I love reading negative reviews of National Parks. Why? Because people will always find a way to complain about anything. On rare occasion the reviews are valid, but most of the time it’s from people who never did their research in the first place. My personal favorite about Mammoth Cave is someone complaining that the name has nothing to do with the animal, and is “for branding purposes only.” I can only hope that one day they realize that ~a few~ words in the English language have multiple meanings. In the meantime, I will be making this post as a 5-star review of the park, to make up for their negative one.
Back at the end of July, my two-week road trip was coming to an end (yes, it took me 6 months to make this post) but I knew it wasn’t complete until I got the chance to visit Mammoth Cave National Park. Just a week earlier I had visited Indiana Dunes National Park and so I was particularly psyched to hit TWO parks in one trip.
I was staying in Louisville, which is only about an hour and a half drive from Mammoth Cave. Knowing this going into the trip, I had planned accordingly to make sure everyone going had booked for our tour ahead of time. The NPS offers a self-guided tour, but it doesn’t go very deep into the cave, nor does it cover an ounce of what you learn from a guided tour. I would highly recommend booking your tour ahead of time- there’s no way to know if / when the tickets will sell out.
Ye Olde Historic Tour
The standard tour is called the “Historic Tour” which is what my family decided to do. Nice, simple, a classic. They have a TON of different tour options though, so if you’re looking for something that’s a little more ~advanced~ or focuses on a specific theme, definitely go for that instead.
The Historic Tour was enthralling. I’ve been in caves before, but nothing nearly as grand as Mammoth Cave. I feel like when most people picture a “cave” they think something small, tight, cramped, claustrophobic. While there was a fair bit of ducking involved, and some of the tightest areas are rightfully named “fat man’s misery” and “tall man’s agony,” about half of the tour doesn’t require any of that. In fact, the entrance of the cave, and some of the main areas are a stark contrast to the more cramped parts, with walls easily 40-50 feet high.
As a rock climber, it took all of my mental energy to not try to try climbing the rock. ALL of it.
Perhaps the funniest aspect of the entire historical tour are the restrooms, conveniently located at about the midway point. That’s right. Bathrooms. At least 150 feet under the earth’s surface. Just kinda, there, in case you gotta go. Better in there than one of the offshoots of the cave I suppose.
Next time I go to Mammoth Cave, I’m gonna do one of their longer, proper caving tours because I think that’d be dope as heck. At LEAST I’ll do a longer tour, maybe 2.
Hiking In Mammoth Cave… the Park that is
One thing I wish the NPS highlighted on their website more was the hiking available within the park. My mom, sister, and I got there with plenty of time to spare before the tour so we could explore the park in its entirety, and I’d looked online and ~knew~ there were hiking trails, but they don’t give you too much information on them through the website/ the maps accessible in the visitor center are not available online (to the best of my finding abilities). That’s not to say they don’t have maps online (they do), they’re just not the ones at the Visitor’s Center, and those have a TON of information on the trails.
All that being said, I highly recommend checking out some of the trails in the park– the two we got to check out were the Cedar Sink Trail and The River Styx Spring Trail. The Cedar Sink Trail was arguably as fascinating as the cave itself. It’s a short loop, only about a mile or so in length, and goes through this ENORMOUS sinkhole. There are stairs (this is your warning) that wind down one side of the sinkhole, and come back up on the other. The rock formations formed by the sinkhole are captivating- they jut out from the sides of the sinkhole in sharp edges, almost as though they were carved. There are a few entrances that look as though they lead to the cave system underneath, barricaded by wooden planks.
The River Styx, Followed by a Performance from Zeus
We hiked The River Styx Spring Trail after the tour, and that was …. chill, I’d say. It’s about .5 miles from the cave entrance, if that. The coolest thing was undoubtedly the tiny pond/pool that formed in a kind of…. mini sink hole? It sounds stupid when explaining, so please reference the picture for a glimpse of the magic.
To top off the day, on our drive back to Louisville, we got to drive past the most intense thunder storm I’ve ever seen. The whole sky was lighting up every couple of seconds. I get where the Greeks get their stories of the gods from. Zeus was there and he was angry. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a thunder storm remotely like it living on the East Coast. Simply does not compare. And of course photos and videos just don’t capture the raw violence of a storm like that. It’s just not enough. Fortunately, did NOT see any tornados while in tornado alley. An adventure for another time, perhaps.
Until next time,
-Mac
