We arrived at Mammoth Cave National Park late in the day. The park is located about two thirds of the way across Kentucky. Because it was so late, many of the tours we preferred were sold out, so we opted to purchase tickets for a Sunday morning Historic Tour. Many tours are available, from self-guided short tours of the main cave to tours that any spelunker would like.
The caves were formed by an underground river thousands of years ago. It has been explored intermittently over the past 4000 years. At present, 365 miles of cave have been surveyed, which makes it twice as long as any known cave. Geologists think it could be many more miles of cave to be discovered.
We chose the Historic Tour, which was 2 hours long covering 2 miles of cave, as it shows the original area discovered and explored in the early 1800's by Stephen Bishop, an enslaved person, who actually became a guide for visitors to the cave. His name can still be seen written on the walls in parts of the cave. Mammoth Cave was named that for a reason- the rooms are quite large. There are several large halls, including the Mammoth Dome, which is 192 feet from floor to ceiling. There are a few tight places (one is known as Fat Man's Misery), but speaking as a mildly claustrophobic person, this should not bother most people. I did not have a moment of discomfort. We were happy, however, that we brought jackets. The temperature in the cave was quite cool and mist could be seen exiting the cave entrance where the cool air meets the warm humid air outside. The ranger guide was very knowledgeable, and the cave was spectacular. I would definitely recommend this park for a visit.
Interestingly, the stalagmites and stalactites most people associate with caves are not present here. The roof has a solid shell of rock that does not allow the slow leaking of water needed to form these structures. According to the ranger, one of the tours, called Frozen Niagara, does show a cave that has some of these features, but the majority of Mammoth is wide open.
Regarding wildlife, we saw numerous wild turkeys and several deer on our drive in and out of the park. There are bats in the cave and one did fly over us during the tour, but the ranger indicated that was the first one he had seen during a tour. There are also cave creatures, including the eyeless cave fish and the eyeless cave crayfish. No need for eyes in absolute darkness!
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| Dale enjoying the cave- but not the flash! |
The entrance to Mammoth Cave
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| White tailed deer |
Following a picnic in the park, we headed southwest into Arkansas, where we will visit Hot Springs National Park.
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