Mammoth Cave

First Camping-in / 1st National Park visited in Kentucky

This 4 day stop was all and only about…

Visiting 1 new National Park …Mammoth Cave National Park (#318)

The world’s longest known cave system, featuring over 426 miles of surveyed and mapped passageways. As a massive, multi-level limestone labyrinth, exploration continues, with geologists estimating hundreds of additional miles may still exist. This is possible, because it is a Dry Cave, with the limstone of the cave mostly protected by the shale and sandstone above it. It also means that stalagtites and stalagmites are rare. But it is MAMMOTH, hence its name (no wooly mammoths were found here.) It is also home to thousands of years of human history and a rich diversity of plant and animal life, earning it the title of UNESCO World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Region.

We didn’t drive for our 3 days here, as we stayed at the campground only ¹/₂ mile from the Visitor Center and there was lots to see and do right around here. We went on 4 different cave tours and hiked most of the local trails, logging over 5 miles underground (and over 2,000 stairs) and at least 10 miles above ground. Three of our tours went in and out the Historic Entrance, so some overlap on them:

Gothic Avenue Tour about 1800s tourism and uses of Mammoth Cave (e.g. saltpeter production)
Discovery Tour with some of the largest rooms in Mammoth Cave and info on indigenous peoples here, and site of the first ever sleep study done.
Historic Tour, a “classic Mammoth Cave Tour” visiting many of the historic areas that originally made Mammoth Cave famous (some repeat from Gothic Avenue & Discovery) and descended to much tighter places deep inside the cave, like Fat Mans Misery and Tall Mans Agony.

Our last tour, Domes & Dripstones, (start and exit at 2 other entrances and in a wetter part of the cave), began in a sinkhole (immediately descended 280 stairs), passed through huge domes and tight spaces and ended in the dripstone section known as Frozen Niagara.

Our hiking took us through the woods here and along and down to the Green River, into which all the rivers of Mammoth Cave drain. We even got to see the one remaining ferry across the Green River operating!

Mammoth Cave NP-Historic Entrance
Mammoth Cave NP-Gothic Avenue Tour-historic cave writing from the 1800’s and the “Kentucky Memorial”
Mammoth Cave NP-Gothic Avenue Tour-Booth Ampitheater, where John Wilks Booth’s father Edwin once performed “To Be or Not To Be”
Mammoth Cave NP-Gothic Avenue Tour-Bridal Altar, where several weddings occured (no longer allowed), one by a woman who promised never to marry “any man on the face of the eargh”.
Mammoth Cave NP-Discovery Tour-Heading back out…very large room!
Mammoth Cave NP-Historic Tour-Remains of Saltpeter Works
Mammoth Cave NP-Historic Tour-Remains of Saltpeter Works
Mammoth Cave NP-Historic Tour-entering Fat Mans Misery
Mammoth Cave NP-Historic Tour-just a pretty picture in the cave
Mammoth Cave NP-Green River from Green River Bluff Trail
Mammoth Cave NP-River Styx Spring from River Styx Spring Trail
Mammoth Cave NP-Domes and Dripstones Tour-a different entrance
Mammoth Cave NP-Domes and Dripstones Tour-looking down a dome, after descending over halfway already
Mammoth Cave NP-Domes and Dripstones Tour-in the Frozen Niagara area, one of the few areas with a lot of stalagtites and stalagmites
Mammoth Cave NP-Domes and Dripstones Tour-Crystal Lake
Mammoth Cave NP-on our last hike, CCC Chlorinating House, used to clean waste water “back in the day”
Mammoth Cave NP-on our last hike, back down by the Green River in the Echo Springs area
Mammoth Cave NP-on our last hike, watching the Green River Ferry take 2 vehicles across the river

We really lucked out with our timing. It was a perfect time of year. With the trees mostly still bare, we could see farther on our hikes above ground, and…it wasn’t too hot! But it was warm, good weather for hiking…and…for dry camping, as we never had to get out the generator! We actually may have had the best 4-day period within a few weeks! It was in the 20’s overnight, just before we got here! That would have drained the battery!