a great extent by vandals who carried away pieces of the formations and sold them to commercial rock dealers.

The local highway was being paved for the first time, and Raney, who saw great potential for the cave as a tourist attraction, removed all the accumulated debris that had gathered over the years, created a safer spiral path down the sinkhole entrance to the cave and added steps where the path became too steep.

He also added hand rails, leveled the trails and covered them with lime which hardened to provide better footing, installed the first electric lighting system inside the cave, and built a new ticket booth (which was eventually destroyed in a fire in 1984).

Jim Schermerhorn, an experienced caver, and original shareholder of Dogpatch, supervised the work.

Later, a rickety swinging bridge had been constructed over the canyon eliminating the exhausting hike, but creating a new danger.

Other improvements included a new parking lot, landscaping around the cave, and a new ticket office and gift shop.

During construction of the new parking lot, while Jim Schermerhorn was operating a bulldozer, a new sinkhole opened up leading to an enormous previously unknown cavern.

Being an experienced caver, Schermerhorn realized the importance of preserving the pristine cave never before seen or touched by human hands.

"Old Man Moses Cave" was supposed to open eventually as well as a part of Dogpatch, but like many planned projects of the park, it would never happen.