Getting There
From Nashville, TN, we drove 77 miles to Mammoth Cave National Park and stayed in an RV park in Cave City, KY.
Mammoth Cave National Park
Mammoth Cave National Park is also another UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
I was impressed with it. It is Mammoth Cave (singular), not Caves (plural). Also, it is not just a big cavern. There are several caverns but there are miles of rough tunnels running back and forth and at different depths. According to the know-it-alls, there are 405 miles of surveyed tunnels (so far), all connected and it is the longest surveyed cave in the world. There are several guided tours that only cover a total of 10 miles of the cave. Of course, if you are a conspiracy theorist, then they probably only repeat the same 10 miles 41 times to make up the 405 miles.
Becky and I took two tours: the History Tour and the Domes and Dripstones Tour.
What walks like a duck? Someone who takes the History Tour of Mammoth Cave. It was a very good two-mile long hike inside the cave and provided a good variety of terrain. It started at the "Historical Entrance" which was the original natural entrance where the cave was first discovered through. There were several sections that were long pathways that would narrow down to about 18 inches at our waists and about 6 inches at our feet. There were several sections that were three and a half to four feet high (walk like a duck) and stairways to move between areas. There were deep crevasses with walkways installed over them. The ranger commentary was also good.
The second tour we took was the Domes and Dripstones. It took us through the "New Entrance" which is manmade. It is about 6 miles away and we were bussed to it. Prior to it becoming a National Park, the New Entrance was created by someone who bought some adjoining land and created the entrance to complete with the original attraction. The tour covered only three-quarters of a mile in the cave but included over 500 steps (not including the three into the bus and three out of the bus). It had some interesting views and the hike was capped off with a section called Niagara Falls.
I did not get very many good photos because of the very low light and the ones I did get are a bit blurry due to camera shake because of the very low shutter speed. I guess you are going to have to see it for yourself.
 Mammoth Cave National Park Visitor Center |
 Cave description |
 Map and model of Mammoth Cave |
 Mining Artifacts - the cave was mined to make gun powder for The War of 1812 |
 More gun powder mining artifacts |
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 Looking down a crevasse |
 Another crevasse |
 New Entrance |
 Along the Domes and Dripstones Tour |
 More paths to explore |
 More terrain |
 The Niagara Falls |
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