Exploring Mammoth Cave National Park
Explore the hidden depths of Mammoth Cave National Park, boasting over 400 miles of underground passageways – making it the world’s longest cave system. Above ground, the park is an impressive 53,000 acres of sprawling forests, sinkholes, and waterways. Offering endless opportunities for adventure, both above and below the surface, a visit to Mammoth Cave National Park will not disappoint.
FUN FACT: Mammoth Cave National Park is the core area of the 909,328 acre Mammoth Cave Biosphere Region. It is internationally recognized for its multilayered cave system and karst landscape, which supports a unique diversity of flora and fauna and provides the ideal setting for community involvement in groundwater resource protection.
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Park Info
Location: Southcentral Kentucky. About an hour and a half south of Louisville, and an hour and a half north of Nashville.
Time Zone: Central
Established: National Park status in 1941
Lodging/Camping: Lodge at Mammoth Cave, 3 campgrounds, and backcounty camping
Food: Two restaurants, as well as a coffee shop and camp store
Entrance Fee: No entrance fee. Cave tours vary in price. Click here to see current pricing.
Park Maps: Link to park map
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a program that created jobs on public lands for young men during the Great Depression. This included the development of Mammoth Cave National Park. Up to 1000 men built structures, planted over 1 million trees, and created the beginnings of the trails through the cave passageways. In 1942, CCC camps were disbanded as funds were diverted to WWII efforts.
Mammoth Cave Visitor Center
The visitor center at Mammoth Cave has a gift shop, exhibits, and a stamp for your passport book. It is also where you will meet for your cave tour. Nearby is the Lodge, which has restaurants and another gift shop.
Hiking at Mammoth Cave National Park
With 80 miles of hiking trails, Mammoth Cave has plenty to explore above ground. There are a number of hikes to choose from that are conveniently located near the visitor center and lodge, perfect to enjoy before or after your scheduled cave tour. Or venture further and enjoy the miles of backcountry trails.
If you enjoy natural history, the park has a unique program using an app and wayside signs to explain 14 of the geological wonders Beneath Your Feet.
Below are a couple of the trails we explored:
Sloan’s Crossing Pond Walk
Sloan’s Crossing Pond Walk is located in the southern section of the park right off Mammoth Cave Parkway. The pond sits within a sinkhole, which is uncommon.
A short boardwalk loop circles the entire pond. All Trails lists the estimated time to complete the walk at 8 minutes. We spent way more than 8 minutes at this site because we were so busy checking out the animals in this marshy environment. We didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, we just had a great time watching all the turtles, frogs, birds, and butterflies.
Heritage Trail & Old Guide’s Cemetery
The Heritage Trail begins at the Visitor Center and Lodge and is a short walk through the shade of the trees. We took the trail to the Old Guide’s Cemetery before turning around and returning to our starting point. In hindsight, I wish we would have continued passed Sunset Point to River Styx and walked the River Styx Spring Trail back to the Visitor Center. It wouldn’t have added that much time to our day and it would have been cool to see the river that flows through the cave system.
The Old Guide’s Cemetery is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. and is one of many cemeteries within Mammoth Cave National Park.
The small cemetery is the burial place of Stephen Bishop, an enslaved cave guide and explorer, who died in 1857. There are also three men buried here that sought treatment for tuberculosis in 1842 within Mammoth Cave.
On the Water
Twenty five miles of the Green River and seven miles of the Nolin River flow through Mammoth Cave National Park, making it a great location for paddling and fishing excursions. While we didn’t have time to get on the water, we did watch canoes being loaded onto the boat launch from the water. If we make it back to Mammoth Cave, I am definitely incorporating a paddling trip as it seems fantastic to float down this green, very green, river.
I will admit – I was shocked at the color of the Green River. I knew it was green, but I wasn’t prepared at just how opaque and olive green it was. The nutrient rich river is one of the most biodiverse in the United States.
We parked at the Green River Ferry parking area to walk along Echo River Spring trail and watch the ferry shuttle cars across the river.
How Mammoth Cave is Formed
The bedrock around Mammoth Cave is primarily sandstone. Just beneath the sandstone are layers of limestone. Limestone is a soft rock that dissolves with water.
As rain enters the ground through cracks in the bedrock the slightly acidic water dissolves the limestone creating underground passages. The layers of limestone are positioned so that the water flows as underground streams before emerging as springs along the Green River.
The thing that makes Mammoth Cave different than other karst caves is the sandstone on top. This insoluble rock protects the limestone from the consistent dripping of water creating passageways that can grow larger as opposed to collapsing. This is why Mammoth Cave has long passageways, but not many rock formations such as stalactites and stalagmites.
Mammoth Cave Tours
With the many sinkholes and waterways, there is a lot to explore above ground in this area of Kentucky. But, the park is named Mammoth Cave for a reason and I wanted to see for myself the makings of the longest cave system in the world.
A ticket is required for all the cave tours, including the self guided Discovery Tour. The tickets do sell out, so it’s highly recommended to purchase them prior to your arrival. There are multiple tours to choose from, including an accessible tour, lantern tour, and crawling tours. Tours change occasionally, so check out the NPS site for the latest tour options.
Domes and Dripstones Tour
We chose the Domes and Dripstones Tour in part because we recently visited Carlsbad Caverns and the dripstone formations were absolutely stunning. It also was listed as a 2 hour tour, which seemed like a good length. However, I would have liked more time in the cave. It seemed rushed.
The tour begins outside the visitor center, where we listened to a ranger talk before boarding the green bus.
Then it was a short ride to what is called The New Entrance to Mammoth Cave. We descended into the sinkhole to a metal door in the hillside that granted us access to the cave.
Once inside, we walked down a series of steps that pushed us deeper into the cave. This went on for awhile and I would have liked some time to look more closely at the rock within the narrow passageways.
We continued through the cave and reached a passage known as New York Subway. Then at the deepest point of the tour, a domed space named Grand Central Station, the group gathered as the ranger talked about the history of the cave.
After the talk, the tour continued up stairs, through passageways, under small domes, and eventually reached Frozen Niagara.
The area around Frozen Niagara and the Drapery Room was, by far, the highlight of the tour. There were many beautiful rock formations in addition to the spectacular flowstone of Frozen Niagara. To emphasize the point that these formations are created from dripping water, there was a small stream of water dripping through the ceiling – which was super cool, but kind of freaked me out at the same time.
We continued among the stalagmites and stalactites, looked at a pool of water below, and traveled through small domes until reaching the smooth rock again. Then we exited out the Frozen Niagara Entrance.
Final Thoughts
The cave system is impressive both in size and when thinking about how long it has taken to form this underground wonderland. Although, I preferred the exceptional formations created in Carlsbad Caverns, Mammoth Cave is definitely worth visiting and I’ll be back if I can swing it one day.
Optional Items to Bring
LEAVE NO TRACE
The Mammoth Cave region lies within three Great Nations – the Cherokee, the Chickasaw, and the Shawnee.
International Dark Sky Park ✬彡
Mammoth Cave National Park has exceptional starry nights and is a designated International Dark Sky Park.
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