Mammoth Cave is the longest known cave system on Earth at 426 miles. That’s pretty impressive, especially since it’s still growing as they continue to explore it. But temper your expectations if you’re after lots of cool features and colors of a Carlsbad type experience as this cave is mostly dry.
We visited Mammoth Cave in October 2019
Getting There
Mammoth Cave sits about halfway between Nashville, TN and Louisville, KY. It’s in Kentucky, about 200 miles northwest of Great Smoky Mountains NP. That’s how we got there. Once we arrived, we just took a neat tour and didn’t camp nearby. Maybe it was two tours, but I don’t really remember.
Domes and
Dripstones
If you want to go into the cave, you have to book a tour. If you got lost, it’d be tough to find you in a maze of 426 miles of tunnels. There were plenty of people when we visited, but we were fortunate to get on one of the more popular tours, the Domes and Dripstones. It was really informative and dark. We got on a bus at the visitor center for a short ride to the entrance of the cave. The entrance was literally a downhill sidewalk to a normal sized steel door. There was a sealed entry to help curtail the White Nose disease that infects the bats, then down a bunch of stairs to start the tour. It wasn’t long (3/4 mile), but there were plenty of stairs and narrow passages. Most of the cave is dry as there is a sandstone and shale cap between the surface and the cave that keeps water from permeating into the cave. There are a few places where the water does get through and it creates some of the traditional stalagmites and stalactites that you expect in a cave. One of the features on the tour is called the Frozen Niagara which is a feature that does look like a frozen waterfall. Neat! I know they have several other tours, including accessible ones. We just did the one and it was pretty decent. It’s not Carlsbad Caverns cool, so set your expectations accordingly.
Mammoth Cave certainly isn’t one of the more notable National Parks, but they embrace their reputation and do their best to make sure everyone has a great experience. It’s another easy park to visit, just make sure you book your tours in advance if you want to be certain you get what you want.